Court costs for judgement?

[jeff0633]

Hi folks. I just got to thinking that I am pretty much judgement proof, but I forgot about court costs. I will file my exemptions with the court after they get the judgement on me, but I will owe court costs. Will I have to set up court costs payments? Am I protected from that two by not having any assets and fitting everything on my exemptions? Do I want the local court down on me because I owe court costs? Should I just set up a payment plan for like 25 per month with the court? Everyone has told me that nothing will be done as far as the sheriff coming to my home and looking through my stuff for things to sell because the collection agency is only interested in property, bank accounts, and such, and that they would have to pay a lot of money for the sheriff and storage and such to try and take what's not on my exemptions, and that wouldn't be worth much. I definitely don't want the local court down on me for not paying court costs. I guess I will be stuck with that costs, won't I?

Jeff

[HHM]

(a) Are you talking about "your" court costs to file a document (i.e. a filing fee), or....

(b) Are you talking about court costs that are added to, and included in, the judgment that is granted to a creditor that is suing you.

1. If (a), most courts do not allow payment plans for filing fees (except in extreme hardship), so you either pay the filing fee or you don't get to file the document.

2. If (b), you have nothing to worry about it. The creditor, who is suing you, pays the court costs, up front, to the court as part of the litigation process. The court, in granting a judgment, allows the creditor to recoup the courts costs (and usually attorneys fees) that the creditor incurs to get the judgment. Thus, you don't owe the court directly, you owe the creditor. As a result, your exemptions will apply to all parts of the judgment.

[GoingDown]

Hi folks. I just got to thinking that I am pretty much judgement proof, but I forgot about court costs. I will file my exemptions with the court after they get the judgement on me, but I will owe court costs. Will I have to set up court costs payments? Am I protected from that two by not having any assets and fitting everything on my exemptions? Do I want the local court down on me because I owe court costs? Should I just set up a payment plan for like 25 per month with the court? Everyone has told me that nothing will be done as far as the sheriff coming to my home and looking through my stuff for things to sell because the collection agency is only interested in property, bank accounts, and such, and that they would have to pay a lot of money for the sheriff and storage and such to try and take what's not on my exemptions, and that wouldn't be worth much. I definitely don't want the local court down on me for not paying court costs. I guess I will be stuck with that costs, won't I?

Jeff

I agree with what HHM said above about costs. You won't personally owe the court any money at all if the creditor gets a default judgment against you. It will just be added back into the amount of the judgment against you, which you can later wipe out through filing bankruptcy.

As far as worrying about the sheriff barging into your house and taking your stuff, not only does it almost never happen because the creditors don't care about doing it, it is generally illegal or unconstitutional for a sheriff to force his way into your home to enforce a civil judgment. They would need a search warrant issued by a judge, and that generally happens only in criminal cases. You need to remember that this is a civil matter, not a criminal matter.

The only thing you have to be careful about is what you say to them or write to them. For example, if you tell them at a judgment debtor's exam (which are also extremely rare!!!!) that you have non-exempt items of great value, then they might get a court order for you to "turn-over" those items to them.

But overall, you are worrying about this too much. Try to stop thinking about it and not worry about it at all until after Christmas. Try to have a merry Christmas with your kids and stop worrying about all of this stuff.

This is a website for a county in Arizona, but the laws are generally similar in most states.

http://www.co.yavapai.az.us/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=19206

[jeff0633]

Man, that's some good info. I wonder what the Tennessee laws are concerning this. I went to see the legal aid folks, and they pretty much said the same stuff. She even told me to go a head and let my brother put a lien on my van. We did this yesterday. My brother purchased my van for me in cash. He put it in my name to be nice, and the receipt is in my name, but we printed out the bank statement on my brother's checking account showing where he took out 6,000 in cash on the same day we purchased the van in cash. It is not direct evidence that he paid for it, but where would I get 5,300 cash to pay for a van? She said that the bank statement and the receipt were good circumstancial evidence that my brother paid for the van. She said if the collections agency lawyers were to file for litigation on whether my exemptions were proper, I should simply say that when I put the lien on the van I was just "getting my afairs in order". She said that the lawyers probably wouldn't even attempt to file because that would mean litigation and it would involve them far more than they were probably willing to go. We should have the new title back with my brother as the recorded lien holder in just a couple weeks. If they want to actually dispute this, then we have the receipt from the car lot for 5.300 cash, and the bank statement from my brother's checking account showing he took out 6,000 in cash the same day as the van was purchased. That should be reasonable enough evidence to show the judge I was acting properly by letting my brother put a llien on it. We also have the personal document that my brother and I signed on the day we purchased it saying that I would pay him 100 per month on the van. We didn't notorize it, but at least we have it, and my brother recorded what payments I have made. This now allows me to put "secured" for the van on the exemptions, and that will free up a lot of exemption money for everything else I own.

Yeah, I have been worrying about this way too much. My Social Security checks will be at my mail box starting next month, I have no assets that won't fit on my exemptions, no property, no bank accounts besides one that was used for direct deposit (three bucks in it), and my trailer will completely fit on the homestead exemption.

Thanks to everyone here. I still like to come here and chat with everyone because it still lets me know that I am not alone, and that others go through this stuff too.

Jeff

[Grace]

I would think the facts that you're legally blind and have sole custody of your children would help argue the case that you need the van as long as you can show who drives it. I can't remember off the top of my head what your kids receive from SS. I don't know if that's included or not.

[SinkingFast]

I would think the facts that you're legally blind and have sole custody of your children would help argue the case that you need the van as long as you can show who drives it. I can't remember off the top of my head what your kids receive from SS. I don't know if that's included or not.

It's not the need for that van that is in question.

It's not the total value of the van as an asset in question.

Does Jeff have enough Exemption to protect the equity in the van.

If yes, Jeff keeps the van.

If no, then Jeff could loose the van.

All of this hinges on whether or not the Court rules Jeff's brother's lien on the van to be valid.

[jeff0633]

"All of this hinges on whether or not the Court rules Jeff's brother's lien on the van to be valid."

And I hope this won't be a problem. The collection agency would have to dispute the lien first, and I don't know why they would even attempt it. When the guy came out and served me the summons, I noticed that he sat out in the driveway for a few minutes probably filling out papers, and I am guessing that he wrote down the tag numbers on the van and car. Now, if they check they could obviously see that the title was in my name, but would they be able to check for any lien holders just from the tag number? I know they could get confirmation that the van tags were in my name, but wouldn't they need to actually see a copy of the title to see if there was a lien on it? The point is, if they could not know about a lien until I tell them about a lien in the exemption papers, then they would have no reason to challenge it. they wouldn't know that I just had the lien put on it. If they will find out when I did the lien, then they might challenge it, but I think that would mean litigation wouldn't it? Even if they do challenge it, my circumstantial evidence is pretty good. Where would I get 5,300 dollars when I am on Social Security, and it would be just coincidence that my brother took 6,000 cash out of his checking account the same day we paid 5,300 cash for the van? I have the receipt from the car lot where I paid 5,300 cash for the van, and the checking account statement where my brother took 6,000 cash out of his account the same day. Surely a judge would see that I have no income to come up with 5,300 cash and he would surely see that my brother took 6,000 out of his account the same day. This is surely reasonable evidence that my brother loaned me the money to get the van. And we do have our non-legal agreement signed by both of us as well, and my brother has his records of what payments I have made (only a few). I still owe him 4,000 on the van, and the blue book is only worth 3,500, so I owe more than its worth. I am just hoping that if they do challenge it the judge will feel that I have at least reasonable evidence to show my brother used that 6000 he took out the same day to pay for the van. The guy that took the money from my brothers hands at the car lot might remember doing so. We were going to pay with my brother's debit card, but they would not take it, and the guy at the car lot waited while we went down to the bank and got the 6000 in cash. If he does remember, then he might sign a statement saying so. Really, I doubt the CA will even challenge the lien, but if they do, I feel I have enough reasonable evidence to show a judge that my brother used the 6000 he took out the samew day in order to pay for the van. I would have no way to come up with 5,300 cash any other way. So, on my exemption papers I will put the van and write "secured" on it. If they want to challenge it, then let them.