Debtor And Creditor Legal Questions

Any time you receive a summons to go to court and you do not show up, the court will rule in favor of the other side.  This means that if you do not show up, the court will enter a judgement for mariner in the amount of $5300.00 (plus possibly other charges as well).  If you do not dispute that you owe them money, but you do not think the amount is correct, you can show up in court and tell the judge that you dispute the amount.  The Judge will then order the case to come to trial where each side presents their arguments as to why they are right.  The Judge will probably also order something called 'pleadings' which means that the plaintiff (in this case Mariner) needs to send you something called a 'Bill of Particulars' which details exactly why they think you owe the money and why the amount is correct.  After you receive the Bill of Particulars, you will have a few days to respond with a written 'Grounds of Defense' which details exactly why you believe that Mariner is incorrect.  These pleadings give the court, and the other side, a look at the evidence that will be presented at trial, and you are not able to bring up other arguments at the trial that were not included in the pleadings.  That means that if you do not submit your Grounds of Defense on time, you may be left at trial with the Judge not allowing you to make any arguments at all.  It might be worthwhile for you to speak to an attorney in your area about your options, which might also include filing for a bankruptcy either now or after a judgement has been ordered.  Again, your attorney will know more about your specific situation and can assist you.... Read More

No you generally cannot and small claims court really is no better or worse than county court - in fact its the same judges. BEFORE you waste time and money spending dollars to chase dimes, you need to hire a lawyer to handle the litigation. I fyou wont do that , becuas its not worth the expense, then you already have your answer to your expectation of collecting money from the person at issue. ... Read More

You are simply asking too many speculative questions that can't possibly be answeredin a useful fashion without lots of details. Bottom line is you have a whole line of issues to address in regard to attempting to collect that judgment. Bottom line is noone is required to line up and pay your judgment just because you have one. YOU will have to bear the expense and effort of enforcing it in a proper and timely fashion. So if they decide to convey the property to a trust or reverse mortage it and suck out all the equity, or just sell it, you are likely still left just holding a piece of paper as a glorified IOU. ... Read More

Unfortunately, unless you have received a notice from the creditor, you may still be obliged to pay rent to the current property owner. If so, make sure you pay by check or money order or receive receipts because you may need to prove to the creditor at some point if they seek to evict you for non-payment that you made payments for the rent to the landlord and that any non-payment of the mortgage was the landlord's fault not yours. If there is any contact from the lender to you make sure to contact any managing agent or attorney to arrange where and how payments should be made.... Read More

You will need to hire a lawyer at some expense to review the issues and go from there. This sounds like some sort of title loan or short term loan and they have different rules for lending rates etc., though they often tilt over on the usury issue when the details are examined. Practical problem is you may pay an equal or greater amount in legal fees if you have to sue to get the money back or defend a lawsuit over the value. ... Read More

If you live in Florida, a judgment creditor CANNOT garnish your disability payments.  Fla. Stat. §222.18 exempts disability income from garnishment in Florida.  First, a creditor cannot garnish anthing until they obtain a judgment against you.  They would have to sue you -- you should know because you should receive a Summons.  Yes, as part of the law suit, they would have the right to add Court Costs on to the debt in any judgment -- the amount would depend upon the amount of the debt, but if the debt is over $15,000, then the costs might be somewhere around $450-500.  However, that debt would probably be uncollectable if you are disabled and have no significant assets.MORE IMPORTANTLY -- if a debt collector is threatening to garnish your disability income, you need to carefully document it the next time the person calls:  Get the name of the collector, the name of the collection agency, and the address.  (Tell them you need to know where to mail a payment, if you need to -- refuse to give any debt card or credit card numbers).  Get other information, too, such as the name or the original creditor, the exact amount of the debt.  THEN CONTACT AN ATTORNEY WHO HANDLES DEBT COLLECTION HARASSMENT CASES.By threatening to garnish your disability payments, the debt collection may have violated the Federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) or the Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act (FCCPA) -- most attorneys who handle these case will do so at little to no cost to you, since the other side is usually required to pay attorney's fees.  You might be able to recover up to $1,000 per violation, plus any actual damages you might have suffered.... Read More

Its impossible to deny something that leaves a digital footprint. This could be an FCRA violation but the damages would be nominal and the permission possibly in dispute by them as there is little reason that ayone would run your credit with you simply asking about the price of an RV. I suspect they may claim the discussion was more detailed than that. ... Read More

Your wife's HSA is likely exempt from garnishment, but her salary may not be. If your wife's HSA (Health Savings Account) was set up under the Federal ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) statute, it is exempt from garnishment by judgment creditors. As far as your wife's salary, between 10 and 25 percent of it is likely subject to garnishment, depending upon her salary, unless it is very low, in which case it would be exempt from garnishment.  ... Read More

You need to sue your former friend for unjust enrichment and replevin (to get the car back). You need to not only get the car to give back to the dealer (if she really doesn't plan to pay once she finds out you wont continue to do so) but also a judgment against her for all the payments you made for the car. A lawyer's letter might do the trick once she finds out you intend to cooperate with the bank to help them locate and repossess her car, and stop making the payments.  ... Read More