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yangbguy · Sep 21, 2009, 10:23 AM

Wondering if anyone can help me out here. My dad is being sued for $66000.00 and he only has his SSI money. Here's the story. He took my moms car and crashed it into somoenes house. He is 77 years old and has no license and now he is being sued by the home owners Insurance company. Does anyone know if they'll throw this case out since he doesn't have anything? Any help on this is greatly appreciated. Thank you

JudyKayTee · Sep 21, 2009, 10:27 AM

No, they won't throw it out. They will attempt to get a Judgment and file a lien against him in accordance with the laws of your State. At some point they will try to collect.

Is your mother also being sued for allowing him access to the car - which is "legal talk" even if he stole the keys?

yangbguy · Sep 21, 2009, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

No, they won't throw it out. They will attempt to get a Judgment and file a lien against him in accordance with the laws of your State. At some point they will try to collect.

Is your mother also being sued for allowing him access to the car - which is "legal talk" even if he stole the keys?

I believe so because my moms name is on the court paper also. Yeah my mom wasn't home when he decided to take the keys. But what if my dad doesn't have anything at all. All he has is his SSI money and no assets whatsoever. Same thing with my mom. Thanks

yangbguy · Sep 21, 2009, 11:42 AM

I'm going to have to take them to court on that day. I've never been to court or in a case before. Do you know what happens the first time you're there?

JudyKayTee · Sep 21, 2009, 01:26 PM

What stage of the proceedings are you in? What is the scheduled appearance for?

I believe the Plaintiff (insurance company) will still take a Judgment against your father (and possibly, also, your mother) even though they know they can't enforce it on the outside chance that he will come into some money at some time.

I know it sounds like a waste of their time but it does happen.

Let me know which Court and why you are going and I'll let you know what to expect.

yangbguy · Sep 21, 2009, 01:47 PM

I'll have to look at the papers again. But I'm in California and I see you're in New York. I don't know if you still need the court name. Well I'm going in to help translate for them and maybe get through it. This is the first time they are going in for this case. Thank you for your help

JudyKayTee · Sep 21, 2009, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by yangbguy

I'll have to look at the papers again. But i'm in california and i see you're in New York. I don't know if you still need the court name. Well i'm going in to help translate for them and maybe get through it. This is the first time they are going in for this case. Thank you for your help

I don't need the exact name of the Court - I'm wondering if it's a Superior Court, Small Claims, just what Court this will be in.

With $66,000 at stake it CAN'T be Small Claims!

I just don't understand if this is starting with a Court appearance or if papers have been exchanged and now Court has been scheduled - ?

yangbguy · Sep 21, 2009, 09:37 PM

Ok this is from the Superior Court of the County. The case has been assigned a Judge already. Is there anything I should be prepared for? Thanks

JudyKayTee · Sep 22, 2009, 06:08 AM

Originally Posted by yangbguy

Ok this is from the Superior Court of the County. The case has been assigned a Judge already. Is there anything I should be prepared for? thanks

Have you exchanged any paperwork? This sounds like your father was sued and the matter set down for trial without any of the paperwork being exchanged.

yangbguy · Sep 22, 2009, 07:08 AM

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

Have you exchanged any paperwork? This sounds like your father was sued and the matter set down for trial without any of the paperwork being exchanged.

What do you mean by paper work? Sorry I'm just new to this and don't know anything about it. But as far as I know this is the only papers that I've seen so far. Thanks

JudyKayTee · Sep 22, 2009, 07:16 AM

"Usually" you get served with a Summons and Complaint which you Answer within a certain number of days. You either deny, agree with, don't have enough info to answer the various parts of the complaint and if you have a countersuit, you file it.

You seem to have received notification to report for some sort of hearing or trial - ?

Sorry for all the questions but I do Plaintiff work and this is very unusual from my experience.

yangbguy · Sep 22, 2009, 08:08 AM

Well at the very top of the first page it does say Summons (Citation Judicial), but below it does say "You are being sued by Plaintiff and the name of the insurance company".
And below that it states:

"You have 30 Calendar Days after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response." Then it gives me a site to go download the forms. Then it continues, "If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court."

There is another page that is titled Notice of Case Management Department Assignment and Case Management Conference.

And there's a paragraph that states:

"If this case is assigned to a Commissioner and party does not stipulate to the hearing of law and motion matters by the Commissioner, that party Must, within ten (10) days fo the service of this Notice, file a Notice of Non-Stipulation. Failure to file such Notice within ten (10) days shall be deemed acceptance of the Case Management Department."

Not sure what any of that means. Sorry I wrote all that down. Just wanted to see if you can tell me what it means. Thank you

JudyKayTee · Sep 22, 2009, 08:15 AM

Glad you furnished the wording - that's a pretty standard complaint, pretty standard wording.

Did you file a response/answer?

How were you notified to appear in Court?

yangbguy · Sep 22, 2009, 08:27 AM

Now I'm looking more into this, it is for a Case Management Conference. I've just looked up what it means and it's saying that it is not a trial which you probably know already.

They didn't give us any paper work to fill out except a Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) packet.

The last page is a Stipuation and Order to Participate in Arbitration from.

Thanks

yangbguy · Sep 22, 2009, 08:31 AM

I didn't file a response/answer yet. Well didn't know we had to do any of that. The thing was I was given these papers a few days ago from my brother and he told me he needed me to take my dad to court. The date is on 9-28-09

ScottGem · Sep 22, 2009, 08:38 AM

And when were the papers actually served? And did your brother answer the summons?

As Judy said, the first step is a summons notifying the defendant of the suit. The defendant then files an answer with the court. The court then schedules a hearing. It could be a preliminary hearing or a mediation hearing or arbitration of an actual trial. Depends on the local court procedures. But generally the first hearing is a mediation to try to get the parties to settle out of court.

The issue for you, since I doubt if there is any doubt that your father caused the damage, is to point out that your parents have no unexempt income and no assets. Its almost certain that a judgment will be issued against them. But if they are judgment proof there will be little the plaintiff can do.

yangbguy · Sep 22, 2009, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by ScottGem

And when were the papers actually served? And did your brother answer the summons?

As Judy said, the first step is a summons notifying the defendant of the suit. The defendant then files an answer with the court. The court then schedules a hearing. It could be a preliminary hearing or a mediation hearing or arbitration of an actual trial. depends on the local court procedures. But generally the first hearing is a mediation to try to get the parties to settle out of court.

The issue for you, since I doubt if there is any doubt that your father caused the damage, is to point out that your parents have no unexempt income and no assets. Its almost certain that a judgment will be issued against them. but if they are judgment proof there will be little the plaintiff can do.

Thank you for your response. I don't think my brother answered the summons. He doesn't know more than I do. So is an answer required? And if it is then it's probably to late already because the date is on 9-28-09. There is no question that my dad is at fault here. Like I told Judy he doesn't have anything except for his SSI money. I don't know when the papers were received, but it's stamped on it " Filed March 27 2009". So I'm assuming a few months back. What should I do from here? Thank you for your help

yangbguy · Sep 22, 2009, 09:53 AM

If I was to answer the summons how would I go about doing that? What do I need to write back and is it just a letter? Thanks

ScottGem · Sep 22, 2009, 10:40 AM

You need to contact the court and find out what the status is and what has been done on the suit. If the summons was not answered, then a default judgment would have been entered. So that fact that some sort of hearing was scheduled indicates that some answer was submitted.

Was the car covered by insurance? If so, the carrier should be helping your father deal with the legal issues. Have you talked to them? Its possible the damages exceeded their liability coverage and that's what their insurer is looking to recover.

But you can't keep operating in the dark here. You NEED to find out the full and exact history of the suit so you know where things stand.

yangbguy · Sep 22, 2009, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by ScottGem

You need to contact the court and find out what the status is and what has been done on the suit. If the summons was not answered, then a default judgment would have been entered. So that fact that some sort of hearing was scheduled indicates that some answer was submitted.

Was the car covered by insurance? If so, the carrier should be helping your father deal with the legal issues. Have you talked to them? Its possible the damages exceeded their liability coverage and that's what their insurer is looking to recover.

But you can't keep operating in the dark here. You NEED to find out the full and exact history of the suit so you know where things stand.

These are the only papers that have been received and I know for sure that a response was not sent back to the court. The car was covered by insurance, but only liablity and my dad wasn't on the insurance policy. The insurance will not help with this case they've already said that. This is a case where no matter what happens he's guilty and loses. If only I had gotten the papers sooner I would've done the response because I'd just verified and these papers were received a few months back. The paper says it'll be a Case Management Conference. But it's probably to late for the response huh?