Scam Text Messages — Traffic School Fines:

The court has received reports of individuals receiving text messages claiming they owe outstanding fines related to traffic school matters. If you have completed and paid for traffic school and received a certificate, you do not owe any additional fines. These messages appear to be fraudulent. Do not click any links or provide payment information. If you have questions about your case, please contact the court directly.

Options for the Judgment Debtor

 Learn more about options available to judgment debtors after a judgment is entered.

General Information

If you lost the case and owe money, you are the judgment debtor.  The terms of the judgment will be on Page 1 of form SC-130, Notice of Entry of Judgment, and will indicate how much you owe, and whether payments can be paid in monthly installments.

There are severe consequences for not paying:  you can have your paycheck garnished, your bank account levied, and a lien can be placed on property that you own.  The judgment may also show up on your credit report.  If the case is about a car accident in California, the DMV could suspend your license.  For a general overview of what to do next, read:

  • Page 2 of form SC-130, Notice of Entry of Judgment, and

Instructions

If the court ordered you to pay money to the judgment creditor, you have 30 days to pay, starting from the date the Clerk mailed the Judgment (form SC-130, Notice of Entry of Judgment) to the parties.  The mailing date is found at Item 14 on form SC-130.  This 30-day window allows you time to pay, appeal, or motion to vacate the judgment.

After you pay the judgment, make sure the creditor files form SC-290, Acknowledgment of Satisfaction of Judgment.  If they don’t file this within 14 days, you can ask the court clerk to enter a "satisfaction of judgment" if you can prove you paid the full amount with the interest and costs.

If you don’t pay within 30 days, you must tell the judgment creditor about what you earn and own, by completing form SC-133, Judgment Debtor’s Statement of Assets,  This form asks for information about where you work, bank, and own property.  After you’ve completed the form, mail it to the judgment creditor.  You should have received a blank SC-133 when you were mailed the judgment.

If the judgment ordered you to pay in a single lump sum but you can’t pay all at once, you can request to pay in monthly installments.  Follow these steps:

  • Complete forms SC-220, Request to Make Payments and EJ-165, Financial Statement, and make at least two copies of each (make additional copies if more than one judgment creditor).
  • Bring the original and copies to the Clerk of Court for filing.  There is no filing fee.
  • The clerk will keep the original and mail a copy to the judgment creditor. The other copy is for you.
  • The judgment creditor has 10 days to file a response.
    • If they don't respond, the judge will assume that they agree to a payment plan.
    • If they file a response indicating that they disagree, the court will set a hearing to decide whether an installment plan is appropriate after reviewing your income and expenses.
  • Both parties will be mailed the decision allowing payments or a notice with a court date.
  • At the hearing, if the judge allows you to make payments, the judge can also decide to stop interest from accruing as long as you're keeping up with the payments.  The judge does not have to do this if the other side disagrees, so read the judge's decision carefully to figure out if you will owe interest while paying installments.

If you attended the trial and you disagree with the court’s decision that you owe money, you can appeal.  Your appeal must be filed within 30 days from the date the clerk mailed the Judgment (form SC -130).  Follow these steps to appeal the judgment:

  • Complete form SC-140, Notice of Appeal, and make two copies.
  • Bring the original and copies to the Clerk of Court for filing.  Pay the filing fee or ask for a fee waiver.
  • The clerk will give you a court date and will notify the judgment creditor(s) of the hearing date by mail.
  • At the appeal hearing, each party will have the opportunity to present evidence again, and parties may have an attorney represent them.

Note:  If you were the defendant and countersued (by filing a Defendant's Claim), but lost your counterclaim, you cannot appeal.  The court’s decision on your counterclaim is final.

If you did not attend the trial for a good reason (such as a serious emergency), you can ask the court to vacate (cancel) your judgment and give you a new trial date.  Your motion to vacate must be filed within 30 days from the date the clerk mailed the Judgment (form SC -130).  Follow these steps to motion the court to vacate the judgment:

  • Complete form SC-135, Notice of Motion to Vacate Judgment and Declaration, and make two copies.
  • Bring the original and copies to the Clerk of Court for filing.  Pay the filing fee or ask for a fee waiver.
  • The clerk will give you a court date and will notify the judgment creditor(s) of the hearing date by mail.
  • At the new hearing, tell the judicial officer why you didn't go to the court date.  The judicial officer will decide if the judgment should be canceled.
    • If the judicial officer agrees to cancel the judgment, you may have a new trial that same day, or it may be set on another day.
    • If the court denies your request to vacate the judgment, you have 10 days from the date of the denial to file an appeal (see above).

Extended deadline for lack of service:  If you were not served the Plaintiff’s Claim the correct way or were never served at all, you have 180 days from when you found out about the judgment (or should have found out) to file the motion to vacate the judgment.