I was sued for credit card debt in Wisconsin, I went to 3 hearings before commissioner ruled in favor of collection agency.
Today is the day a judgment can or will be entered against me.

Yes I did say the debt was mine and wanted to pay, but I lost my job 1 year ago, and only have 11 weeks of unemployment left. I also have no vehicles or property and only $420 in bank.

After the last hearing I talked to collections lawyer in the courthouse hall about my money problem, all he said was " well like I tell everyone in this situation, pick up the paper"

1 week ago I got letter from collections law firm offering me a deal to pay $220 a month to them, and the crazy part to me is they said I could use a credit card for that.

My guess is they know I have a credit card with zero balance & $3000 limit.

I am really tempted to use credit card to make payments, but that could just make get into a problem with another credit card if I don't find a job before unemployment runs out.

I am also worried they might put a freeze on my bank account, I have my unemployment going there by direct deposit. I really don't want a judgment on my record

Guess my question is, should I use credit card to pay off this debt?

Thanks

Never ever use one credit card to pay off another credit card debt, that is one way of getting deeper in debt. Sure they will encourage you to do that, they don't care as long as they get their money.

Have your unemployment cheque sent to your home address, cancel the direct deposit. It will be taken, nothing is differentiated in a bank account. In fact, cancel any other direct deposit and have any monies sent to your either your home or a post office box number. Everyone has to have money to live.

Tick

I was real close to going to their website last night to make a payment.
Everyone tells me I am judgment proof and not to worry, but they don't understand that this could be on my record for 10 years, collection agency can still get money at any time when I get a job.

Local newspaper had to give me more bad news too

"Making it more difficult to talk about an economic turnaround, Wisconsin lost 2,200 jobs in March while the state's unemployment rate notched higher to 8.8% from 8.7% in the previous month, according to preliminary figures released Thursday by the state"

They can't when the statute of limitations runs out in your State. Stick to your guns and please do not pay with one credit card on top of another or you will never ever dig yourself out of debt.

If you can work at a minimum wage job to make a living, then do it. I have done just everything to make a buck and come out on top. Anyone can.

Tick

They won't stop the judgement just because you sent them a payment, if that was what you were thinking, they don't care how they get your money, they just want to get payments when possible

I would have made the payments every month or maybe even pay whole thing off with the credit card. But so far I haven't got a answer from them about if that will stop them from entering Judgment. The letter said they need money before April 26th, which seems odd since letter from court said judgment will be entered today unless I filed for appeal in civil court.

My feeling is that a payment arrangement will NOT stop a Judgment from being obtained and filed.

No effort will (probably) be made to collect IF you keep up your end of the payment bargain - if, however, you default, then the creditor is all set to file.

I think I will have to wait and see what happens if & when they file judgment, it's been 2 business days and I see nothing online yet on my court records. Hate to make payment arrangement that I might not be able to keep. Using credit card could make things even worse if I don't find a job before unemployment runs out

Today the judgment was entered, so I guess I will be getting a Order For Financial Disclosure soon in the mail.

Does household income include what my roommate makes?
He is not a family member, just a good friend.

Yes, you are in the same household and he is presumably assisting you in paying bills (rent, utilities, food), enabling you to pay more to your creditors.

That's crazy! So if a roommate made $50,000 a year that would affect how much I must pay creditor, even though that money isn't mine? Also I am unemployed with no income, unless you count unemployment.

That's crazy! So if a roommate made $50,000 a year that would affect how much I must pay creditor, even though that money isn't mine? Also I am unemployed with no income, unless you count unemployment.


Whether you think it's crazy, that's how the law works.

If you had no roommate you would have even less disposable income. You have a roommate and so you have more disposable income - which your creditor is allowed to "tap."

I never said the amount of money your roommate makes causes you to pay more. I said that that is household money, used to pay household bills, giving you more disposable income.

If you made $100 a week and paid $50 for household expenses, you'd have $50 a week left to pay your bills. If you made $100 a week and paid $25 for household expenses because your roommate paid the other $25 you'd have $75 a week left to pay your bills.

That's the law.

Thanks Judy.
It's been 5 days now and no Financial Disclosure letter from collections lawyer, just a notice of entry of judgment from court clerk. Surprised lawyers didn't send financial disclosure letter out right away. Maybe they want to freeze my bank account first, since they know I have no job.

Been 10 days now since judgment was entered, and I haven't received financial disclosure letter yet. And no email or letters from collection lawyers
Is that odd?

Nope.

Been a month now and no Financial Disclosure letter from collections lawyer, and my checking account is still OK.
I want to put rent money in the bank, but afraid account might have a freeze put on it, without me knowing in advance. I check court records every day, and all it shows is the entry of judgment. Would there be anything on record if lawyer ever puts freeze on my account? Also would they do that without sending a Financial Disclosure first?

Why would they go through 3 court hearings and not try to get their money asap?

Many times the creditors know you are judgment proof and don't bother asking for disclosure.

What they do is sit on the judgment and monitor your credit reports. If they see that you start building assets, they will go after them.

Thanks Scott.
They won't see much on my credit report, I stopped using credit cards, and if I ever buy a car it would be used and paid with cash only. Odds of me owning anything of value anytime in the future is zero. Seems like everyone is trying to get rid of full time positions here.

But if you do get a job, odds are they will find out and garnish your salary. Remember, they have 10 years and then another 10 on renewal to wait.

I'm from Wisconsin, so I'll throw my two cents in. I have to say, I'm rather surprised that there were three court hearings over one small claims case. That seems a bit excessive. I've heard of a pre-trial hearing, at which point the judge will see if the parties can agree or if it needs to go to trial. If they cannot agree, then you proceed to trial which for small claims, shouldn't take more than an hour.

If you received the notification of judgment, that states that you are to fill out and return a Financial Disclosure to the plaintiff within 21 days of the judgment. Failure to do so can allow them to file for contempt of court against you - so I'd send it back rather than wasting time playing games.

This statement:

The letter said they need money before April 26th, which seems odd since letter from court said judgment will be entered today unless I filed for appeal in civil court.
Is very odd indeed. You cannot appeal a case that hasn't been ruled on. You can file a counter-claim against someone, but you cannot a appeal a decision that doesn't exist. Unless you entered into a deferred payment agreement and then defaulted, leading to a judgment being entered at a later date.

My assumption is that you either a)aren't quite sure what the situation is or b)are not giving us the full story.

If I can ask, what was your defense in court?

My first time there the plaintiff had nothing at all to prove I opened that account and the account was mine. So the Commissioner asked plaintiff if he could get proof, and he replied he will try. So the Commissioner gave him 7 weeks to get that.

My 2nd time there the plaintiff showed copies of statements from 4 years ago with no charges on, I said that does not prove account was mine. So Commissioner set up a hearing date.

At the hearing the plaintiff still only had copies of statements and a witness over the phone stating he has verification I opened the account and statements were mailed to my address, that witness was the co owner of the collection agency. The Commissioner then decided in favor of the plaintiff.

I was told if I don't file appeal within 15 days a judgment would be entered.

I was never told to fill out any Financial Disclosure and never received any Financial Disclosure papers or anything else so far from lawyer or collection agency. I called the court clerk and was told they have nothing to do with that, and I should call the plaintiff (like I am really going to do that.)

Here is court records with the dates left out

12/00/09 Return date - Small Claims Commissioner Court
Additional Text:
Plaintiff in court by Attorney. Defendant in court pro se. Adjourned for further proceedings

02/00/10 Hearing - Small Claims Commissioner Court
Additional Text:
Plaintiff in court by Attorney. Defendant in court pro se. Case is adjourned to 0/0/10 before the
Small Claims Court Commissioner for Evidentiary Hearing


03/00/10 Hearing - Off the Record (This was with same Court Commissioner I had at my 2nd date)
Additional Text:
Plaintiff in court by Attorney. Defendant in court pro se. Hearing Conducted 0:00am Oral decision rendred for
Plaintiff with entry of judgment of $$$$$ plus costs to be made on 04/00/10.
Witnesses sworn and examined


0/0/10 Hearing - Small Claims Commissioner Court (I was never told about this hearing)
Additional Text:
Plaintiff NOT in court. Defendant NOT in court. Judgment granted to Plaintiff in the amount of $$$$$ plus costs
With immediate entry of Judgment

04/0/10 Default judgment -Small Claims Commissioner Court

04/0/10 Notice of entry of judgment - Small Claims Commissioner Court

My first time there the plaintiff had nothing at all to prove I opened that account and the account was mine. So the Commissioner asked plaintiff if he could get proof, and he replied he will try. So the Commissioner gave him 7 weeks to get that.

My 2nd time there the plaintiff showed copies of statements from 4 years ago with no charges on, I said that does not prove account was mine. So Commissioner set up a hearing date.

At the hearing the plaintiff still only had copies of statements and a witness over the phone stating he has verification I opened the account and statements were mailed to my address, that witness was the co owner of the collection agency. The Commissioner then decided in favor of the plaintiff.

I was told if I don't file appeal within 15 days a judgment would be entered.

I was never told to fill out any Financial Disclosure and never received any Financial Disclosure papers or anything else so far from lawyer or collection agency. I called the court clerk and was told they have nothing to do with that, and I should call the plaintiff (like I am really going to do that.)

Here is court records with the dates left out

12/00/09 Return date - Small Claims Commissioner Court
Additional Text:
Plaintiff in court by Attorney. Defendant in court pro se. Adjourned for further proceedings

02/00/10 Hearing - Small Claims Commissioner Court
Additional Text:
Plaintiff in court by Attorney. Defendant in court pro se. Case is adjourned to 0/0/10 before the
Small Claims Court Commissioner for Evidentiary Hearing


03/00/10 Hearing - Off the Record (This was with same Court Commissioner I had at my 2nd date)
Additional Text:
Plaintiff in court by Attorney. Defendant in court pro se. Hearing Conducted 0:00am Oral decision rendred for
Plaintiff with entry of judgment of $$$$$ plus costs to be made on 04/00/10.
Witnesses sworn and examined


0/0/10 Hearing - Small Claims Commissioner Court (I was never told about this hearing)
Additional Text:
Plaintiff NOT in court. Defendant NOT in court. Judgment granted to Plaintiff in the amount of $$$$$ plus costs
with immediate entry of Judgment

04/0/10 Default judgment -Small Claims Commissioner Court

04/0/10 Notice of entry of judgment - Small Claims Commissioner Court

I don't understand why you removed the dates, but I assume it's to conceal your already anonymous identity.

I assume that was your defense - that this account did not belong to you?

Yes, you were informed that you needed to fill out a financial disclosure statement. You already wrote that the decision was rendered orally, which means the court commissioner most likely informed you at that time. When you received the paperwork stating that a judgment had been entered, it also says it on there as well.

Reading what you've posted, it appears that in March, the court gave you an opportunity to establish a payment agreement with the plaintiff, but still granted them the judgment.

Do you have a case number for this?

The dates were removed because it would be easy for anyone here to find out my name and where I live by looking here Simple Case Search (http://tinyurl.com/2g5w89x)
Posting the case number here would really be a crazy thing to do. Also who knows if CA or Lawyer working for them are reading this forum. Financial disclosure was never mentioned by Commissioner, I was given some printed info to read which did mention mailing Financial disclosure within 15 days after judgment was entered. But there was no info saying what to put in disclosure, also everything online shows the plaintiff is suppose to send me Financial disclosure papers to fill out. The hearing went very quick and Commissioner didn't care about anything I had to say, it was like they were not even listening and were waiting for me to stop talking. I haven't got any phone calls, mail or email from lawyer or CA since. Yes they even have my email address because I emailed them twice after my 1st hearing.
No the court never gave me an opportunity to establish a payment agreement with the plaintiff, I said the CA lawyer sent me a letter with a offer. But why would I agree to any offer before sending a Financial disclosure where they would see I have no job, car, property or much money in bank. Can't agree to a high offer that I could only pay by using a credit card.

The dates were removed because it would be easy for anyone here to find out my name and where I live by looking here Simple Case Search (http://tinyurl.com/2g5w89x)
Posting the case number here would really be a crazy thing to do. Also who knows if CA or Lawyer working for them are reading this forum. Financial disclosure was never mentioned by Commissioner, I was given some printed info to read which did mention mailing Financial disclosure within 15 days after judgment was entered. But there was no info saying what to put in disclosure, also everything online shows the plaintiff is suppose to send me Financial disclosure papers to fill out. The hearing went very quick and Commissioner didn't care about anything I had to say, it was like they were not even listening and were waiting for me to stop talking. I haven't got any phone calls, mail or email from lawyer or CA since. Yes they even have my email address because I emailed them twice after my 1st hearing.

Yes, I know what CCAP is and how to use it. I was just trying to see if I could get some more clarification on the situation, without dates being edited and potential information being removed; I prefer to see for myself what exactly went on. You say the commissioner didn't want to listen to you - I'm wondering why. A commissioner always wants to hear both sides of the story, the same as we do here.

No, the plaintiff does not mail you the FD papers. The court mails them to you and you send them back to the plaintiff completed.

The lawyer has no reason to contact you at this point. Either you fill out the FD or you don't; the judgment is still going to show up on your credit report.

The commissioner I had on my 2nd date, was the same one I had for the 3rd (last) date which was the hearing. She even remembered what I said on the 2nd date and seem to be in a hurry like she already had her decision, seemed like her mind was made up already at the 2nd hearing, which also went very quick. All the lawyers in the courtroom were the same ones all 3 times I went, and some seemed way to friendly with the commissioner when I seen them talking in the courtroom.
This still is not on my credit report either, I get alerts from all 3 for anything new added, and check every week too.

I really wish I could give you more info like dates or case number, but just my luck you would work for the CA or Law firm. I am really sorry about that.

The commissioner I had on my 2nd date, was the same one I had for the 3rd (last) date which was the hearing. She even remembered what I said on the 2nd date and seem to be in a hurry like she already had her decision, seemed like her mind was made up already at the 2nd hearing, which also went very quick. All the lawyers in the courtroom were the same ones all 3 times I went, and some seemed way to friendly with the commissioner when I seen them talking in the courtroom.
This still is not on my credit report either, I get alerts from all 3 for anything new added, and check every week too.

I really wish I could give you more info like dates or case number, but just my luck you would work for the CA or Law firm. I am really sorry about that.



It's foolish to post personal info but trust me - "This" mostly definitely does NOT work for the CA or law firm.

It's foolish to post personal info but trust me - "This" mostly definitely does NOT work for the CA or law firm.

Yeah real foolish to post personal court info in WI, it is super easy to find out things about people on CCAP like address and where they work. Big thing going on now in Madison to block CCAP access to people

Yeah real foolish to post personal court info in WI, it is super easy to find out things about people on CCAP like address and where they work. Big thing going on now in Madison to block CCAP access to people

Which I completely disagree with. The information posted there is public record. It's saved me some pretty bad headaches when it comes to renting. I had a couple apply for an apartment, said their current landlord was going senile and her family was being unreasonable. I entered their name into CCAP and found out they were in the process of being evicted - something like the 4th time in 5 years.

On a personal note, I don't understand why you think "if" I worked for a collection agency and/or attorney's office, it would be detrimental to you - they already have their judgment. You saying you could pay it off by credit card means absolutely nothing.

And like Judy said, I also disagree with posting personal information on the Internet - I certainly won't do it so I don't think it's that strange that you wouldn't want to. As I explained before, I would just prefer to read the court record myself because it doesn't seem that you quite understand what went on. But I am a far cry from a collection agency or an attorney. The advice I post here is simply things that I have knowledge of. And going back to who I do or do not work for - I'm certainly not going to get any additional information off CCAP that I wouldn't already have.

I'm also going to take the time to throw in that your comments about the lawyers and commissioner seeming "friendly" is absolutely ridiculous. These people see one another on a constant basis. In fact, I just recently saw a commissioner "welcome" an attorney to a county that she hadn't previously practiced in before. Does that mean she's biased? Absolutely not.

Did your hearing(s) move quickly? I certainly hope so. I don't want my tax dollars wasted on a trial being dragged out for absolutely no reason. You don't seem to have had any valid defense for your case, which is most likely why a judgment was awarded to the plaintiff.

My fear of somebody from collection agency finding out who I am will make them say in the office "Hey look at this, what's going on, did we forget about getting money from this guy" Been over a month now and all I got was 1 sheet of paper from court saying judgment was entered, and no contact from collection agency or their lawyers. This is a huge law firm too with offices in 9 or 10 states. I will post again here if I ever do get something from collection agency or lawyer. Thanks for all the help.

My fear of somebody from collection agency finding out who I am will make them say in the office "Hey look at this, what's going on, did we forget about getting money from this guy" Been over a month now and all I got was 1 sheet of paper from court saying judgment was entered, and no contact from collection agency or their lawyers. This is a huge law firm too with offices in 9 or 10 states. I will post again here if I ever do get something from collection agency or lawyer. Thanks for all the help.

Apparently you don't understand how this works. The collection agency is not going to "forget" you. They sued you, remember? The original creditor couldn't get paid by you, so they turned it over to collections. The collection agency couldn't get paid by you, so they sued you. I don't understand your logic that they're going to forget now that they have a judgment - that is not how it works whatsoever.

The reason they sued you was to keep the debt within statute of limitations - by law, they have 6 years to try and collect the debt. If it was past the six years, they couldn't have sued you. Now that they have a judgment, they can keep trying to get paid for the next 20 years.

this8384, I just got off the phone with small claims court clerk.
They said plaintiff sends out the Financial disclosure papers, and it's not odd that I haven't got any yet.
All I have been wondering about in most of my questions here is why would they go through all this trouble and not even want to know if I really don't have a job, property or money in the bank? I doubt they just took my word about it.

this8384, I just got off the phone with small claims court clerk.
They said plaintiff sends out the Financial disclosure papers, and it's not odd that I haven't got any yet.
All I have been wondering about in most of my questions here is why would they go through all this trouble and not even want to know if I really don't have a job, property or money in the bank? I doubt they just took my word about it.

Did you not read my last post at all? Any creditor in this state has a limit of six years from the date of last activity to try and legally collect a debt; after six years, they cannot sue you.

The creditor DID sue you. Now that they have a judgment, they can try to collect for the next TWENTY YEARS. Are you going to stay unemployed and not put any money in the bank for twenty years? Didn't think so.

Maybe Milwaukee County does things differently. I've certainly never heard of my county, or any surrounding counties, requiring the plaintiff to send out paperwork as ordered by the court.

And so what if you're lying about being unemployed? They don't care; they'll find you eventually. You buy a house; they'll put a lien on it. You get a job; they'll garnish your wages. You put money in the bank; they'll freeze your account. You do not have the upperhand in this situation.

OP apparently knows everything so you are wasting your time.

(Out of greenies)

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