Questions about a judgment we have against someone else

[ccaplinger]

We have a judgment against another person resulting from a car accident in which the other person, who was at fault, did not have insurance. The accident happened in 2003. We received a judgment for $3000, the maximum amount allowed in our state. We have received all of $740 since then. The last payment being in 2007.

We have in the past been able to notify the state DOR that she is not paying us as agreed upon and they will suspend her license. I have not done that in about two years. The last time I did it she actually paid us something.

I don't want her notifed of the bankruptcy (haven't filed yet but filling out all the paperwork now and meet with attorney on Tuesday). I don't want her to think that since we are filing she is relieved of her obligation.

I have two questions. Will she receive notificaton? The attorney said he would reaffirm the debt. Will the Trustee take the debt and try to collect from her? I guess if he did I would say "you're welcome to try but good luck getting anything." Even if he/she tried I don't think they would get more than a couple of hundred dollars. She doesn't own any property that we know of (besides maybe a car) and last time I knew she didn't even have a steady job, she just bounces from job to job.

Any thoughts, ideas, comments.

[dingdong]

Have you tried garnishing her wages?

It isn't that hard, you need to file a writ with the court then the Sheriff usually takes care of the rest.

Have her summoned for a debtor exam, that might make her pay up a few bucks.

I mean come on, she was driving w/o insurance. If you suspend her license again, you will be doing the public a favor by getting her off the streets.

That is one thing that pisses me off about California. They won't allow illegals (immigrants) to get a DL, but w/o one, they can't get insurance. They are going to drive anyway, hell, give them a license and at least they can try and get insurance plus the state makes more money on fees for DL. All they do is just impound their cars and haul them off to jail and spend money on taking them to court and then jail.

What the hell are they supposed to do? If I lived in Mexico, I would come to California too. You can't blame them for wanting to come over. Everybody has to eat.

Oops I am ranting and going off topic. But they impounded our little hardworking dishwasher's car in a checkpoint the other day. At least he shows up and does a great job with a smile on his face. All the "white" dishwashers fail to show up and come in stoned and suck at their job, this guy is happy as clams to get 9.50 an hour and he works his ass off and comes in whenever they call him, no questions asked.

He deserves a DL and would gladly pay for insurance if he could get it.

Dumb ass Californians! They are too stupid to see the logic in it and to biased to care.

OK, I am done.

Sorry.

[JRScott]

Unfortunately you do have to list her, not as a creditor but as a debtor. There is a place in your statement of financial affairs where you have to list money owed to you by another party. Unfortunately this also is an asset, which means if you can't exempt it the Trustee will go after the person and will seek remedy for distribution to your creditors.

[ccaplinger]

Yes I know we have to list her as a creditor to us. I have told the attorney about her already anyway. She owes us $2,260. Could that eat up our exemption there or is this separate? Our state exemption is only $3,000. I don't care if they wanted to go after her. We haven't collected. I doubt they would get everything either.

As far as garnishing her wages, she bounces so much from job to job that I wouldn't be able to figure out where she worked. And as soon as I did she would probably quit or be fired. I'm sure she has probably been on unemployment as some point too.

And right now as far as I know she has been carrying insurance. I know I need to contact DOR to suspend her license again. It just all seems to be a waste of time anymore. I spend more money or at least time trying to collect from her than I actually collect.

[dingdong]

Yeah sometimes it is more of a PITA to pursue something than it is worth.

I think you can place a lien on her personal property and file it with your county recorders office and then that way if she ever tried to buy a house , she would have to pay it off first. You wouldn't have to do much and possibly just renew the judgement every 10 years or whatever your state requires for renewing judgements, but you might actually get something at some point later down the road ( could be a very long road) plus CRA's might pick up on it and post it to her CR and it would be a constant reminder that she owes you money.It would report for 10 years as a judgement.

[LuciluS]

Aw Man - this just Crawls Right Up My Arse!!

I know you are swamped in paperwork with the Bankruptcy and don't have time to do anything with the chitty lady, but I hoping & Will Be Doing A Lot Of Praying the Trustee does something about her.

Why? Because I was involved in an accident on 3/14/05 (a date, I will never forget) which was not our fault. The guy who hit us only has the minimum allowed coverage for Medical Liability in AR - $25,000.

Fast forward. Hired an Attorney. 7 surgeries later, on SSD, cannot walk over 50 ft. without cane, walker or scooter, have Spinal Cord Stimulator implanted and it delayed our Bankruptcy because courtdate was Finally Set for Feb. 6, 2009.

Wanna know what monies I received? A Whopping $5,000. My Quality of Life is the Pits. I'm on Morphine 3 times a day along with another Pain Pill and various other prescriptions.

O Sorry for the Rant.

I guess you were like me. Even tho you had No Fault Insurance they didn't want to get involved in a Court Case. My car insurance did pay $5,000 of my medical bills & my medical insurance paid their portion, but I can tell you I spent more than $5,000 in out of pocket expenses.

Luci

[BornAgain]

If I lived in Mexico, I would come to California too.
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... they impounded our little hardworking dishwasher's car in a checkpoint the other day. He deserves a DL and would gladly pay for insurance if he could get it.
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Dumb ass Californians! They are too stupid to see the logic in it and to biased to care.

Isn't it illegal to hire illegal aliens when you know they're here illegally? Aren't there consequences for that? I think there are, so why post it on a public forum -- along with your personal endorsement for breaking the law. Why would you do such a thing?

Oh, never mind, I see why. I read down toward the end of your post.