I am not a lawyer, I am a judgment referral expert (Judgment Broker). Most judgment debtors do not care about default judgments. If they cared, they would have showed up at court. When someone recovers a judgment by having a sheriff take money or assets from the debtor, the debtor may suddenly care very much, and start a procedure to vacate the judgment because "they were not served".

There are quotes above, because many debtors claim they were not served, even when they were properly served. If they really were not served, there would have been no judgment, because proof of service is the first thing a judge will check for.

The many ways people can be served lawsuit papers, range from personal service by a sheriff, to sub-service by a process server, to (worst of all) service by publication in a newspaper. Service by publication in a newspaper in 1940 made sense. Service by newspaper today makes very little sense.

The legal basis for a motion to vacate a judgment usually comes down to the proof of service. When a debtor tries to vacate (also called expunge, or set-aside) a judgment, they often claim they did not know about the lawsuit.

99.99% of the time, the debtor try to vacate a default judgment. Very rarely, a debtor does show up in court, then years later claims reasons such as they were on some kind of drug, or had a mental problem, or they were under duress, and they now want the judgment overturned.

Courts want both sides to "have their day" in court, so when there are reasonably strong doubts about the proof of service, judges often grant the debtor's request. One reason judges grant requests to vacate judgments is that it provides an opportunity for a new trial or hearing, so that the plaintiff can try and again win their judgment.

When the proof of service is rock solid, and it is personally served by a sheriff or a (still active) registered process server, it is very difficult for a debtor to win a motion to vacate the judgment (and it is even harder if it was a not a default judgment).

If the proof of the debtor's wrongdoing is strong, a successful motion to vacate the judgment is only a temporary delay, the new court hearing or trial will likely produce the same result, a new judgment against the debtor. In this case, the clock is reset on the expiration of the judgment, and the debtor cannot try a motion to vacate the judgment again. (But they can file for bankruptcy protection.)

The basis of law to overturn judgments is often called "grounds for relief". These reasons can include:

1) Mistake. Ignorance of the law is usually not an excuse, but once in a while, the debtor's side tries to claim a mistaken understanding of the facts. In California, this is described in CCP 473.

2) Inadvertence. Merely not paying attention is usually not an excuse, but sometimes the debtor will try to use excuses like a relative died, they were moving, they were on drugs, etc. In California this is described in CCP 473 (b).

3) Surprise. A debtor may claim they were framed, or it was not their fault. In California, this is described in CCP 473 (b).

4) Excusable Neglect. A debtor claims they could not pay a lawyer, were sick, unavailable, etc. In California, this is described in CCP 473 (b).

5) Not given actual notice of the lawsuit ("I was never served"). This is the most common reason. The court may on its own, or upon a motion of either party, set aside and void any judgment for several reasons, including:

A) The court did not have the jurisdiction (the geographic and legal area over which its authority extends) to decide the case.

B) There was a fraud on the court.

C) There was improper or fraudulent proof of service, resulting in a lack of personal jurisdiction over the defendant.

There are other ways that a default judgment may become void. In California, this is described in CCP 473 (d).
 
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Mark D. Shapiro - Judgment Referral Expert  - good for all judgment owners, Judgment Enforcers and contingency collection lawyers:  http://www.JudgmentBuy.com - where Judgments go to get Purchased or Enforced!