Are you kidding me? Can this happen?

I am trying to stay calm about this situation but it is eating me up inside.  In 2004 ears ago I moved to Memphis, TN while my ex husband was stationed in Iraq. A few months before he came back, he granted me POA so that I can get a nice apartment for the both of us since I was in school, lack of credit and he had better credit. I was given a limited POA and was able to secure the apartment in his name (I wasn't anywhere listed on the lease) He comes back to the states and moves in with his mistress in Ohio and leaves me alone in the apartment. Cut me off from all accounts and I practically never heard from him, and it has been hell going through a divorce with him, but I digress. I tried my best to keep up with the expensive costs of the apartment but being a student and working part-time it was really impossible for me. I contacted my exes family and his family got in touch with him because although I did not want to just leave the property without paying, I just could not afford it! The ex and his family decided to move his sister into the apartment. I move OUT of the apartment. I had not heard anything else from anyone about this apartment until today. I was being vetted for a Security Clearance and offered a government position at the Pentagon to find out TODAY that unfortunately I wasn't approved for the clearance because there is a Judgement against me in Memphis Circuit Court! I was LIVID. I have been unemployed for 6 months, and I am completely struggling, finally get a good position and it is yanked from me because of this. So I call the court and the clerk was very helpful to me. She told me that the property served ME a summons to court in 2006 and that a judgement was made against me for nonpayment of rent and that "I" was evicted. She told me that my ex husband fell under the Soldier's/Sailors Act and was "unservable" or something to that affect due to him being deployed AGAIN and that they decided to drag me into court for it. She said that the debt is to ME and under HIS name the debt is $0!

How is this? How can I have a judgement against me if my name isn't on the lease? Yet his name is on the lease and his debt is $0??? I was NEVER summoned to court because i wasn't living there. I am assuming that his sister acted as ME and accepted the document from the Sheriff and bailed on the property altogether.

Can someone please tell me if this is legal? I have tried contacting the Attorney's office but they are reluctant to give me any information. They are telling me to just contact an attorney. I have tried getting in touch with Attorneys in Memphis that specialize in Tenant/Landlord Law and they are far and few in between. Do I sue my ex? I can not pay $4,000 in debt that isn't supposed to be in my name in the first place. I can't believe I lost the position over this, I am still livid. I don't even live in Memphis anymore, I live in Washington DC. I haven't lived in Memphis in years.

Is there a way I can have the rental property fax or mail me a copy of the lease to see if there are any provisions in there that says that if my ex couldn't pay that I would have to assume responsibility of his debt with POA?

Any information or advice would be so very helpful. Excuse the emotional post but I am just so shocked and hurt over this. This job meant a lot to me and I had been waiting months for it as I was promoted from a previous temp project to the new one.

I would think the Apt. Mgmt has no legal basis to charge you for anything if you had given them (prior to signing the lease in your husband's name) the LEGAL LIMITED POA form, providing you were not listed as a co-applicant on the lease. They could have just chosen not to run your credit but list you as a co-applicant, in which case, you would be responsible if they couldn't collect from him. If you only signed his name on the lease per the POA, you would not be responsible if he failed to perform per the lease agreement.

You need to make sure exactly what you signed on for, if anything. Which means you need to see exactly what the lease stated. The courts should be able to provide you a copy of the lease agreement that was received from the Apt. Complex as basis for the Judgement Suit they filed against you. If you get it and it only shows you signing his name on his behalf, force them to close the judgement and provide you with documentation they did so. If they won't, threaten to sue them. If it works out and you get the documentation, take it to your prospective employer, if it's not too late, and explain that you were a victim of a erroneous judgement but that it has now been resolved.

In retrospect, you should have discussed with the Apt Complex, prior to leaving the apartment, any concerns about your responsibilities ... rent or anything else relating to the lease. You would not be going through this right now if you had.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out for you.

It entirely possible that the apartment management stretched the law  a bit too far.

1. If you were truly not a co maker of the lease but signed solely and clearly in your capacity as his POA then you probably were not a party to the lease (Some arguements about things for your own necessity aside.) Hopefully you did NOT sign lease twice--as LL I would have insisted you execute it in both capacities--but if LL was sloppy--so be it.

2. If Hubby failed to pay as required (irrespective of protections available to him under Soldiers and Sailors Act ) they would need to serve him.

3. Now odds are LL found or invented an excuse to serve you--and even if you left the state but they served and adult resident at that location they may have slid under the  door as to law--even if you were not properly a party in first place---and you were in dark--LL got a default judgement.

There may be seval legal ways to get that judgement vacated but I doubt any of them are home brew projects--and we are short of details as to just how LL slid this one past.... You are pretty much  going to need counsel in place where judgemetn was entered to address the specifics. .

Odds are you won't get security clearance w/o detailed appeal until this judgement wart is eliminated.

Be careful--unless you properly surrendered the unit his family may be CONTINUING to run up bills in your name!!

Or your name was simply forged......

Thank you all for the replies! Just for clarification --

No, my name was not on the lease as a co-applicant. The apartment was solely in his name. I have officially lost out on the job and back to being unemployed and looking again. The judgement is only in my name and not his. The clerk also found that strange. Memphis is a small city, the Attorney that handled the evictions had been working with the property for years. And the property was in one of the most expensive areas in the city, if not the most expensive. So I am certain there were a few 'stretches' going on. Unfortunately, I have no idea on how to fight back.

The attorney is NOT there to help you!

To fight back requires digging into what actually happened in TN ==and file to vacate judgement in TN

It makes no sense hat a judgement got entered against a nonparty to the lease--it required some fudge of the issues. Perhaps

1. Your signature was forged to add you as a party

2.Notice was given to somebody at that address--but not you or not as require by TN law

3. Plaintiff lied as to notice and/or you were a party

Since you were not there almost anything could have been done------and a default judgement entered