question about Ohio court process

[ivehadit]

My wife and I are both way behind on cc payments, over a yr. I've skated by with nothing more than calls so far. She on the other hand is being pursued by the OC GE Money. She got a summons a couple months ago but didn't answer I figure she's judgement proof only has an old car in her name and both of us are on the mortgage with no equity. I assume she now has a default judgement and Friday she gets a letter from the attorney representing GE It's a six page form asking for answers to questions like 1. admit you opened an account with GE 2. name and addr of employer 3. do you deny opening an account 3.do you have any aliases 4. admit you received credit from GE 5.admit you received monthly statements 6.admit that you defaulted to the terms of agreement 7. admit you owe balance $xxxx.xx 8. provide cancelled check etc proving payment 9. admit you agreed to pay interest at rate incicated 10. admit you made purchases shown on your statement 11. admit you are responsible to GE for the amount of $xxxx.xx plus interest from date of judgement 12. identify each person you intend to call as witness 13. provide a copy of each copy you plan to procuce as evidence. etc,etc,etc.

This looks like we're going to trial, I thought after the judgement it's up to the plaintif to find possible assets, or is that what this is. If it were me I would ride it out but my wife is way too nerveous and is willing to do whatever it takes to settle but I told her we can't afford to pay it. OH is non community property state so we will start looking for lawyers to see if she can file seperately, I need to take care of some business yet before i file. does it look to you like she is going to have to appear before a judge?

[treehugger1]

It sounds from the letter that there is ajudgment, but have you checked with the court that issued the original summons? Was there ever a real "summons?" Was there a default judgment filed? I'd find this out first.

Is Ohio a state that requires arbitration before trial?

What would it hurt to sit down and answer their interogatory? Whether you "admit," "deny," or state you have "insufficient knowledge" to each of thee questions is beyond my knowledge. So, if you answer, you might want to see how one does answer each question. Obviously you can admit to your name. The other questions do seem strange if they already have a judgment.

I don't think it hurts to do a bit of investigating.

[ivehadit]

I looked on the courts website, I found where a case has been filed and a summons issued June 10. I can't find anywhere that a judgement has been issued. I know the summons requested her to appear in court July 8 but she didn't. I figured that day she got a judgement against her. Did something else happen? I don't understand what's going on. I'll keep digging maybe i'll find it. Here is what i did find on the docket.

NOTICE OD SERVICE FILED STATING PLAINTIFF'S FIRST SET OF
INTERROGATORIES, REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS, AND
REQUEST FOR ADMISSIONS WERE MAILED TO DEF BY REG MAIL.

It wasn't registered mail, we found it in the mailbox not that it matters.

I don't know if OH requires arbitration or not, maybe that's what the first court date was in july.

[treehugger1]

Why not answer the interrogatories?

I have no thad the "opportunity" to expereince answers of this fashion, but I think I would give it a go.

The down side is that you need to study your state and local rules of civil procedure, to determine if you also have to file your answers with the court. This can cost you some money.

Or, you can just ignore the entire thing and declare BK.

[GoingDown]

I looked on the courts website, I found where a case has been filed and a summons issued June 10. I can't find anywhere that a judgement has been issued. I know the summons requested her to appear in court July 8 but she didn't. I figured that day she got a judgement against her. Did something else happen? I don't understand what's going on. I'll keep digging maybe i'll find it. Here is what i did find on the docket.

NOTICE OD SERVICE FILED STATING PLAINTIFF'S FIRST SET OF
INTERROGATORIES, REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS, AND
REQUEST FOR ADMISSIONS WERE MAILED TO DEF BY REG MAIL.

It wasn't registered mail, we found it in the mailbox not that it matters.

I don't know if OH requires arbitration or not, maybe that's what the first court date was in july.

It does matter.

What they sent you is a document that fishes for information about assets, employment, etc., and also will make it easy for them to get a judgment against you.

Don't make it easy on them.

Don't admit you ever got the letter. Don't send anything back.

It wasn't sent by certified mail, they can't prove you ever received anything.

They are doing this instead of a Judgment Debtor's Exam, because this is so much cheaper and easier for them.

[treehugger1]

I missed the fact that the mail was not sent registered-return-receipt.

[ivehadit]

I was just about to fill it out and send it, I was going to not answer some of the questions and not admit to some. I called the attorney Friday because the letter mentioned GE wanted to settle I offered 50% he told me they would not consider anything less than 80% I then informed him that won't happen and that we will pursue other options. One problem I have my wife is scared and is willing to do anything to avoid court and have her name in the paper. I think she is judgement proof but is terrified by the lawyer. She picked up a book somewhere and the author has her believing she should avoid BK at all cost. I'm trying to convince her, her credit is already toast and BK can only help at this point the sooner she files the sooner this mess will be behind her.

I never thought about not responding, I'll read through it again. I definately don't want to be in contempt of court. since it was not sent certified you guys/gals are are certain this isn't court ordered? I probably blew the defence that we could say we didn't receive it. when i called Friday I mentioned the cover letter seeking a settlement, I never gave it a second thought. Should i just answer a couple obvoius questions and send it back that way we responded but didn't give anything away?
Thanks for helping I'd be lost without this site.

[allavdj]

If your wife is judgement proof then let them threaten all they want. They know how much she is making and what's in the bank accounts, if it's not enough to make it worth their time they aren't going to take her to court.

I owe AMEX about $13,000. It went to collections after about 4 months then went to a "lawyer" about 3 months later who sent me all sorts of nasty letters about legal action. I ignored the lawyer and about 2 weeks after the last letter (which was basically a "see you in court" letter) I got a notice from a new collection agency saying they were now collecting the debt. They went through the same song and dance, different lawyer, nasty letters, and now it's at a new collections agency.

If you/your wife have no assets and no sizeable income to garnish, it's very unlikely they are going to persue it to court, they will however send you lots of threatening letters and phone calls. Letters cost them about about 15-20 bucks to send (man power and postage), taking somebody to court is time consuming and expensive.

[GoingDown]

I was just about to fill it out and send it, I was going to not answer some of the questions and not admit to some. I called the attorney Friday because the letter mentioned GE wanted to settle I offered 50% he told me they would not consider anything less than 80% I then informed him that won't happen and that we will pursue other options. One problem I have my wife is scared and is willing to do anything to avoid court and have her name in the paper. I think she is judgement proof but is terrified by the lawyer. She picked up a book somewhere and the author has her believing she should avoid BK at all cost. I'm trying to convince her, her credit is already toast and BK can only help at this point the sooner she files the sooner this mess will be behind her.

I never thought about not responding, I'll read through it again. I definately don't want to be in contempt of court. since it was not sent certified you guys/gals are are certain this isn't court ordered? I probably blew the defence that we could say we didn't receive it. when i called Friday I mentioned the cover letter seeking a settlement, I never gave it a second thought. Should i just answer a couple obvoius questions and send it back that way we responded but didn't give anything away?
Thanks for helping I'd be lost without this site.

They would have to prove in court that she actually received it. It's most likely a scare tactic and it is working. They hope to get a lot of information from her that they will be able to use later to collect the judgment.

Check with your local court to see if they have even received a judgment yet.

If they have NOT received a judgment yet, then this is most certainly something you can just ignore.

They have to get a judgment BEFORE they do anything like a "judgment debtor's exam" or "interogatories", and actually force her to answer them. In most states, you would have to be "served" by a process server, or a sheriff's deputy or constable, or at the very least, by certified mail directly from the court for this to be official and for it to have the penalty of contempt of court for not answering it.

P.S.-- after re-reading the questions they asked you in your initial post, I think they are actually trying to get her to admit to the debt so they can get a judgment easily. And notice how they are fishing for a cancelled check? They want the account number so they can drain your checking account after they get a judgment. I would not answer any of those questions.

[ivehadit]

Ok after researching and trying to think this through I figure I should fill out the admissions and discovery form. If we don't it will default to being admitted. I need some advice on one question in particular, it asks where spouse works and annual income, that would be me. Since this card is in her name only I feel i shouldn't answer it, maybe make a statement that spouse is not a partner on this debt or maybe just leave it blank. I'll have to have this in the mail by monday for them to get it back within 28 days. I figure the most important question to answer is her employment status which is housewife/no job. maybe they'll drop it for now.

[treehugger1]

Did you ever determine if a judgment had been entered in a court somewhere?

I'm no expert in the manner of written interrogatories, but if there is no judgment, how can there be interrogatories related to your financial situation?

Now, if you do have to provide information, and you choose to ignore, then you could be compelled to appear before a judge in a court of law and undergo a debtor examination.

To your question: Are you (spouse) listed as a defendant? If not, then I fail to see why you can't state that "spouse is not a defendant." Then again, if your state is a community property state, perhaps this type of question is standard. I just know. It all sounds a bit querky to me.

I'm not attempting to give legal advice here. However, it is very interesting.

[BigJohn]

You could answer all the questions; just don't write with your dominate hand.

[treehugger1]

In my state a debtor's exam can be undertaken by the judgment creditor's attorney (Oregon Revised Statutes) and is a legal interrogatory that a debtor must submit to. If the judgment debtor fails to provide the information, then the debtor can be summoned to court to answer the questions. States have a variety of different laws related to written invetigations related to JUDGMENT debtors. Since I have no experience with such interrogatories, and have not researched your state laws, I have no answer for you.

It does sound as if this case has not yet led to a judgment, so you might check up on your state rules of civil procedure and determine if you need to answer the questions prior to a judgment.