Judgments: How many?

[treehugger1]

I'm curious. As I work through dealing with bigger debts, I've let some smaller $300 - $800 debts go unanswered (no reason to have additional prevailing party fees added) to small claims and I assume eventually these will lead to the creditor filing papers for judgment. I currently have 4 - 5 possible small claims judgments waiting in the wings. I'm not concerned as 2-3 months of wage garnishment will clear the slates. For those of you unfamiliar with my situation, I am WAY BEYOND worrying about my credit or credit scores. I am curious to know if others have multiple judgments and what their experience has been. Thanks.

[BigJohn]

Back in the mid-90's, because of a divorce, I didn't pay anything. Surprising, nobody filed a judgment against me. About 2005, I cleaned up my credit score so it was as high as 739.

[treehugger1]

That's interesting. I've heard of many instances where no suit actually occurs. However, I always assume the glass is "half-full" from the creditor's perspective, since I have a great job and income. But, I do wonder how many of my small creditors are willing to spend a few hundred dollars to go all the way to wage garnishment. I recently received a summons from a process server related to a $487 debt (includes plaintiff small claim's fees.) In my state, you have 14 days from service date to respond. I sent this collection company a cease and desist letter 10 months ago and they violated it twice after signing for the return mail receipt. The second time, I recorded and transcribed the call. My state statutes allow for $200 per violation. I have used this as my "counter claim," in addition to a claim of "prevailing party" fees of approximately $85.00. I'll file the counter claim next week on day 14, and request a hearing. A part of me simply wants to get a feeling about how small claims and mediation works in my local county. The cost to file a small claims response with counter claim was $45, and I think this might be well worth the effort. The difference in my counter claim is less than the CA's claim, so I am quite interested in how a small judgment might play in terms of wage garnishment. If the judge or mediator finds the offset of my counter claim versus their claim is approximately $2, maybe less since each party has to suck up their own filing fees, what exactly will the CA do?

I'd still like to hear more about folks with judgments against them and what actions were eventually taken to cure the judgment.

[EveryDayAdam]

That's interesting. I've heard of many instances where no suit actually occurs. However, I always assume the glass is "half-full" from the creditor's perspective, since I have a great job and income. But, I do wonder how many of my small creditors are willing to spend a few hundred dollars to go all the way to wage garnishment. I recently received a summons from a process server related to a $487 debt (includes plaintiff small claim's fees.) In my state, you have 14 days from service date to respond. I sent this collection company a cease and desist letter 10 months ago and they violated it twice after signing for the return mail receipt. The second time, I recorded and transcribed the call. My state statutes allow for $200 per violation. I have used this as my "counter claim," in addition to a claim of "prevailing party" fees of approximately $85.00. I'll file the counter claim next week on day 14, and request a hearing. A part of me simply wants to get a feeling about how small claims and mediation works in my local county. The cost to file a small claims response with counter claim was $45, and I think this might be well worth the effort. The difference in my counter claim is less than the CA's claim, so I am quite interested in how a small judgment might play in terms of wage garnishment. If the judge or mediator finds the offset of my counter claim versus their claim is approximately $2, maybe less since each party has to suck up their own filing fees, what exactly will the CA do?

I'd still like to hear more about folks with judgments against them and what actions were eventually taken to cure the judgment.

LOL...I think if I were in your situation and the judge found that, with the counter claim, I only owe the CA $2, i'd thank the judge, and open my wallet and hand the attorney for the CA a $5 bill, say "keep the change" and walk out.

[BigJohn]

Did you include parking fees, etc? You might find they owe you!

[treehugger1]

Nah, parking is free in my small backwoods town. In fact, I think the city is close to paying people to park downtown just to attract enough cars to make it seem as if life does exist in our two-street town. LOL

I am serious about knowing what/how many judgments folks had rendered against them.

I keep applying for jobs out of town that would allow me to reduce my income and file a chatper 7 or at least have a job where creditors/CA's are only getting 10% - 20% in a BK 13. If I accept an offer, then I'll have to wait out the 6 months to a year to meet the means test. My partner tells me she is tired of living in this town, and we both want out. In the meantime, I'll lay low, continue paying what I can, and keep enough of my paper paycheck to live a reasonable life.

I just read a blog by an Oregon attorney who is attempting to convince the local BK courts that student loan payments should be subtracted from disposable income in the means test. The claim is that student loans cannot be forgiven in most BK cases, and one is required to repay them, so they should be used to reduce the amount of disposable income available to the filer. The other side of this is that I'm in my 50's and there is no way I'll ever pay off all my student loans due to "natural causes" or unforseen leads to my demise.

Currently judgment free, but will update my interest in this area in the next 30 days.