Sheriff came to my door at 7am

[Clabbergirl]

I had just got to work this morning when my teenage daughter sent me a text that the sheriff came by looking for me. He told her I had 'a small bill to pay' and asked when would I be home next. I filed Chp 7 on Tuesday, 2 days ago. Is it a coincidence that he came by today, on the day my home was scheduled to be sold?

My lawyer has the names and contact info of the legal firms representing my creditors and said he would contact the mortgage company's legal firm asap because it was so close to the sale date. I feel bad that my daughter had to deal with that situation when it should have been me, and embarrassed that a deputy's cruiser was parked outside my house at 7am as all my neighbors were leaving for work.

I've contacted my lawyer about the drive-by but haven't heard from him yet. Is it ok to contact the sheriff's department myself to notify them of the filing? Give them the BK case #?

[tobee43]

i know it's really scary...

we were also served by the sheriff's department...usually it's the summons....which gives you a time limit to answer....just fax it to your lawyer...since now there should be a court docket number on the summons your atty can just add that to your petition and it will have auto stay upon them...the creditor rec'ing notice of your bk.....

that's how we handled it...and or.......you can answer the court with YOUR bk docket number and tell them you have filed bk......just another way...however, you're paying your atty and the firm should take care of it....and if they do make certain you follow up and ask and find out exactly what the atty did...(just so your covered)...

worse senario....creditor goes to court gets a judgement...no time for a lien one would think because of the timing of your filing of your bk....so after you discharge you file a motion to vacate the judgment...you'll be fine.

[Clabbergirl]

Thank you for the reassurance. It IS scary. Because I won't be home until very late tonight, he told my daughter he'd probably try again on Monday. But Monday morning will be the same scenario unless he's here at 6:30 - and even then, cruiser in front of my house...neighbors seeing how ghetto my life has become...

I want to prevent another appearance if I can. Hoping my lawyer will contact me soon.

[rogue22]

This happened to my mother in-law.. She filed ch.13 and then got served by an off duty sheriff 2 or 3 days later. She just explained that she just filed and showed him the paperwork. He wrote down some info/numbers and then left without giving her the lawsuit papers. That was the end of that.

[tobee43]

rogue...that's great they took the info....

maybe you can call the sheriff's depart and let them know??? since you will not be home again monday.....what is the matter with these people..what they think someone is home during work hours......it's usually a "trick" or was in nj...when the sheriff's depts would say we tried 3 times and the judge would grant the judgment by default...lousy people!

[frogger]

I've contacted my lawyer about the drive-by but haven't heard from him yet. Is it ok to contact the sheriff's department myself to notify them of the filing? Give them the BK case #?

Your filing bk and the case # is not the concern of the Sheriff's Department. Give them a time and place that they can serve you, or even better, go pick it up from the station.

Then..... let your lawyer deal with it.

[tobee43]

Your filing bk and the case # is not the concern of the Sheriff's Department. Give them a time and place that they can serve you, or even better, go pick it up from the station.

Then..... let your lawyer deal with it.

yeah...that didn't make sense to me either???? what do they care...they ONLY serve for the creditor...

the ONLY problem i have and i very much agree with you....ask them or call them to come back during the evening to hand over the summons......(why should anyone go out of their way to pick up the summons IF possible...LOL!!)....and waste one's expensive gas.....

and i agree...let the atty deal with it! ours did.

[Clabbergirl]

Yes I think I'd rather them come to me - I have such a busy schedule I'm seldom at home, let alone have time to drive to the jail. So to make sure I understand, this is probably from one of my creditors who had got to the summons point before my lawyer had time to notify the creditor of my filing. Whew. I can sort that out with a fax, as suggested.

I'm wondering though, if this is the creditor I think it is, they should also be doing this to my ex-husband. I received a letter a few weeks ago about legal proceedings and it was for an account we are both joint on. I hope they're serving him too! (Even if he's a little more used to the sheriff coming to his door.)

[justbroke]

Your filing bk and the case # is not the concern of the Sheriff's Department. Give them a time and place that they can serve you, or even better, go pick it up from the station.

Perfect advice for this thread and is consistent with what I would have written.

[Clabbergirl]

Well the Sheriff's still trying to serve me even though I've called their office and left my contact info and schedule repeatedly. He came by again last night while I was at my internship and said he'll keep trying. Sigh. I want to be served so I can pass it on to my lawyer.

I now know which creditor is behind it though (thanks to all the junk mail I've been receiving from 'mediators' and 'legal help'). It's for a credit card that my ex was assigned to pay (I know it makes no diff to creditors) in the divorce. My ex informed me today that he paid off that card last week - transferred the balance to another card with less interest.

So what does that mean for me? I'm keeping them on my BK paperwork of course, but what about the suit they've filed against me? It would appear neither me nor my ex owes them any money now. This was a joint account but because I opened it initially and added him later, they appear to be coming after me only.

[clevelandmom]

Pardon me for interrupting. . I have a stupid question. If you are able to tell which creditor it is for, aren't you able to call them, tell them your atty's number and BK number, and tell them to "call off the dogs" because they are now in violation of the automatic stay? I'm just guessing. . .but if the creditor (or creditor's atty) is the one who paid the Sheriff's Dept. to come out and serve you, they are the people who need to call and tell them to back off. That's just my common sense jumping in. Okay. . .back to my hole now. . .

[justbroke]

I would still keep it scheduled debt in your BK.

[Clabbergirl]

After a 2 hour round-in-circles, ready-to-gouge-my-eyes-out-with-a-fork episode with my 2nd mortgage co, I'm not calling ANY of my creditors. As soon as they get your account number, some kind of siren or giant hazmat symbol pops up on their screen and they freak - transfer me faster than they can speak it. I called my 2nd mortgage co only because they haven't sent me info to do my 2010 taxes...

You're making absolute sense here, but I don't see it happening. My lawyer said it was just at timing thing - get the summons and forward it to him. I am not going to worry about it at this point. They'll either get word from whoever paid them to chase me, or they'll serve me. Either way.

[tcreegan]

Hi all, Hi Clabbergirl,

here at 6:30 - and even then, cruiser in front of my house...neighbors seeing how ghetto my life has become ...no way, not buying that: it involves a very important lawsuit you are not at liberty to discuss and the deputy is there for your protection. If you want, throw in "if you see anyone out of the ordinary watching my property, call the Sheriff immediately"

Hang in there!

Tom in Colo

ps: if you get more cooperation from your teenager than I did, this might be priceless: "Oh Hi, yeah, my Mom was talking to her attorney about you, whether it was "appropriate" (air-quotes, eye roll here) for you to be talking to me"