A do it yourself guide on dealing with a no-notice default judgment in Washington State
- Peter Schneider
- May 19
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 4
Let's take a hypothetical case. You were a client in a professional setting, and you parted ways with them believing you owed them money.
Years later, with no notice, you receive word that they took you to court and got a default judgment. But you've lived at the same address for years and you never knew about the lawsuit. The judgment isn't for enough money that hiring a lawyer makes financial sense. You may be able to get the judgment vacated yourself. Civil Rule (CR) 60 provides a mechanism by which you may be able to get this default judgment vacated.
Taking the above hypothetical, you might write a letter to the court and judge in a form like so:
Jane Doe 123 Main Street Seattle WA 98000 Jane.doe@google.com (360) 555-5555 Judge Wapner Pierce County District Court 30 Tacoma Ave S, Tacoma, WA 98402 Dear Court Two weeks ago [put in your details] I received notice that a default judgment was entered against me in civil case [fill in all you know, the case number, the plaintiff, the date]. This took me by surprise because I was never served the lawsuit, and I didn’t know about the lawsuit until I recently received notice of the default judgment. I am writing to ask you to vacate the default judgment under CR 60 because it was granted without giving me notice of the lawsuit. I testify to the same in the attached declaration. Thank you, [signature] Jane Doe c.c. [Name of the collection agency] [collection agency address]
Courts work off of evidence, so you should provide truthful testimony as to the facts of the situation in a declaration:
Jane Doe 123 Main Street Seattle WA 98000 Jane.doe@google.com (360) 555-5555 Declaration of Jane Doe I, Jane Doe, declare: I am the defendant in the above-captioned case. I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth in this declaration, and I can testify competently to them if called upon to do so. On information and belief, the following statements are true and correct: I was never served documents in this lawsuit. I have lived at the same address for [fill in your details]. I did not know about this lawsuit until [fill in your details] after which I promptly came to court to file this motion to vacate the default judgment. Had I known about the lawsuit I certainly would have appeared in court. I have also mailed this letter to the collection agency that sued me [fill in your details] at the address shown in my letter at the same time I mailed it to the Court. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that the foregoing is true and correct. Date Signature Name
Make sure you mail the letter and declaration to the Court and the collection agency [or whoever got the default judgment]. You can take 3-4 weeks between getting the first notice of the default judgment and writing the court, but if you take longer that may give the court grounds to ignore you.
Bonus points! Set the matter for a hearing. To do that, fill out as much of the following as you can based on what you know. Blank out what you don't know so you can fill it out at the court house. Take the form and your motion (letter) and your declaration to the court and have the clerk help you with case numbers or dates.
Expect the hearing to be set out 3-4 weeks (or longer!) and often on a Friday morning. Many courts do hearings via a zoom link but whatever you do, be confident you will show up at the appointed time.
You may have been sued in district court, or superior court. Find out which one if you can, or start with district court if you don't know. Most lower dollar value cases will be in district court.
While your at the courthouse, have the clerk pull up the "proof of service" (some courthouses will have a computer you can use to look up your case). Look at the date and time they claim you were served, and the description of who they served. Definitely not you? Go home and rework your declaration and/or motion. Are you a 5'0" 100 pound lady and the served a 5'11" 170 pound lady? Put all mismatches between you and their proof of service as you can in your declaration! Put their sewer service in the judge's face!
Double bonus points - do all of the above, and maybe then give the collection agency a call and see if they will negotiate a heavy discount in exchange for a payment. If they will, everything is negotiable, including their vacating the judgment if it is effecting your credit.
We offer this guide because collection agencies get a lot of default judgments and somehow the defendant never knew about the lawsuit. If the default is for a lot of money, immediately hire a lawyer. But if the judgment is somewhere between a negligible amount but not large enough that it makes sense to hire a lawyer, we would like to arm you with the information to protect yourself. If do the above and the collection agency still won't play ball, maybe give us a ring or send us an email for help.
The thoughts, opinions and musings of this blog are those of Peter Schneider, a consumer advocate attorney at Northwest Debt Resolution, LLC. They are just that, his thoughts, opinions and musings and should be treated as such. They are not legal advice. Do you have more questions? We would be happy to answer your questions:
Bankruptcy and debt questions:
Peter Schneider
206-800-6000 x101
Robocalls and Telephone Consumer Protection Act questions:
Nathen Barton
206-800-6000 x102
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) questions:
Peter Schneider
206-800-6000 x101
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