Hi...I am writing this for my daughter who is being sued by a hospital for a delinquent bill.
Background: We live in Michigan. My daughter is sole support right now for her family of 4. Her husband has been laid off since July '07 and has not been able to find a job yet. She works part time (20-32 hrs per week) as a cashier for a major retailer. Only makes $8/hr. Two children under the age of 2 yrs. They were going to file BK last yr. but had to drop it because they could'nt afford the lawyer. The only asset they have is a '97 Tarus that her Grandfather gave her and is title is in her name. They own nothing else except for their own personal items. I own the house they live in and no, they don't pay any rent (that's been a direct effect on my finances, but that's another story). They do get food stamps but the FIA denied them for cash assistance because they say she makes too much money.
Anyway, about 3 weeks ago, she was served with a letter that she said looked like an official court document that she was being sued by the hospital. I never saw the letter itself, but she said she couln't find a court date anywhere on it. I have been reading this forum a lot for several months because I will be filing BK sometime this yr, and told her from what I have read that she can just ignore it, let them sue and even if they get a judgement the worse they can do is garnishee her wages. But I don't think they could do even that since she doesn't make that much money. She was worried they would take her car. I told her honey, they will take one look at that car and start laughing (there is some moderate body damage).
Now, she just called me and said she got a letter in the mail from the law firm representing the hospital that said if she doesn't show up in court, she could face arrest and jail time for contempt of court. She's frantic. I told her (from what I have learned here) that not paying her bill is not criminal, they can't arrest her for that. But HOLY COW!! I don't know about the contempt of court business! She's scared to death now.
Can they do that?? Is there any way that it is contempt of court to NOT show up? She doesn't even know when the court date is!
Please, I would appreciate any advice I can pass on to her. She can't post or read herself because her cable and internet has been diconnected. They couldn't afford it.
TIA
Background: We live in Michigan. My daughter is sole support right now for her family of 4. Her husband has been laid off since July '07 and has not been able to find a job yet. She works part time (20-32 hrs per week) as a cashier for a major retailer. Only makes $8/hr. Two children under the age of 2 yrs. They were going to file BK last yr. but had to drop it because they could'nt afford the lawyer. The only asset they have is a '97 Tarus that her Grandfather gave her and is title is in her name. They own nothing else except for their own personal items. I own the house they live in and no, they don't pay any rent (that's been a direct effect on my finances, but that's another story). They do get food stamps but the FIA denied them for cash assistance because they say she makes too much money.
Anyway, about 3 weeks ago, she was served with a letter that she said looked like an official court document that she was being sued by the hospital. I never saw the letter itself, but she said she couln't find a court date anywhere on it. I have been reading this forum a lot for several months because I will be filing BK sometime this yr, and told her from what I have read that she can just ignore it, let them sue and even if they get a judgement the worse they can do is garnishee her wages. But I don't think they could do even that since she doesn't make that much money. She was worried they would take her car. I told her honey, they will take one look at that car and start laughing (there is some moderate body damage).
Now, she just called me and said she got a letter in the mail from the law firm representing the hospital that said if she doesn't show up in court, she could face arrest and jail time for contempt of court. She's frantic. I told her (from what I have learned here) that not paying her bill is not criminal, they can't arrest her for that. But HOLY COW!! I don't know about the contempt of court business! She's scared to death now.
Can they do that?? Is there any way that it is contempt of court to NOT show up? She doesn't even know when the court date is!
Please, I would appreciate any advice I can pass on to her. She can't post or read herself because her cable and internet has been diconnected. They couldn't afford it.
TIA
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