Civil Suit Strategy?

I'm looking for some legal advice regarding a civil lawsuit for an amount of about $14,000. This was a suit based upon a personal loan to a friend that is 2 years old and I have no proof other than a verbal promise regarding the amount and details of the interest. The amount loaned was actually about 10k, but with interest that was verbally agreed on the amount is about 14k now.

I filed a suit and he rec'd the summons, yet the did not show and I was awarded $14k as a default judgment. I proceeded to file paperwork for a paycheck garnishment which was seemingly approved and just recently rec'd a summons to appear in court. The defendant claims that he did not know he was being sued until the garnishment notice showed up and now we have a court date. We now have a date set for a "motion to set aside default judgment" and "Hearing To Garnishment". He wrote a handwritten note to the court saying "I didn't know I was being sued until after my check was garnished". I also have a signed copy of the company that signed off on having "served" the original summons.

The one thing I do have is a text message from his cell that he states an admission that he owes me money and is willing to pay 50 bucks/week when he gets a better job, but it does not address any other details of the amount owed. I also have a close friend that is a close friend of his that can verify existence of this loan if they were compelled, so in the event that he denies it in court, i'm wondering if I could file a police report and accuse him of fraud and lying in court for a further recourse if the court date doesn't go well. Although since they are his friend as well, they likely wouldn't volunteer help unless a court officer or police officer compelled them.

I also have the email address for his mother, would it serve as helpful in court if I sent her an email asking her to discuss a payoff plan with her son and then to get back with me if she writes something in the email to the effect that confirms she says she talked with him and he acknowledged the debt.

My questions are: (Michigan case)

1)How do I handle this case in court w/no evidence other than a verbal agreement if he tries to deny the loan?
2)Do I have any recourse to ask for more money or more interest and ammend the claim, if so what entitlements do I have to maximize the judgment?
3)Do I have recourse for fraud/purgery if he lies in court?
4)Does an email from his mother as inquired above help my case?
5)Any other tips/ideas I am not thinking of?

Ok I am missing something.

IF you were awarded a default judgment, why is it going to trial? If the case was heard in his absence and you were awarded a judgment, none of the questions you asked matter-----are you sure what the purpose of the upcoming hearing is?

If the case has been settled (unless he appealed the judgment) the previous judgment stands.

I might have missed stating this, so i added it into the original post:

We now have a date set for a "motion to set aside default judgment" and "Hearing To Garnishment". He wrote a handwritten note to the court saying "I didn't know I was being sued until after my check was garnished". I also have a signed copy of the company that signed off on having "served" the original summons.

Well, that bit of information changes everything.

Even now, the hearing is NOT about "does he owe the money or not". The hearing is about WAS the PROCESS followed? Was the law followed in the serving of the notice, WAS he served and ordered to appear on his behalf in a proper fashion, in accordance with the laws of your state? At this hearing you do NOT have to prove he owes you the money. You already DID that. His first order of business is to first PROVE that the steps you took to GET the judgment were not carried out properly.

Get your paperwork in order---be prepared to show how you did follow the proper notification steps ---whatever they may be in your state. Your other questions do not have anything to do with this pending hearing.

Good luck.

You may want to read this article: Vacating a Default Judgment Lawyers

Well I guess I'm confused on one issue. When I read the link provided by the Admin above it says that the defendant has a right to argue his case against the original claim, so wouldn't that mean he can still argue on why he doesn't owe the money? If that's the case that's when my original set of questions do apply, so i'm just trying to make sure i know if he has a chance to weasel out of this debt or not and how I can protect the original judgment from having any chance of being dismissed?

Your case has already BEEN argued. There is nothing to argue. He lost. He cannot argue a case he lost. Now, he can and is, apparently, trying to assert that you did not follow proper notification procedure. IF a judge says, "Yes, Mr. Defendant, you are correct. Mr. Plantiff did NOT give you notice of this case against you"----THEN the judge can grant the defendant a new trial at which time THEN he can argue his case AGAIN. However, as it stands the case was adjudicated. If he fails to convinced a judge that that the proper NOTIFICATION was not followed, he cannot and will not be granted a new trial. The merits of the case---if he owes the money or not is NOT the issue, nor is it even the next step in this "what happens next" scenario.

The upcoming hearing is to determine IF proper notification procedure was followed. That is the PURPOSE of the hearing.

Well in that case here is an interesting twist:

I have a copy of the Proof of Service. I paid $25 to have the court appointed/referred company serve the summons and was billed in the mail. I paid with a check and then rec'd a copy of this form. Now the box is checked saying the server PERSONALLY served the paperwork, however the bottom section of "acknowledgment of service" is blank. The document is signed by the owner of this investigations company and he listed a time in the evening of the serving, but why isn't the acknowledgement part filled out? Did he screw up?

I sent an email to this person and made a phone message and have not heard back from him in the last 24 hours. What does that mean in this case then and how should I proceed?

By the way thanks for your help!