Judgments: Can they do that? Yeah and they just did.
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Posted by Judgmental
(12.230.226.253) on December 22, 2003 at 22:51:54:
Protecting Your A$$ets 101 Lesson #1: Cover Your A$$
If you are behind on your debts and you have reason to believe that you are about to be sued, there's a couple of things you need to do right away. You definitely need to try to negotiate a payment plan or some other kind way out of the mess to stop your creditor from suing you, but the FIRST THING YOU NEED TO DO IS ... protect what money you need to take of yourself and your family. Sometimes this may mean withdrawing money from your bank accounts and switching to a cash lifestyle for a while until the threat is gone. If you choose to do this, you need to do it soon after the threat is revealed, because once the lawsuit process starts that may end in a money judgment, anything you do to avoid having that money used to satisfy the judgment could be a consider a fraudulent transfer. Say it with me, "Fraudulent Transfer". That's when you move money or items of values around solely to avoid paying a debt. That can mean big trouble for *YOU*. SUMMARY
Do whatever you have to do to protect what little assets you have and THEN try to work it out. Protecting your assets early in the process means that YOU WILL NOT BE NEGOTIATING WITH A SHARK UNDER DURESS. You will have a clear mind knowing, "Regardless of what happens here, I can pay the rent and buy medication." That feeling does WONDERS for your negotiating skills.
Lesson #2: Locks (and the Law) Are For Honest People
The fact that some action is against the law doesn't mean that your creditor won't do it.
Example:
It's the law that you must serve the defendant in any suit at least X number of days before the "day in court". Do creditors always do this? NO. In fact, some of them completely falsify the affidavit of service. Ever heard of sewer service? It's when you get dishonest process server to simply *claim* he served you when he never did. But, guess? Your judgment is just as good and your FROZEN bank account is just as frozen whether the process server told the truth or not.... until YOU run up and down the town trying to undo the mess. Real Life Example:
A friend of mine had a dispute with her landlord. She spoke with the landlord and made arrangements to pay all arrears and bring the rent up-to-date. They shook on it and she went to get the money. When she came back to the unit with the money, the landlord had padlocked the door and would only let her back in to remove her belongings. Then, he had her served to appear in court. He sued her, not for the money because she gave it to him, but for possession of the unit! Once he got a judgment for possession of the unit--an eviction--he then used it to seize her bank accounts. Was this legal? NO! She paid and he had the unit, because he used his attorney to parlay his eviction judgment to garnish her bank account. She had to sue him to get the money back! Eventually, months later, through small claims court she got her money back, but that wasn't until after: 1. Days loss from work.
2. Hours upon hours of effort.
3. Many restless days and nights.
4. Ridiculous attorney's fees. And, this was all while she had to find a new place to live with a fresh eviction! SUMMARY
Creditors don't always obey the law. So, you have to protect yourself with that in mind. My friend could have avoided this heartache by taking notice of the danger once the dispute with the landlord first occurred by protecting her seizable assets. She could have: 1. Moved her money to a safe deposit box in someone else's name.
2. Refused to take the landlord at his word. People who are in a dispute can NOT trust each other. Period.
3. Not relied on the fact that the landlord's claim had been satisfied and the law precluded him from seizing her funds, because he didn't give a crap about the law. Now that she's fought back, he wishes he'd never bothered to steal her money that way, great sting on him, right? But look at all the bull she went through? Are you guys catching on?
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