You have no more than one year from the date of the judgment to ask the court to set it aside, and waiting can hurt your chances. Call before the garnishment starts.
Call 636-486-1093
“You didn’t show up for court, you’re defaulted.”
Most of the time, we think a default judgment happens because somebody got served with a lawsuit, got notice of the court date, and didn’t show up. That’s mostly correct, but it’s not the whole story. The rules for a Missouri default judgment are more complicated than most folks realize, and sometimes they’re downright surprising, occasionally in your favor.
If a debt collector has sued you, or you just found a judgment against you on Case.net, here’s what you need to know.
The Short Answer
A Missouri default judgment is a judgment a court enters when a defendant fails to respond to a lawsuit. In Circuit Division, that means not filing an answer within 30 days of service. In Associate Circuit Division, where most debt collection suits are filed, it means not appearing on the return date on the summons. A default judgment can usually be set aside under Rule 74.05(d) if you show a meritorious defense and good cause and file within a reasonable time, no more than one year after the judgment.
What Is a Default Judgment Under Missouri Law?
Missouri Supreme Court Rule 74.05 says a default judgment can be entered against a party who “has failed to plead or otherwise defend.” Notice the rule talks about pleading and defending. There’s nothing in there about showing up. That little detail causes a lot of confusion, and we’ll get to it. The basic idea is simple enough: you never told the court your side, so the other side wins by forfeit.
The rule also says the plaintiff still has to offer proof of damages. In a debt case, that “proof” is usually an affidavit from someone at the debt buyer who has never met you. Nobody is there to object, so the judge usually takes it.
What Counts as “Responding” Depends on Which Court You’re In
- Circuit Division (bigger cases): You have 30 days after you’re served to file a written answer. Miss that deadline and you’re in default, even if you planned to show up on some later court date.
- Associate Circuit Division (claims under $25,000): This is where most collection suits land. Under Chapter 517, you don’t have to file a written answer. Your response is showing up on the return date printed on your summons. Default happens when you don’t appear on that date, or on a later date the case gets continued to. Affirmative defenses (like the statute of limitations) and counterclaims still have to be filed in writing by the return date.
- Small Claims (up to $5,000): No written answer. You appear on the date on the summons.
Associate Circuit has a quirk that can work in your favor. You can’t be in default before your return date. In Zick, Voss, Politte & Richardson v. Puetz (Mo. App. E.D. 2021), a court entered a default judgment before the date the defendants had been told to appear. The Court of Appeals said they weren’t in default as a matter of law, and the judgment had to go.
“In Default” Is Not the Same as a “Default Judgment”
Being in default is a status. You missed your deadline. A default judgment is what comes next: a real judgment, with a dollar amount, that can be collected. Rule 74.05 also lets a judge enter an interlocutory order of default first, which is basically the court noting that you’re in default before it decides the damages. If that’s where your case is, move fast. It’s a lot easier to fix the problem before the judgment exists.
Creditors Count on Defaults
Here’s the dirty little secret about debt collection lawsuits: most of them are filed by people who fully expect you not to show up.
The Pew Charitable Trusts studied debt collection lawsuits across the country and found that, over a ten-year stretch, more than 70% of them ended in a default judgment for the collector. Fewer than 10% of the people being sued had a lawyer. Nearly every plaintiff did. By 2013, debt cases made up about one in four civil lawsuits in state courts.
The math works for the collector because a lot of these cases are filed by debt buyers who bought old accounts in bulk for pennies on the dollar. What they usually got in that deal is a spreadsheet, not the original contract or the paper trail showing who owned the debt along the way. If you fight, they have to prove they own the debt and how much you really owe. Some can. A lot of them can’t, or won’t spend the money trying. A default lets them skip all that.
Creditors’ Attorneys Love Them
If you’ve ever sat through a collection docket in an Associate Circuit courtroom in St. Charles County or St. Louis County, you’ve seen it. The collection attorney shows up with a stack of files. The clerk calls a name, nobody answers, the judge signs a judgment, and the attorney moves on to the next file. Rinse and repeat. A collection firm can walk out with a pile of judgments before lunch without ever trying a case.
And once they have that judgment, the real collecting starts. They can garnish your wages, up to 25% of your disposable earnings, or 10% if you’re the head of a family and a Missouri resident (and you usually have to claim that exemption yourself). They can garnish your bank account and freeze it up to the amount owed. Interest keeps piling on while you pay. And a Missouri judgment lasts ten years and can be revived for another ten. That thing is going to outlive your car.
So when a summons shows up, don’t toss it in the junk drawer. If the debt is old, read our post on the statute of limitations on credit card debt lawsuits in Missouri. It may be the defense they’re hoping you never raise.
The Big Misconception About Default
Most people think default means “didn’t show up.” So they figure that as long as they walk into the courtroom on the court date, they’re safe. And if they can’t make it, they figure they’ve automatically lost.
Both of those can be wrong.
Default is about failing to respond, and what counts as a response depends on the court. In a Circuit Division case, you can show up on the first court date and already be in default, because your 30 days to file an answer came and went. In an Associate Circuit case, showing up on the return date is your response, and that’s the day that counts.
And not showing up isn’t always a default, either.
What’s Not a Default
OK, you didn’t show up for a hearing or a trial. Automatic default, right? Not exactly.
If you filed an answer (or otherwise defended the case) and then missed trial, Missouri law says the judgment against you is not a default judgment. It’s a judgment on the merits. The Missouri Supreme Court settled that in Cotleur v. Danziger, 870 S.W.2d 234 (Mo. banc 1994), and Missouri courts have repeated it since: a party who has filed a responsive pleading isn’t in default just because they missed a court date.
The label matters, because the rules for undoing each one are different.
| Default Judgment | You Answered, Then Missed Trial | |
|---|---|---|
| What happened | You never responded (no answer in Circuit Division; no appearance on the return date in Associate Circuit) | You responded, then didn’t show up for trial |
| What the law calls it | Default judgment under Rule 74.05 | Judgment on the merits |
| Main way to undo it | Rule 74.05(d) motion: meritorious defense + good cause, within a reasonable time, never more than one year | Motion within 30 days while the judge still controls the judgment, or a Rule 74.06(b) motion for mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect, within one year |
| How forgiving | More forgiving. Honest mistakes can count. | Less forgiving. |
And if you did file a timely answer and the court entered a default judgment anyway, that judgment was improper from the start. In that situation, Missouri courts have said the usual set-aside test doesn’t even apply, because there was never a default to begin with.
How to Set Aside a Missouri Default Judgment
Already got a default judgment against you? Missouri gives you a few ways to get it undone, but every one of them is on a clock.
1. Rule 74.05(d): The Main Route
You file a motion to set aside the default judgment. You have to show three things:
- A meritorious defense. You need facts showing a real defense, not proof that you’ll win. Examples: the debt is past the statute of limitations, it isn’t your debt (identity theft or a mix-up), you already paid or settled it, or the plaintiff can’t show it owns the account.
- Good cause. Under the rule, good cause includes a mistake or conduct that wasn’t intentionally or recklessly designed to impede the judicial process. Honest mistakes count. Tossing the summons in the trash on purpose doesn’t.
- Timeliness. The motion has to be filed within a reasonable time, and never more than one year after the judgment was entered.
A couple of things the rule doesn’t spell out. Courts want facts, not conclusions, so the motion should be verified or backed up with affidavits. Missouri appellate courts have turned down motions built on bare, uncorroborated claims of good cause. The judge can also set the judgment aside on conditions, such as paying the attorney fees the other side spent getting the default. And yes, Rule 74.05(d) applies in the Associate Circuit Division, too.
And don’t treat that one year like a target. Sitting on it for eleven months with no good reason can sink a motion that otherwise would have worked.
2. Rule 74.06(b): When the Judgment Is Void
If you were never properly served, the court never got personal jurisdiction over you, and a judgment entered without it is void. Rule 74.06(b)(4) lets you attack a void judgment, and the one-year limit doesn’t apply. The motion still has to be filed within a reasonable time. Common examples: the summons was left with someone who doesn’t actually live at your house, the return of service is defective, or the summons gave you less time to appear than the law requires.
Rule 74.06(b) also covers fraud, misconduct by the other side, and irregular judgments, but those grounds carry a one-year deadline.
3. The First 30 Days
For 30 days after a judgment is entered, the trial judge still has control over it. If you find out about a judgment right away, that window gives you the most options. Don’t waste it.
What About an Appeal?
Generally, no. A party who defaulted usually can’t just appeal. You have to go back to the trial court with a motion.
What to Do if You Received a Default Judgment Against You
- Look it up. Search your name on Case.net. Write down the case number, the date the judgment was entered, and the plaintiff’s attorney.
- Don’t wait for the garnishment. The one-year clock started the day the judgment was entered, not the day you found out about it.
- Write down how it happened. When were you served? Who was served? Did you ever get the summons? Those facts are your good cause, or your void-judgment argument.
- Gather your defense. Payment records, settlement letters, identity theft reports, the date you last paid. That’s your meritorious defense.
- Before you sign anything with the collection firm, talk to a lawyer. They are not on your side, no matter how friendly they sound on the phone.
- Know the bigger option. If the judgment is valid and the debt is more than you can handle, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy stops garnishments through the automatic stay and can wipe out the debt behind the judgment. See Does Bankruptcy Stop a Lawsuit?
Frequently Asked Questions
Under Rule 74.05(d), the motion must be filed within a reasonable time and never more than one year after the judgment was entered. If the judgment is void, for example because you were never properly served, Rule 74.06(b)(4) lets you challenge it without the one-year limit, but you still have to act within a reasonable time.
Not properly. Under Missouri law, a party who has filed a responsive pleading is not in default just because they miss a court date. If you answered and then missed trial, the judgment is a judgment on the merits, not a default judgment, and different rules apply to undoing it.
No. Under Chapter 517, you respond by appearing on the return date on your summons. Affirmative defenses, like the statute of limitations, and counterclaims must still be filed in writing by the return date.
Yes. A default judgment can be enforced like any other judgment. Wage garnishment is limited to 25% of disposable earnings, or 10% if you are the head of a family and a Missouri resident. Bank accounts can also be garnished.
In most consumer debt cases, yes. Filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy triggers the automatic stay, which stops garnishments, and a discharge generally wipes out the debt behind the judgment. Some debts, such as most taxes and child support, are not dischargeable.
The Bottom Line
A default judgment means the collector won without a fight. Don’t give it to them for free. If you’ve been sued, deal with it before the return date. And if they already have a judgment against you, call me. It may not be too late to undo it.
Contact Markwell Law for a free consultation if you’ve been sued by a debt collector or found a default judgment against you.
St. Peters, MO 63303
Phone: 636-486-1093
Fax: 636-634-3462
About the author: Guss Markwell is the attorney at Markwell Law, LLC in St. Peters, Missouri. He represents people sued by debt collectors and files Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases throughout St. Charles County and the St. Louis area, and has been recognized by Super Lawyers in 2024, 2025, and 2026.
Last reviewed: November 2026. This post is general information about Missouri law, not legal advice for your situation.
