FIRST RESOLUTION INVESTMENT CORPORATION GARNISHMENT

We were recently retained by a consumer who had received a notice of wage garnishment from his job. The wage garnishment stated that there was a judgment against him from 2012 and that the creditor was First Resolution Investment Corporation, a common debt-buyer. The debt collection law firm who sued and obtained the default judgment against our client was Mullooly, Jeffrey, Rooney and Flynn. The garnishment stated that the debt was for $17,000 and accruing judgment interest at 9%. The consumer had already been garnished a few thousand dollars for almost a year so we had to move quickly to stop the garnishment and resolve the matter.

It was very important in this case to file our Order to Show Cause to vacate judgment before our client was garnished for a full year. The law in New York states that a default judgment can be vacated within a year of notice about the judgment as long as a reasonable excuse and meritorious defense can be provided. Since the garnishment had been going on for about 11 months, we had to file the motion within a few weeks to prevent time from running. Our client only received notice when he received the garnishment notice, so he had a reasonable excuse and had a valid standing defense as First Resolution is a debt buyer and has to show that they properly acquired this debt. Once we did file the Order to Show Cause, Mullooly Jeffrey Rooney and Flynn contacted us stating that First Resolution Investment Corp., was agreeing to vacate the judgment in exchange for a settlement of the already garnished funds. This saved our client most of his money and a ton of additional time and legal fees.