New Mexico Civil Litigation Legal Questions

As a general matter, if you want to appeal to emotion in your argument, rather than straight facts and law you would want a jury.  In small claims, however, the more important issue is time.  If you want to wait around forever and probably have to come back again at least once, ask for a jury.  In this pandemic age, I'm not even sure a jury trial would be available, and certianly it would be a logistical nightmare which would take time.... Read Answer

You need to check with a NM attorney about whether this house qualifies as exempt from collection efforts under NM law.  Assuming it does not (different states have different homestead exemptions), the judgment would initially be a lien on your house (not sure of the procedure in NM; in NY, a judgment is automatically recorded as a lien on any real property the debtor owns in that county), but if you don't pay the judgment, the creditor could foreclose on that lien and force the sale of the house.  With interest and fees, you would likely have nothing left. However, if you pay the judgment (perhaps by taking out another mortgage or home equity loan) that would be the end of it.... Read Answer

If indeed you have not been properly served, and/or you have no contacts with Alabama, the Alabama court will not have jurisdiction over you, and any default judgment against you will be vacated when plaintiff tries to enforce it in New Mexico.  Therefore, theoretically, you could ignore the suit. That is very risky, however.  If the other side obtains a default judgment in Alabama, he will try to enforce it in New Mexico.  If the New Mexico Court believes the other side when he claims to have served you, and finds that you have sufficient contacts with Alabama for it to exercise jurisdiction over you (the emails you sent to the other side in Alabama might be deemed sufficient, especially if they relate to the dispute involved in the lawsuit), the default judgment will be enforced, regardless of whether you have any defenses to the merits of the claim. I would advise you not to ignore the case, but rather to move to dismiss it based on a lack of jurisdiction.  If you lose that motion, you can still defend the case on the merits.... Read Answer