Removing a judgement placed in my absence

According to Virginia law, if you are not properly served with notice of a lawsuit filed against you, any resulting judgment against you may be void. And if a judgment is void, it may be set aside. A judgment is considered “void” if the Court that entered the judgment lacked jurisdiction of the subject matter, or of the parties, or if it acted in a manner inconsistent with the due process of law. Plogger v. IMC Mortg. Co. (In re Plogger), 240 Bankr. 243 (W.D. Va. 1999). Due process of law requires that you receive notice of the lawsuit that was filed against you. If you never received notice of the lawsuit, the Court may lack jurisdiction, or more likely, the Court may have acted in a manner inconsistent with due process of law.  I am assuming the judgment entered against you was entered by default, since you just found out about the lawsuit and judgment for the first time. If you can demonstrate that the judgment against you is void, then you may be able to have it set aside pursuant to Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-428(A)(ii), which is the law stating that a default judgment may be set aside if it is void. Additionally, if you were in the military at the time the lawsuit was going on, you may be entitled to certain protections offered by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. 50 U.S.C. Appx. §§ 502 et seq.