Check out some similar questions!

chers · Jul 21, 2008, 09:51 AM

Hi, :)

I received a summons and submitted a letter of answer to the summons in plenty of time for it to be received and I know it got their because I received a receipt for the court fees. The court date was the 28th of June. Since then I have not heard what the outcome was. Would I receive anything telling me what happened is my first question. My second question is from mail I am receiving from lawyers it appears the court went in favor of the plaintiff. Should I still try to work out a payment plan with them as I had offered to do in my letter of answer if it came to that? I'm lost here and scared to death they are going to seize my bank account and home. I thought about filing for bankruptcy but don't want to do this unless it's my only option.

I apologize if this has been asked before. I have been reading posts for hours and can't find anything that answers my questions.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me.

Chers

progunr · Jul 21, 2008, 10:00 AM

You didn't receive a determination of the case the day of the hearing?

Did you receive notice from the court, as to who's favor this was decided in.

You can call the court house, or visit, with your case number, and ask what the decision was.

If you lost, then yes, you are subject to garnishment and property levy, if allowed in your jurisdiction.

Depending on your situation, you MIGHT be able to work out a payment plan after the judgment, but really, the time to try hard to do that was before the hearing.

chers · Jul 21, 2008, 10:20 AM

Hi,

Thank you for your response. No I have not received anything from the court telling me the outcome of it. I had submitted my letter of answer to both the court and the plaintiff and offered a payment plan and received no response from either. The only thing that tells me the court received my letter of answer was the receipt I received for court fees. There was not any communication from the plaintiff as to if they would accept my offer of payment either. If it was not for lawyers sending me letters to offer to assist me I would know nothing at this point.

I am a self employed independent contractor so their only options I am guessing would be to freeze my checking account and put a lien on my property. I don't have a car or anything else for that matter.

Chers

JudyKayTee · Jul 21, 2008, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by chers

Hi,

Thank you for your response. No I have not received anything from the court telling me the outcome of it. I had submitted my letter of answer to both the court and the plantiff and offered a payment plan and received no response from either. The only thing that tells me the court received my letter of answer was the receipt I received for court fees. There was not any communication from the plantiff as to if they would accept my offer of payment either. If it was not for lawyers sending me letters to offer to assist me I would know nothing at this point.

I am a self employed independent contractor so their only options I am guessing would be to freeze my checking account and put a lein on my property. I don't have a car or anything else for that matter.

Chers

Did your original papers contain a Court date? If so, you should have answered (as you did) and also appeared. I am always concerned about non-Attorney answers because they can be thrown out if they are not 100% according to law and format.

Before anything else happens you should receive a copy of the Judgment.

ScottGem · Jul 21, 2008, 10:43 AM

I'm not clear, did you attend the hearing on June 28th? If you didn't then a default judgement was almost definitely awarded the plaintiff. I suspect they are looking for assets they can attach.

chers · Jul 21, 2008, 02:10 PM

Hi,

The paper that I had gotten on the first page of the summons and the second page for that matter it clearly stated that I had to either send a letter of answer or appear in court. No where on the letter did it say I had to do both. I even contacted the court to make sure and they told me I could just send the letter of answer. Apparently I was misinformed when I called and judgement was made in favor of the plaintiff. Since there is no way to prove the phone call I am basically sunk and trying to figure out what my next course of action should be. I don't know if I should file bankruptcy. If they seize my checking account then there will be no way to pay any of my bills. I have my own home so I am assuming they can put a lien on that. I just don't know where to go. I can't change what happened but I have to figure out where to go from here.

Chers

JudyKayTee · Jul 21, 2008, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by chers

Hi,

The paper that I had gotten on the first page of the summons and the second page for that matter it clearly stated that I had to either send a letter of answer or appear in court. No where on the letter did it say I had to do both. I even contacted the court to make sure and they told me I could just send the letter of answer. Apparently I was misinformed when I called and judgement was made in favor of the plantiff. Since there is no way to prove the phone call I am basically sunk and trying to figure out what my next course of action should be. I don't know if I should file bankruptcy. If they seize my checking account then there will be no way to pay any of my bills. I have my own home so I am assuming they can put a lein on that. I just don't know where to go. I can't change what happened but I have to figure out where to go from here.

Chers

If they lien against your home nothing will happen until (and unless) you sell and then this Judgment will come off the top.

I am not an advocate of breaking the law but you are not the first person nor will you be the last to close the checking account, go on a cash basis, purchase Post Office money orders to pay your bills.

Are you in a State which allows a creditor to file a garnishment against your wages?

I know this is the stuff of which panic is made but I think you have to protect your cash right now, take a deep breath, let your head clear and think about what is best for you.

The fact that they took a Judgment doesn't mean they will attempt to enforce it - now that they are guaranteed payment they may very well be receptive to a payment plan.

I'd wait and see what happens next -

ScottGem · Jul 21, 2008, 04:27 PM

You misunderstood. Your choice was like this, you could send in a later or WAIT and show up in court. When you are sued, you get a chance for a hearing. But you have to show up.

However, its not necessariuly written in stone. I would go down to the court IMMEDIATELY and file a motion to vacate the judgement on the grounds that you were misinformed. This motion doesn't need to be formally written depending on the court. The worst that can happen is the motion is denied. The best is that you are granted a new hearing.

Of course a lot depends on what you are being sued about. You may have no chance of winning a suit so you might not want to bother.

chers · Jul 21, 2008, 04:28 PM

Hi,

I work a online job and get paid through PayPal. I am not sure they will be able to find this account or not. I can set up with some of my utulities to pay online unless they find this account then I have a whole new problem again.

Thanks so much to everyone for their help.

Chers

chers · Jul 21, 2008, 04:35 PM

Scott,

Thank you for your insight. I think at this point that would be futile attempt the debt is mine and I have to find a way to deal with it and move on. I have been told by a few sources that I can still try to negotiate it and possibly using bankruptcy as a threat to get them to make a settlement plan. I will post back here and let you all know what happens.

Thanks again,
Chers

chers · Jul 25, 2008, 10:29 AM

Hi Everyone,

I just thought I would let you all know that what happened was that the Creditor had decided to leave my bank account alone and had planned to put a lien on my property. However they accepted a reasonable down payment with monthly payments that I can handle.

I have vowed to myself I will never get into this kind of trouble again but at the time it happened I didn't know that I had other options. I thank God for the angel I have found to help me out of this mess and the talents he gave her to deal with it.

I also thank all of you for all your advice and help.

Bless,
Chers

ScottGem · Jul 25, 2008, 10:31 AM

Great, good luck to you and thanks for letting us know.

JudyKayTee · Jul 25, 2008, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by chers

Hi Everyone,

I just thought I would let you all know that what happened was that the Creditor had decided to leave my bank account alone and had planned to put a lein on my property. However they accepted a reasonable down payment with monthly payments that I can handle.

I have vowed to myself I will never get into this kind of trouble again but at the time it happened I didn't know that I had other options. I thank God for the angel I have found to help me out of this mess and the talents he gave her to deal with it.

I also thank all of you for all your advise and help.

Bless,
Chers

Why don't you come back and join in the posting now and then? People will learn from what you've been through and you might have other questions or want to help people find their way through the legal maze?

And thanks for coming back and posting - always glad to hear that advice was helpful.

chers · Jul 25, 2008, 10:52 AM

Hi,

I would love to come back and help others out if I can. You all have been so great to me the next person deserves the same wonderful chance I was given by all of you. No one made me feel bad for the mess I had gotten myself into and you all were quick to help out.

I will be back to post now and then.

Thank you again,
Chers