last November i received a summons and complaint stating that i owed $550 or so to the local hospital. which was due but was waiting on the ...

Question

last November i received a summons and complaint stating that i owed $550 or so to the local hospital. which was due but was waiting on the veterans affairs office to send me the money. prior to this going to court i received the check and paid it off in full, and was issued a receipt from the hospital with zero balance due. thinking the matter settled, no court date was set in the summons, and no consecutive correspondence was received to indicate i needed to appear in court or even when. i did not show up to the court date on December 20th. last week (23rd) i received a judgement against me stating that i owed over 600$ the initial bill plus fees interest and attorney fees.

question since this was paid prior to the court date, can i still be held liable for the extra fees?

Answer

Yes. A summons and complaint form from the court tells you that you need to answer the complaint in writing within 21 or 28 days after being served. (28 if by mail) So you went into default waiting for an initial court date that was not going to happen.

Now, realistically, you paid off the debt, but the attorney could still be looking for fees and costs. I would call them to try and negotiate this, or file a motion to set aside the default and the judge will determine how much more you owe. Tim Klisz kliszlaw.com