Litigation & Dispute Resolution
What Happens If You Are Sued in New York and Do Nothing
What happens if I get sued and do nothing?
Ignoring a lawsuit does not make it go away — if you are properly served and fail to respond within the required time, the person suing you can ask the court to enter a default judgment against you without a trial. Once entered, a default judgment can be enforced through wage garnishment, bank account restraints, or property liens, the same as any other judgment. It can sometimes be vacated, but only within limited circumstances and generally requires acting quickly.
Ignoring a lawsuit does not stop it
When you are served with a Summons and Complaint in New York, you generally have a limited window — often 20 or 30 days depending on how you were served — to respond with an Answer or an appropriate motion. Failing to respond within that window does not end the case; it allows the plaintiff to move for a default judgment, asking the court to rule in their favor because you never contested the claims.
What a default judgment allows
Once a default judgment is entered, the plaintiff generally does not need to prove their case at trial — the judgment establishes the amount owed (or the relief ordered) based on what was demanded, and it can then be enforced the same way any other money judgment can be enforced under New York's CPLR Article 52. That includes income executions against wages, restraining notices and levies against bank accounts, and judgment liens against real property. A default judgment carries real, enforceable consequences — it is not just a procedural formality.
Vacating a default judgment
New York law does allow a defendant to move to vacate a default judgment under CPLR 5015, but it is not automatic and generally requires showing both a reasonable excuse for the default — such as never actually being properly served, illness, or another legitimate reason for missing the deadline — and a meritorious defense to the underlying claim. Courts have discretion here, and the longer someone waits after learning about the judgment before moving to vacate it, the harder that motion typically becomes.
Why service matters so much
A common basis for challenging a default judgment is improper service — arguing you were never validly served with the Summons and Complaint in the first place under New York's service rules. If service was defective, the court may lack jurisdiction to have entered the judgment at all. This is a fact-specific and often technical argument that depends heavily on exactly how, when, and where service was attempted.
Acting quickly matters
Whether the goal is responding to a fresh lawsuit before a default is entered, or trying to vacate one that already has been, time works against the person who waited. Enforcement tools like bank restraints can move quickly once a judgment is entered, and courts generally expect a defendant seeking to vacate a default to act promptly after learning about it, not months later.
When it is worth a call
- You have been served with a Summons and Complaint and the response deadline is approaching
- A default judgment has already been entered against you and you want to know whether it can be vacated
- Your bank account has been restrained or your wages garnished and you were not aware of the underlying lawsuit
Common questions
- How do I know if a default judgment has already been entered against me?
- You may learn about it through a notice from the court, a collection notice, or — sometimes for the first time — when a bank account is restrained or wages are garnished. Court records for the case can also be checked directly to confirm whether a judgment has been entered.
- Can a default judgment be entered even if I was never properly served?
- It should not be, but errors happen, and a judgment entered without valid service is one of the stronger grounds for a motion to vacate. This depends heavily on the specific facts of how service was attempted and whether it complied with New York's procedural rules.
- What if I genuinely just missed the deadline?
- You may still be able to move to vacate, but you will need to show both a reasonable excuse for missing it and a meritorious defense to the claims themselves — simply forgetting or being busy is generally a harder excuse to succeed with than something like never receiving proper notice.
- Is there a deadline to move to vacate a default judgment?
- There is no single fixed deadline that applies to every situation, but courts generally expect the motion to be made within a reasonable time after the default, and unreasonable delay can defeat an otherwise valid motion. Acting promptly once you learn about a default is important.
Talk it through with Mitch
Bring the situation, not a diagnosis. A short conversation usually makes the next step obvious.