Debt collectors filed more than 36,000 lawsuits in Minnesota in 2007

I am an attorney in NJ. I recently have been asked by a friend to look at a summons he received. In a nutshell, he bought a tractor trailer in 07, the driver quit, he sold it to someone (in NJ) that financed it through the same company, and that company required him to be a guarantor for the buyer.

The buyer has declared bankruptcy, but is still making some kind of payment with this company.

He received a summons (from Minnesota) stating he is being sued for the entire amount. I called the court, and was told a suit hasn’t been filed. I then called the lawyer and he informed me that they were just serving him, and weren’t going to file now. He mentioned pocket service. I told him the summons was false as he stated that all of the actions of the underlying suit took place in Minn. Neither person was ever in Minn, just sent the paperwork there.

Anyway, I’ve looked up pocket service and it mentions pre judgment garnishment, and default judgment, but nowhere states actually filing the suit. Is this correct that merely serving summons on the defendant and not filing requires the summons to be answered?

It seems that what I have read is missing some steps, but I have been wrong before.

THanks for your help.

See this post. No, the summons and complaint do not need to be filed. If a defendant who is served does not answer, the defendant will lose, and the collection firm can start collecting on the judgment.

[...] it is so cheap and easy, there is a lot of suing going on. Debt collectors filed 36,000 default judgments last year. Only the collectors know how many other lawsuits they started but did not file because they came [...]

[...] joins California and Minnesota in the news, as its civil courts try to deal with moving more than 119,000 debt collection lawsuits [...]

Is there a way to contest a judgment in MN? One was filed by a contractor and I didn’t know about any hearing on it. It was for a disputed bill that I’d written to get documentation on. Instead I got slapped with a judgment for the entire amount plus fees.

Of course. You can always file a motion to vacate a judgment. Whether or not you can succeed will depend on the circumstances.

Note that there is no hearing in civil cases, unless someone files a motion for something or the case is in conciliation court. You must respond by serving an answer, a written response to the complaint.

If you received a summons and complaint, it tells you that in the first sentence of the summons.