Bankruptcy and bad credit worries MUST take a back seat to a Court Order. Whatever you do, please do NOT stick your head in the sand & ignore a court order as Michael from Oregon apparently has done.
Bankruptcy is not the end of the road!
Bankruptcy scares most people. It’s the fear of the unknown.
Michael’s reaction to all the crap he’s facing (believe it or not) is normal. I see it all the time. In fact, I’ve been there too and I’d like to believe I’m pretty “tough” about facing life’s challenges.
Truth is, sometimes we’re not that strong!
Regardless, Michael MUST act quickly and accordingly. He must be strong when the Court orders him to appear.
Below, Michael’s email clearly conveys his fear and confusion. My response CLEARLY must convey URGENCY. Michael cannot afford to get this wrong.
Click Read More now for Michael’s desperate request for help and my response.
Did Michael stick his head in the sand? If so, he picked the WRONG time to do it. But that’s not important now. What IS important is….
SURVIVING HELL ONE STEP AT A TIME
Disclaimer: I am NOT an attorney and will not pretend to be an attorney. I am not and never would pretend to dispense legal advice. Michael must get with an attorney. His situation now is very urgent. This is not a pro se situation.
Let’s be clear: the HELL many people (many FAMILIES) are going through today is unimaginable. Please do NOT judge Michael as you read this, especially if you’ve never walked around in Michael’s shoes.
Chances are, you follow my blog because you too have some credit issues, so you know exactly (or to a degree) what people facing crap today are going through. Believe me, I hear from MANY dumbasses who think EVERYONE in trouble today brought on his/her troubles. Such people are flat-out dumbasses!
Michael’s situation compares with many (MANY) similar horror stories I’m hearing.
You better believe it tears me apart. A little more than 24 years ago, I got hit with ID Theft and it tore me up. You see, I was embarrassed beyond belief, though I had NOTHING to do with what happened to ME.
And I’m a fighter! I don’t lie down when crap hits the fan. However, I found my (imagined) strength mysteriously zapped from me. In the years since, I face and hear from 1,000s of strong people crippled by one bad experience after another.
As you read Michael’s email, keep this in mind. If you never have had your legs cut out from under you, you have NO idea what it’s like. A typical strong-willed person might just stick his head in the sand. Of course, the problem never goes away. In fact, it gets worse by ignoring it.
Chances are, Michael knows this just as you and I know this.
Mike, I really hope you can help me. I think I’ve really screwed up. I’m pretty scattered right now, so let me know what questions you have if you are able to help me out. The police want to arrest me for not paying a debt. They told me that a creditor has filed a lawsuit against me. I tried to make payments until I lost my job 7 months ago i don’t have a job. I can’t make the payments. I am scared out of my head. Please help. Can they really put me in jail for not paying a debt? Man, I really thank you for any advice you can offer. I just want you to know I just found your blog and spent the night reading through it. You really seem to be helping helping. You understand what it’s like. You went through bad times so you know. You don’t cut people up when they hit bad times. You don’t know how much I thank you for giving me hope. If you’re too busy to respond, I understand. Thank you. — Michael Miller, Oregon
Michael,
Thank you for emailing me. I don’t pretend to understand exactly what you or anyone else is going through. However, you’re right. I have been through my own personal hell, and I NEVER will forget what it was like.
Recently, my wife and I lost two investment properties to short sale. Oh, it was much worse than just shorting two investment properties. So yes, I have survived tough times.
Now, let’s get to you. I strongly urge you to contact an attorney in your area. If you cannot afford an attorney, please contact Legal Aid. Please do this immediately, Michael!
Your situation (at this time) is urgent!
Are you aware you had been sued?
Did you receive a “Summons” (perhaps called something else in your area)?
When served (if you were served) the Summons, you were to RESPOND to the Summons. That is, you were supposed to answer the complaint (lawsuit) against you.
Here’s a typical scenario:
1. Creditor claims you owe a debt.
2. Creditor attempts to collect the alleged debt.
3. Creditor decides alleged debt is worth court action instead of charging off and selling debt to 3rd party who could sue you as well.
4. Creditor files paperwork with court in your jurisdiction, alleging you owe a debt.
5. Court prepares paperwork and “process server” attempts to SERVE you the paperwork, informing you of the allegations against you (i.e. lawsuit).
6. Court requests your written RESPONSE within x number of days (perhaps 20-30 days). Typically, your attorney’s response on your behalf might not admit to the debt. Perhaps your attorney’s response on your behalf tells the court you don’t believe the debt is yours or that it’s accurate. You want the Creditor bringing suit to prove you are the correct person or that the balance is accurate, etc.
7. You respond and Court sets court date. You need to show up on the date.
You didn’t respond to the court. The court ruled in the Creditor’s favor with a DEFAULT judgment entered because you didn’t show up to defend yourself.
Based on what you’ve said and my NON-legal attempt to help you, it appears your issue with the police is due to failure to RESPOND to the COURT. You (have) failed to respond to the COURT, not the Creditor. Again, I’m guessing here based on the little you’ve provided and the fact I’m not an attorney.
What I believe happened is this: You missed payments and the Creditor attempted collections internally and externally. Chances are, you received tons of phone calls. You could not afford the payments, so you ignored the phone calls. Believe me, I understand.
I don’t know what you owe or if you ever demanded VALIDATION of the alleged debt during the dunning period. In fact, I don’t even know if you received the Court’s paperwork informing you of the lawsuit. The Creditor was supposed to serve you with papers regarding the lawsuit. This does not always happen. In Florida, a process server can be an agent of the court (such as an off-duty law enforcement person) or a process serving company for which the Creditor pays a fee. In some cases, the person being sued NEVER receives notice of being sued.
This is called “gutter service,” meaning the lender’s process server throws the paperwork “into the gutter” so to speak and claims he or she served you properly. I’ve seen judgments vacated due to IMPROPER servicing of the Summons.
Again, I don’t know if this is what happened to you. I’m sharing what I’ve experienced for others who are reading this…in case it applies to them.
Even if you had been properly served, all you could have done was file a RESPONSE with the court. Naturally, I recommend an attorney advise anyone being sued, though filing a RESPONSE within 30 days of receiving notification of the lawsuit is not complicated. I’ve seen attorneys file one-sentence responses…something like “John Doe currently is unemployed and has been unemployed for 7 months. John Doe cannot afford to pay alleged debt.”
When you fail to file a RESPONSE with the court, this allows the Creditor to get a default judgment against you. You were a no-show, so the other guy “wins” by default. Filing a RESPONSE with the court gives you a chance to explain to the court that you are unemployed and cannot afford to pay on this judgment.
All I know is that a Creditor has filed a lawsuit against you and the police are involved, apparently wanting to arrest you. I also know you made some payments until you lost your job.
There is NO debtor’s prison in the United States! FACT.
You will not go to jail for failing to make good on a debt. FACT.
You can, however, go to jail for failing to RESPOND to the court. This is what I believe is happening to you.
After a judgment has been entered, the creditor started to make additional collection attempts. The JUDGMENT creditor (or “winner” of the court action against you) now goes back to court requesting the court’s permission to hit you with GARNISHMENT (not possible in your case) or bank levies (that is, get the court’s permission to take money from your bank account). The Court typically requires you to complete an Affidavit of Assets (or something like this) where you are bound to list all your assets and where they are.
You know where this is leading, don’t you? Now, depending on the state in which you live, it’s my understanding unless your debt is to the government or a mechanic’s lien filed by someone who claims to have done work on your property, your primary residence in FLORIDA is exempt–protected from liens and judgments by homestead exemption. Your personal property, on the other hand, is susceptible to judgment creditors who get the court’s permission.
You see, after the judgment creditor won in court and did not pay as ordered by the court, the creditor filed a motion with the court to have you appear before the court and explain why you are not making payments or providing an Affidavit of Assets. When you failed to appear at this hearing, the court issued a bench warrant for your arrest.
This is what I believe has happened. The sheriff has contacted you because a warrant has been issued for your arrest to appear in court and explain why you are not complying with the court order.
Yes, this is URGENT..very important…really important. You could spend time in prison for failing to comply with a judicial order. You have been ordered to appear before the court and you need to appear.
You really have NO option on whether to appear. You must appear in court. After appearing, you do have choices:
1. File for bankruptcy, either chapter 7 or 13 which could wipe out the judgment.
2. Pay on the judgment.
Michael, I got a little long here. I hope I’ve been more positive than negative. Let me tell you, all this will pass and you WILL survive. Here’s what I am very clear about today: As long as you have your health, your faith & your family and friends you are golden–the rest will take care of itself. I sincerely mean this.
Please scroll down & tell me your story. What life challenges have you faced or are you facing? Have you been through Bankruptcy? What did you learn from it? Was it as bad as you thought it would be? Did you feel like a “loser” at any time? Please scroll down below and take a moment to share your comments.
Keep in mind, I have no clue the amount for which Michael was sued. I don’t know if this alleged debt really is his debt. For all I know, this could be a ridiculously small issue resolved easily. My response needed to address all possibilities as I see from most urgent (get an attorney and show up in court) to demand validation of alleged debt to paying off the debt and moving on.
Bankruptcy exists for a reason. Last Friday, I went with a friend to visit a bankruptcy attorney in Port Charlotte, Florida. Nothing surprising about this, as I spend a lot of time going along with people who are afraid of going alone to a lawyer’s office. This BK attorney–who really impressed me–gave great information and said his smaller firm will file 1200 bankruptcies in 2009 alone. 1200 filings from one smaller firm! What I see is that when people who NEVER have thought of bankruptcy before get facts, they see bankruptcy as RECOVERY, not a death sentence. What I tell people is that if your conscience compels you to pay a creditor after filing bankruptcy, do it once you recover.
Hey, thanks for stopping by. Leave me a comment or question by typing your comment or question in the box following this post. I want to hear from you. Oh yeah, get my FREE CD 8 Secrets To A 680 Credit Score...while I still have a few left. Put your email in the box at the top right...yep, it's yours free and you'll get immediate value!
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