A Lawsuit has been filed against you in the Municipal Court in Ohio -

The creditor has sued you in Municipal Court. This lawsuit will probably end with a judgement against you. After that, the creditor suing you can collect from you by “all legal means,” which include wage garnishment and bank account attachment. They can do both at the same time.

The Municipal Court normally sends certified mail to you. It’s from the Municipal Court, not the creditor. This is how you know that you are being sued and it’s not just a threat. This is real.

If you don’t pick it up, or if you refuse to accept it, the suit will still go forward. You will get a regular mail copy of the suit.  You can’t avoid the suit by avoiding service.

Once the suit is filed, the attorney suing you in Municipal Court will NOT generally dismiss the suit. The attorney will not stop until there is a Court Judgment against you. This is important to understand.

You will notice on the cover page (also called a summons) that you have 28 days to serve an answer on the plaintiff, and must file the answer with the clerk and serve the same on the opposing counsel within 3 days.

What does this mean in plain English?  Translated, this means that you have to write an answer to the complaint, and mail it to the clerk and the attorney who sued you within 3 days of filing with the court.

After 28 days from the day that you get “served” with the complaint, meaning the day you signed for the certified mail letter, or were handed the complaint by a court officer, like a bailiff or sheriff, or the court mails you a copy regular mail, the creditor is then able to ask the court to grant “default judgment” against you, assuming that you did not file an answer (or one that the court found to be acceptable).

What then?  Once the Municipal Court grants judgment against you, the creditor is now a “judgment creditor” and can use the power of the court to collect from you.  At this point they can go after your paycheck and bank accounts.

Step 3 – The Trial (and optional pre-trial) after you file an answer

If you filed an answer that the court found to be acceptable, then the Municipal Court Judge or Magistrate would either schedule a trial, or a pre-trial hearing.

A trial is where the creditor has to prove its case, and I have a link for information about representing yourself in court.

Click this link Representing Yourself in Court  for more information.

A pre-trial is not a trial. It’s generally a conference, in person, on the phone, or sometimes even in a court room. It is an opportunity for you to try to settle the case or, if you cannot, to narrow down what issues the Municipal Court Judge needs to decide.

A typical outcome of a pre-trial is a settlement. The creditor may try to get you to agree that you owe the money and perhaps set up a payment arrangement. If you are agreeable to this, then this may resolve the lawsuit. The court cannot make you agree. If you do agree, then the creditor wins, but you can get a payment agreement that, if kept, provides an agreement that the creditor will not try to garnish your wages or your bank account.

Step 5 – Trial

If you do not have a pre-trial conference or you simply want your day in Municipal Court, the matter will be set for a trial to the judge or magistrate.

You should know that a trial will probably be difficult for you to do. You are probably not trained in trial procedure, evidence, local rules, etc. The attorney who is suing you is very well trained and probably does several of these trials every week.

Click this link for information about representing yourself in court.

Step 6 – Collection of the Judgment

Creditors are not limited to only one means of collection against you, they can garnish your wages at the same time that they wipe out your bank account.

A judgment accrues interest, just like the balance on a credit card. Judgments can grow quite large over time. I often see judgments grow to TEN TIMES the original amount.