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ssundown · Dec 15, 2008, 04:56 PM

Had a judgement against me in small claims court. Have been out of work and missed the weekly payments. Plaintiff filed contempt of court charges against me four days after the first payment was due. Am 6 weeks behind in payments and due to go to court 1/7/09. Should I try and make up the payments by borrowing the money, write a letter to the judge, or appear in court and hope the don't put me in jail. Please help!

JudyKayTee · Dec 15, 2008, 06:02 PM

Originally Posted by ssundown

Had a judgement against me in small claims court. Have been out of work and missed the weekly payments. Plaintiff filed contempt of court charges against me four days after the first payment was due. Am 6 weeks behind in payments and due to go to court 1/7/09. Should I try and make up the payments by borrowing the money, write a letter to the judge, or appear in court and hope the don't put me in jail. Please help!

This is unusual - in my experience the Judge hands down the Judgment and then closes his/her end of things. It's up to the creditor to try to get the judgment debtor to pay.

Did the Judge order a payment schedule and now you are in contempt and being taken in to explain?

What State is this - so I never move there!

ssundown · Dec 15, 2008, 06:10 PM

Yes, he ordered $25.00 a week, but out of work and didn't have the cash. It's Ohio. Do you have any idea what I should do?

JudyKayTee · Dec 15, 2008, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by ssundown

Yes, he ordered $25.00 a week, but out of work and didn't have the cash. It's Ohio. Do you have any idea what I should do?

No, but I know somebody who does. Stay tuned -

twinkiedooter · Dec 15, 2008, 06:29 PM

Don't bother writing a letter to the Judge. Try and pay whatever you can by borrowing if necessary to get out from under the contempt. The judge won't throw you in jail (not right away that is) but could possibly order you pay it all up to date. The Plaintiff may decide to have your assets looked at by the Court to see if he can be satisfied that way. This all comes into play as far as how long you have owed this debt, how much the debt is total, and how persistent the Plaintiff is in the case. If he keeps yanking you back into Court the second you are late with a payment, he's not going to care if you are broke, unemployed, etc. He just wants his money and will not stop until he gets it.

ssundown · Dec 15, 2008, 06:44 PM

Thanks, twinkie. Actually it is my boyfriend and it is his father and stepmother that sued him. It was from 14 yrs ago and they had an iou from him for 800. Since he didn't have reciepts from what he paid the judge ordered him to pay the 800 and dropped the other 500. Crazy situation! Thanks for the help

twinkiedooter · Dec 15, 2008, 06:48 PM

Gee, with folks like that I'm sure he's not going to their house for Christmas dinner! That is worse than dreadful. Must be the evil stepmother behind the whole thing or dad's off his rocker. Either way, he has my condolences. Hope dad comes to his senses someday.

ssundown · Dec 15, 2008, 07:02 PM

Wow! You got it right. It is the evil stepmother. I guess we will have to try and borrow the money to catch up before he goes to court. Thanks and have a Merry christmas!

this8384 · Dec 16, 2008, 07:53 AM

Actually Judy, you can do that in Wisconsin. When someone is awarded a judgment, they have 21 days to complete a financial disclosure and return it to the creditor. If they fail to do so, the creditor can file for contempt of court(which I have done personally, only to have her send me the financial disclosure after I rescheduled the court date due to her not have been served timely! :) )

JudyKayTee · Dec 16, 2008, 07:57 AM

Originally Posted by this8384

Actually Judy, you can do that in Wisconsin. When someone is awarded a judgment, they have 21 days to complete a financial disclosure and return it to the creditor. If they fail to do so, the creditor can file for contempt of court(which I have done personally, only to have her send me the financial disclosure after I rescheduled the court date due to her not have been served timely! :) )

Another reason I am not moving to Wisconsin!

Thanks for the info - this is just so strange to me because in NY the Judge renders the Judgment, wishes you well, washes his/her hands of the whole deal. Maybe that's why NY is in such a mess.

this8384 · Dec 16, 2008, 08:01 AM

It's actually sort of a good thing; this way, the debtor is required to report their income, assets and accounts... if they're being truthful, of course.

However, filing for contempt doesn't force the debtor to pay. It just forces them to complete the financial disclosure or go to jail.

Jake2008 · Dec 16, 2008, 09:09 AM

It probably would have been better after the first court decision, when you realized the payments couldn't be made, to see if you can make other arrangements i.e. lower the payments.

For them to win, and still not receive an agreed upon monthly sum, with nothing formal, i.e. a registered letter, some payment toward the debt, etc. why would they not find you in contempt.

I don't mean to sound mean, but all this stuff takes time, and ignoring it won't make it go away. Now its cruch time, and back to court again.

If you can borrow the money now to pay the debt, why didn't you do it before it got this far.

I hope you manage to clear this debt. It gets really sad (and ugly) when family sues family.