[Kfreynoldss3]

I am a contractor in Virginia and was recently burned by a customer /contractor. This was a job done at a federal facility(Post-Office) in which I was acting as a subcontractor for a contractor I had done many other jobs for in the past. I paid my crew and for equipment and completed the job. In the mean while the contractor gave me a check from his personal account and said he was getting divorced and filing for bankruptcy but insured that the rest of the contract would be paid to me. He kept putting me off for months. About a year later I found out for 1, he never got divorced and 2, he did not file for bankruptcy. After meeting w/ lawyers it was apparent that he put me off just long enough to keep me from filing againt the bond as it was a Fed buidg. I was able to hire a private detective to locate his where abouts and served him. I received a judgement for the contract unpaid, lawyer and court costs and punitive damages were granted for 5,000. Dollars as we showed cause w/ fraudulent intent. The lawyers gave us hope that w/ the punitive damages, even if he were to file for bankruptcy it would not be discharched because the pun. Damages were granted- Next we had an Interrogatory hearing w/ Comm. Of Chancery in which he claimed he had nothing but a large collection of fire-arms and some funiture- When asked what he was carrying in cash he said $500 but the Commissioner denied us possession. Then we started a garnishment process based of the job info we received. Almost 90 days after, we received notice that he will be Filing Ch. 7/no assets as an individual. I found that only several days ago did the filing for divorce occur although during the interrogatory he said he was legally divorced. The bankruptcy reported the fire arms and fishing gear was given to ex-wife. From checking his background report he has an associate and I know he was partners in a large sporting good firm but he denied having any association- I feel like he is not disclosing all of his assets(He had a 1995 fishing license in Alaska) owned a boat worth a substantial amount, he claims he sold for near to nothing and comes from a wealthy family and he himself had many luxeries that just disappeared. I guess I would like to know should I pursue this any further, as I am listed as a "unsecured non-priority claim" even though I have a judgement for over 30,000. For a job I paid my men to do and all equipment for the job but that he got paid for and seemed to have played his cards in order to avoid his debt to us. JFYI this job was done in 7/01/02 and all of what was mentioned occurred over some time. Any suggestions Please

[Fr_Chuck]

First yes you are a unsecured debtor since this debt is not secured by any property, you merely have a judgement against him. You can object to the bankruptcy, fight your debt being included because of the punitive damages. You can hire private dectitves to hunt and try to find his belongins ( which are most likely in other names, other business names or in "ex" wife name. Divorce is a common way to hide or protect debts.

Sadly thisis more common than it should be and sadly very sadly he is likely to get away with it.

[RichardBondMan]

A surety bond was posted by him, the general contractor, guaranteeing work would be done and debts paid and your unpaid contract is one of those debts. Why can't you file a lien againt the post office's building where you perfomed the work. Your lien would be for labor and materials that you provided. The Postal Service will want the lien satisfied and will pay you, then seek remibursement from the surety (bond company) that provided the bond for the general contractor that you state has not paid you. You really need an attorney to look into this matter for you if you have not already done so. I have written many bonds such as this owner would have posted with the Postal Service and also for contractors like yourself and for owners (such as the Postal Service) who want those liens discharged from their real estate. YOu mentioned that his attorneys delayed you filing against his bond but there is no mention why the bond or the Postal Service was not pursued further ?