General question - judgments
Consumer Fraud and Mortgage Fraud
Asked on Jan 06th, 2012 on Litigation - New Jersey
More details to this question:
1. If there are 8 defendants listed in a fraud case and they lose, is the money judgement (say 100K) divided equally for payment or will they each have to pay the amount awarded (8 x 100K) , will the Judge decide the award amount?
2. What happens if 2 defendants decide to settle out of court?
3. What would the average settlement percentage be (25%, 50%, 75%) of the (100K)?
4. If punitive damages are awarded (in NJ - 5 times actual loss or 350K, whichever is greater) do each pay the full amount or is that divided equally as well?
The judgment will say if it is "joint and several" which means all can be required to pay the whole, or not. There is no rule on a settlement amount. Punitive damages are rarely awarded.
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