Pub. 3 2012 Issue 4

winter 2012 9 after termination or release from his or her service, the ser- vicemember may apply to the court to reopen the judgment to allow the servicemember to defend the action. The ser- vicemember’s application to the court must be filed within 90 days of the date of his or her termination or release from mili- tary service. The court must then reopen the action if it finds that the servicemember’s military service materially affected his or her ability to defend the action and the servicemember has a meritorious legal defense to the action or any part of it. However, even if a court vacates, sets aside, or reverses a de- fault judgment entered against a servicemember because of a provision of the Act, it will not impair a right or title acquired by a bona fide purchaser for value under the default judgment. By understanding the procedural protections and remedies provided by section 521, your business will be better prepared to take the necessary precautionary measures to avoid addi- tional litigation, obtain valid judgments, promote your good will in the community, and reduce the chance of damage to your reputation. Q Angela L. Beblo is a Senior Attorney at Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC. Her primary areas of practice are consumer finance, litigation and mine safety law. Contact Angela Beblo at 304.340.3852 or abeblo@ spilmanlaw.com . Brienne T. Marco is an Associate at Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC. Her primary areas of practice are consumer finance and general litigation. Contact Brienne Marco at 304.720.4060 or bmarco@ spilmanlaw.com . By understanding the procedural protections and remedies provided by section 521, your business will be better prepared to take the necessary precautionary measures to avoid additional litigation and reduce the chance of damage to your reputation.