A notice of entry of default judgment tells you that a court has already ruled against you in a lawsuit you did not defend, and that ruling now has the full force of a judgment reached after trial. The plaintiff can use it to garnish wages, freeze bank accounts, put liens on property, and have personal property seized. You usually have about 30 days before collection can start, and that is the window to act.
What the Notice Actually Means
A default judgment is built in two steps, and the step you are at changes how hard it is to undo. First, when a defendant misses the deadline to answer a lawsuit, the court clerk records an “entry of default” — a formal note that the response window closed. Second, the plaintiff asks the court to turn that default into a judgment, a binding order that you owe a specific amount of money. The notice you received confirms the second step is done and the judgment is on the books.
Setting aside a bare entry of default only requires “good cause.” Vacating a final default judgment is a steeper climb and must satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) or its state equivalent.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 55 – Default; Default Judgment That is why the clock matters now.
These judgments most often follow a missed answer deadline. In federal court, you have 21 days after being served with the complaint to file an answer.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 12 – Defenses and Objections State deadlines usually fall between 20 and 30 days. Default can also follow a defendant who answered but then stopped showing up, ignored discovery, or missed a hearing.
You Probably Have a 30-Day Pause Right Now
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 62(a), enforcement of a judgment is automatically stayed for 30 days after it is entered, unless the court orders otherwise.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 62 – Stay of Proceedings to Enforce a Judgment Most states have a similar pause. During that window, the creditor cannot garnish wages, levy accounts, or seize property. Your deadlines run from the date the judgment was entered, not the date you received the notice, so check the entry date first.
If you need more time after the 30 days to litigate a motion to vacate, you can ask the court for a stay of enforcement. Federal courts may require you to post a bond or other security to extend the stay.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 62 – Stay of Proceedings to Enforce a Judgment Filing the stay motion alongside the motion to vacate keeps collection from running while the court decides.
Filing a Motion to Vacate
Your primary tool is a motion to vacate. It asks the court to erase the judgment and let you defend the case on the merits. The motion has to do three things: explain why you didn’t respond, show you filed within the allowed time, and show you have a real defense to the underlying claim. Weakness on any one of those can sink it.
Grounds Courts Will Accept
Rule 60(b) sets out the grounds for relief from a final judgment. The ones that matter most here:
- Excusable neglect. A legitimate reason you missed the deadline — serious illness, a genuine misunderstanding of the filing date, or reliance on a lawyer who failed to act. Ordinary forgetfulness rarely qualifies.
- Improper service. If the plaintiff did not follow the rules for delivering the summons and complaint, the court never had authority over you, and the judgment is void under Rule 60(b)(4).4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 60 – Relief from a Judgment or Order
- Fraud or misrepresentation by the plaintiff about facts material to the case.
- The judgment has been satisfied — you already paid or the debt was discharged.
Improper service is the strongest argument when it applies, because a void judgment has no legal effect at all. The court treats it as though it never happened.
Deadlines
For excusable neglect, fraud, and newly discovered evidence, the motion must be filed within a reasonable time and no later than one year after the judgment was entered.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 60 – Relief from a Judgment or Order What counts as reasonable depends on the circumstances, but a long unexplained delay will hurt you. A motion arguing the judgment is void under Rule 60(b)(4) is not bound by the one-year cutoff, though it still must be brought within a reasonable time.
Showing a Meritorious Defense
Explaining your absence is not enough. You also have to convince the court that if the case were reopened, you’d have a legitimate defense worth hearing — a plausible argument against the plaintiff’s claim or against the damages amount. You don’t need to prove you’d win. Support the motion with a sworn statement describing why you defaulted and what your defense is. File it with the clerk and serve a copy on the judgment creditor or their attorney; sloppy service of the motion papers can delay or kill the request.
What Happens If the Judgment Stands
If the judgment is not vacated, its cost grows and the creditor gains access to a set of collection tools.
Interest and Liens
The balance accrues interest from the date of entry. In federal court, the rate is tied to the weekly average one-year constant maturity Treasury yield for the week before the judgment, compounded annually.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1961 – Interest State rates commonly run from 2% to 10% per year.
The creditor can also create a lien against real estate you own, which blocks sale or refinancing until the judgment is paid. In federal court, that means recording a certified abstract of judgment in the county where the property sits.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 3201 – Judgment Liens State procedures vary; some require recording with a county clerk, others attach the lien automatically in the county of entry. Liens typically last 10 years and can often be renewed.
Wage Garnishment
The creditor gets a court order telling your employer to withhold part of each paycheck. Federal law caps the garnishment at the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings for the week, or the amount by which your weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which puts the protected floor at $217.50 per week.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment Disposable earnings means pay after legally required deductions like taxes and Social Security.8U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act If disposable earnings are below $217.50 a week, wages cannot be garnished at all. Many states cap garnishment more tightly than federal law.
Bank Levy and Property Seizure
With a writ of execution, the creditor can freeze and seize money in your bank account. The creditor can also direct a sheriff or marshal to seize non-exempt personal property and sell it at auction, including vehicles and equipment.9Legal Information Institute. Writ of Execution Seizure is used less often than garnishment or levy because resale values are usually low, but it is a real risk for higher-value assets.
The Debtor’s Exam
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 69 lets a judgment creditor obtain discovery from anyone, including you, to help collect.10Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 69 – Execution In practice, that means a deposition — often called a judgment debtor exam — where you answer under oath about accounts, income, and property. Refusing to appear can trigger a contempt finding. States have equivalent procedures. This is often the creditor’s opening move, because the answers tell them which collection tool to use first.
What a Creditor Cannot Touch
Not every dollar is reachable. Federal law broadly shields Social Security benefits from judgment creditors.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 407 – Assignment of Benefits The narrow exceptions are federal tax levies and court-ordered child support or alimony. A private creditor on a credit card or medical debt cannot reach Social Security.
When a creditor serves a garnishment order on your bank, the bank must review the account for federal benefit deposits made during the prior two months. Those amounts are automatically protected and must remain accessible without you filing a claim.12eCFR. 31 CFR Part 212 – Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments Veterans Affairs payments and federal retirement benefits carry similar protections.
Every state also has its own list of exempt property: a portion of home equity under a homestead exemption, a vehicle up to a set value, essential household goods, and tools of your trade. Dollar amounts and categories differ sharply by state, so pull your state’s exemption list early.
What to Do This Week
Priorities, in order:
- Find the date the judgment was entered. Your deadlines run from that date.
- Review how you were served with the original lawsuit. If you were never properly served, that is likely your strongest ground to vacate.
- Gather proof of why you did not respond — medical records, travel records, evidence that papers never reached you.
- File a motion to vacate as soon as the facts allow, with a motion to stay enforcement filed alongside. Filing fees for this kind of motion are typically modest, often between $25 and $50 depending on the court.
Handling the motion yourself is realistic when the facts are clean, especially a clear service defect. If the judgment is large or the facts are tangled, an attorney is worth the cost. Courts scrutinize these motions closely, and a weak filing can burn your one chance at relief.