Opening Up a Can of Worms?

[danaf]

3 yrs ago a woman I pre-paid to do a graphic for me held the graphic hostage in order to get more money from me. I had already paid her a substantial amount and I thought what she was doing was messed up but I agreed just so I could get the graphic I had already paid for.

I never paid her the remaining money she wanted (and I had never intended to considering that I felt her request was unethical).

She sent me a few bills and then nothing more. Granted, she doesn't know where I live now and she's small-time (works for herself) - so I highly doubt she is going to go through the process to try to find out where I live & whatever other legal process to obtain an additional $500 from me.

The statute of limitations for NY is 6 yrs. I believe I responded to her in an email that I would pay her the additional money.

I'd prefer not to include her in my bk petition but if I did, how would that work being I'm on the west coast and she's on the east coast? If she objected, would she have to fly out here for a hearing? Would it even be worth her while to object?

[soleprop]

i'd include her in the bk just to make sure she can't ever come back on you...

[gophermn]

Correct me if I am wrong but she technically probably doesn't have to be there to object. Once she receives the form B9A Meeting of Creditors and Deadline (i.e. Meeting of Creditors) she can file a paper to the clerks office during that 60 day period. Again, pending you list her as a debt.

In your 341 meeting you will be asked if you owe anyone money so be ready to respond. I would hate for you to say no and find out she does call the clerks office - then one thing leads to another and your case gets filed for abuse. That's probably the worse scenario but its your call.

I laid EVERYTHING out on the line and bit my nails for 90+ days. But I felt good knowing I didn't mislead anyone and everyone was noted in the petition..

Good luck

[Cali]

I would include her just to cover all your bases.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Danaf, include her, definitely. But one thing I also did was get a P.O. Box for the bk itself. Although my physical address was on the bk as well (required -- they wanna know where your stuff is!) the P.O. Box was on the notices that went out. That made me feel a lot better because I didn't want to make it too easy for anyone to find me and harass my family; I'd already gotten enough of that from collectors. I used a throwaway cell number for my filing, too. If the thought of having this woman contact you directly bothers you in any way, use a P.O. Box and disposable phone # for your filing, and keep them active for the duration of your bk. Good luck!!!

[Flamingo]

You should be asking your attorney whether or not to include her in your BK petition. All debts are to be listed and I would certainly bring this to your attorney's attention to protect yourself. Don't hold anything back from your attorney cause you don't want or need any surprises a few months down the road. Best of luck to you.

[southernbelle]

It's best to include every creditor you can think of. The last thing you want is for her to show up years from now asking for that $500. I even listed people that contacted me threatening to sue me for my ex-husbands debts because we were married at the time. I listed them too. I didn't want to take any chances.

[Phillymanhere]

wow southernbelle,
I love your strategy of including your ex's debtors .... that got me chuckling .... so smart!

[JRScott]

Legally you have to list all debts, so you need to include her.