I am in utah and have to go to court for a creditor. My ex filed bk back in november, but i didn't file with him because then i would not be able to get loans for school. this is what our lawyer recommended.

anyway, i had a few accounts, this one from best buy for 400 bucks which we could not pay. it is only in my name. they waited till the bk got confirmed then came after me.

I know that i am a horrible person, so i don't want to hear that. what i want to know is what property can they take from me and what is exempt? We had to list stuff for the bk and we have nothing, and the house is in his name and part of the bk, as is my car in both names.

i don't work, just school. i am very nervous and just want to know what the judge is going to ask me.

i am broke and live on a few hundred a month for food and gas, and ex pays bills, and he lives on 100 a month. we don't even make enough to cover the bk budget set up.

so will they go off the list from the bk or what will they expect?

I just wish I had the money to pay them....

Here is what you need to look at my friend - http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE78B/htm/78B05_050500.htm and http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE78B/htm/78B05_050600.htm

From what you've written, they could go after your car depending on its value (if it's significantly more than 2,500 then you might have a problem), but all other property is exempt although if you are working they could go after your wages (just a percentage of them though).

I am an attorney, but this is not legal advice. Good luck.

I am an attorney in California--not Utah--so take this advice with the understanding that things may be somewhat different there.

First, let me make a philosophical point. YOU ARE NOT A HORRIBLE PERSON SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU ARE A DEBTOR AND CANNOT PAY. I have represented numerous debtors and creditors over the years. The American economic system (free enterprise) is bound by its nature to result in a culture of debtors. Best Buy makes millions, for example, through economic policies that exploit those with limited resources. Your intent when making these purchases, and your heart with regard to payment, and other matters in your life, is, in my mind, what counts when deciding what kind of a person you are. PLEASE DO NOT LET CREDITORS, OR COLLECTION AGENTS, TELL YOU WHAT KIND OF A PERSON YOU ARE. I have known many, many truly wonderful people who were forced to file bankruptcy. It is part of the system.

You did not say what the nature of the court hearing is. It could be a trial to allow the creditor to secure a judgment. In this case, you will only be given an opportunity to raise any defenses. If you in fact purchased the products, and in fact did not pay, it is unlikely you have any defenses. Inability to pay is not a defense. As such, judgment will be entered, if it has not been already. If this is the nature of the hearing, you do not even have to attend.

If judgment is already entered, the hearing could be a "debtors examination." In this case, you will be asked about your assets and liabilities. The creditor, or creditor's attorney will have broad latitude in asking you any questions related to your financial status and ability to pay. Just answer the questions truthfully. You do have to attend this kind of hearing, because you were served a notice to that effect. If you fail to appear, a civil warrant could be issued for your arrest.

In either of the above, there is no reason to be nervous. Just relax and go with the flow. The judge will probably understand your predicament and will help you understand the process, whatever it is.

+1

Being in debt is the new American black, as is bankruptcy.

I have a friend who was in a similar situation, she didn't even go to court. They made a judgement against her. That was the end of it, they never took her car. She wasn't working and had no other assets. The judgement was for around 17k. It affected her credit rating but she eventually recovered that through time.

You are almost certainly in Small Claims court if the claim is for $400. I am also assuming this is the only debt in your name that is in trouble.

If this is your first time than you are appearing to argue the case merits. The creditor will be seeking a judgment from the court.

Nearly every small claims session in Utah is attended by volunteer mediators who conduct mediation sessions before and during the court calendar. If you choose to mediate the judge will move your case to the end of the calendar to give you time to meet. Try to get the creditor to meet in mediation and present a settlement offer to him.

Understand that there are two practical elements to commercial litigation. First is proving a case and getting a judgment. This will be easy with you. The second is collecting (or executing) the judgment. This is often much harder as people have no money or assets. Execution can be in the form of wage garnishment, bank funds seizure, seizure of assets or lien's on assets. These actions take time and money and new motions to the court after the judgment is entered. Even if execution motions are put into play, it still isn't certain that creditors will ever actually get anything of value. Creditors have to figure out if the expense required to collect justifies the probabilities of actually collecting something.

Another consideration is that a few hundred bucks is hardly worth the pain of having a court judgment in your credit file, again assuming you have no other derogs going on. If you could settle the matter and get the case dismissed it is probably worth it to try.

So given all this, I would try to mediate with the creditor and offer something like 1/3 of the balance (in two equal payments) to settle the matter in full, assuming no judgment is entered and assuming that (after payment is made) the case is dismissed with prejudice and cannot be refiled.

Your story is pretty good evidence that 1/3 of the cash is better than nothing -- and if they don't settle they are far more likely to get nothing. They will have to spend several thousand additional dollars to TRY to get something (your car) that they hope they can eventually sell and cover the cost of the collections and the original bill.

The message is that you have nothing. DH is BK. Your assets have marginal value. You are not working. This is the best deal.

Be careful about disclosing your student status at this time. Do not volunteer too much information about specific assets or activities. If they don't go for the settlement then they will have to motion you back to court to talk about your assets (see CA Attorney's post above) and you will have to answer them then. Don't give them this info for free now.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

R.

If it was something I could do without, I would tell BestBuy to come pick it up. But this is just my opinion.

my brother stupidly bought things for his ex gf with credit, when they broke up, she took the stuff but refused to pay money towards it. creditors came after him, myself and my parents. I will go ahead and say that i f'ing HATE those people. they are horrible, rude, intrusive and no different than the mafia IMHO. I have no idea why the hell they started bothering me and my parents about it, we weren't involved in any way. I digress...

He went to law school but is not a practicing lawyer. he was able to settle with both creditors over the phone for dramatically less money than was owed. In once case about half. He owed thousands.

Have you tried bargaining with them? Go ahead... make them an offer they can't refuse....

I was thinking that's nuts too. Doesn't seem worth their time for such a small amount. I wonder if they're just trying to scare the OP into paying? Be sure to show up to court, because if they don't it goes in your favor.

...it seems that you are getting some terrific advice.

I want to tell you that you are not a horrible person. Please don't think that way. You got into a fix. We all do at one time or another. As a friend of mine once said, "it will all come out in the wash." And I don't think it will be even remotely as terrible as you think it will be.

When I was in grad school I was really, really poor. No one had told me that the powers that be might not lend enough money in student loans to make it all work (even with a part-time job.) So I would raid the penny jar for gas money. I once drove at night for a week or so without any headlights! O_O I had to use my parking lights, and I prayed that a cop wouldn't pull me over.

So trust me, I sympathize. Hang in there. It will all work out.

Been sued a lot, bona dea is starting a class action against me now, snore...

It's no big deal, offer to "work it out" with the lender, you'll go to a room or even just the hallway (happened that way for me once). The judge won't give $400 bucks a minute of his time, betcha!

If there is ANY doubt this is your responsibility push that, make them show the debt is.yours for sure.

If you.are beaten, guess what, you still walk to your car, drive to the nearest pub and chill.

Post what happens!

Oh yeah, you're NOT horrible! Wish you could afford a good attorney, they are fun, totally on your side, help you chill when people are snarling at you. Mine doesn't even have a phone number...

I just draw a pentagram on the floor and conjure him up.

=D

I guess they already have ajudgment--I don't recall it myself, but it may have happened during the whole bankrupcy thing. So now they want information on my assets and stuff.

I am disabled but not getting disability, and not working, but going to school on the state of utah with vocational rehab and pell grants.

My car is part of the bankruptcy and has my ex (we are still legal) on it also. It is only worth about 4500 and we are paying on that through the 13.

My income is my ex's. I have no savings, nothign. and everything in my house is still half his, cept my bed and clothes of course. No boats or fun stuff. Old tv, dvd. My kid has a ps3 but that was from relatives.

They can't sell the car for what we owe on it, and it turns out it should have been a salvage title as it is falling apart after have been fixed by a rental car company before we bought it.

I appreciate the advice. I know I have to go. I have in fact been a mediator (haha) and may know someone there. But I have no money to pay them. Yes, I have afew other creditors, and my credit is shot due to medical bills. I have current on-going medical expenses that I have to pay so there is nothing to make payments on.

It started out as a 400 credit and now is like 1200. But like someone said, they are there for others. I looked at the docket and I amnot the only one. I feel bad, I had the money when i got it, though I was surprised they gave it to me . I bought my kid ps2 stuff. I have some of it, most doesn't work, this is from 2007 also. I gladly would give back what I have....

Thanks again. I feel much better about going, still stupid, but I won't be the only one!!

OK then. You know the drill. Try to settle if you can for a few hundred bucks. They can file a satisfaction at least on your case and it will show as being satisfied if they bite. If not, you are essentially judgment proof for now. Good luck!

I will spare you my cynicism. I think others have given reasonable advice, and it is probably a good thing you are facing an actual creditor, not a con.

God Speed!