please critique my letter to an attorney?

[dgifta]

This is a copy of a letter I'm thinking of sending to an attorney regarding
my not wanting to sign a Stipulated Judgment he sent me.

I have agreed to a payment plan, and have been making payments. He said
he would send a payment plan, instead he sent the Stipulated Judgment.

Would you tell me your opinion of this letter from both a legal and a stylistic
standpoint?

Thanks for your help. All opinions gratefully appreciated.

One of the things I'm attempting to do with this letter is to establish my
reasonableness and willingness to cooperate. If a court case becomes
necessary I want a paper trail to show the court how willing I was to come to an
amicable resolution.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ms.---, thank you for your kind attention to my account.

I am sincerely sorry, but I have been advised to not sign the “ Stipulated Judgment “ document, for several reasons. I have been advised that by signing it I could be limiting my potential legal options in regard to this matter in the event I decide to dispute this bill. In addition, when I agreed to make payments, I was not informed that signing a Stipulated Judgment would be part of the agreement.

I am willing to sign a payment plan that does not contain a Stipulated Judgment as part of it.

I am willing to continue the payments I have been making. I have already sent my payment that is due March 7th.

I hope this meets with your approval.

Sincerely
D----- A-----

[shark66]

This is a copy of a letter I'm thinking of sending to an attorney regarding
my not wanting to sign a Stipulated Judgment he sent me.

Why bother sending anything at all...my opinion only...read on...


One of the things I'm attempting to do with this letter is to establish my
reasonableness and willingness to cooperate.

The only cooperation they are interested in usually begins with this sign: $


If a court case becomes
necessary I want a paper trail to show the court how willing I was to come to an
amicable resolution.

The court couldn't care less about what you have or haven't attempted, the plaintiff will win the case at the first hearing if they show up for it.

Spare a few branches and tear the letter up. It will not get you anywhere.

My $0.02 only...

Good luck.

[catleg]

It seems to me that it's like this:
They want money, and they also want stipulated judgment (in case you stop sending money).
You have sent money, if they want stipulated judgment, you stop sending money and turtle-up (crawl into your shell) on them.
This only works if they have no way to get at your money otherwise (wage garnishment, bank accounts, etc).
If they know where you work and you make more than the federal minimum for wage garnishment, you can still refuse to sign the stip judg, they will
have to get a real judgment, and then pursue you with it, by which time you'll have filed bk.
Absolutely the last thing anyone cares about is if you made a good faith effort to pay.

[HHM]

What is the end game scenario....

Hard to provide any guidance without knowing your overall plan for the debt.

Having said that, it sounds like the debt is in the hands of a local attorney that can simply sue you (or perhaps a case was already filed) if you do not cooperate. A stipulated judgement is fairly standard security to secure payment plans.

So, what you do depends on (1) what is your end game scenario, BK, payment, etc), and (2) your short term collection risk.

[dgifta]

HI HHM, thanks for your input.
My plan is to file for BK. I can't file until I save another $700 to pay the attorney.
Also, I need to get current on my mortgage payments.I am 1 month behind.
So, I'll need about $2300, which I don't have.

I'm just trying to buy time with this local attorney/ Collection Agency until I can file BK.
My over-riding concern is that they not get a judgment against, which would then allow
them to garnish my bank account. If that were to happen, then what little money I've saved
to pay for the BK and mortgage payment would be gone.

In addition, I currently have a house I'm selling. I have a buyer, and Chase seems to be going along
with the sale, it's a short sale. I'm concerned that if this Lawyer/ CA gets a judgment against me he
could put a lien on the house which would prevent the sale, or make it more difficult.

Thanks

Dennis

[HHM]

If you can make the payment the attorney is offering, then giving them a stipulated judgment is moot. The stipulated judgment only gets filed once you default on the monthly payments. If you stay current up to the time of filing BK, then no judgment will be entered.

However, if you are unable to make the payment, you have a problem regardless.

[lillymarlene]

dgifta, I agree with shark.

The court couldn't care less about what you have or haven't attempted, the plaintiff will win the case at the first hearing if they show up for it.

When I went to small claims court last summer, there were several people ahead of me. It seems that the judge didn't seem to care no matter how hard some people had tried, just that they could make arrangements to pay their debt.

I felt I was lucky just to get my case continued, to buy myself some time

Good luck.

[dgifta]

Lilymarlene, thank you for your help. It's very confusing trying to figure out what to.

HHM. Thanks. Your thought is interesting, that the Stip. Judgment will only get filed if I stop making
the payments.

What I've been reading is to not trust the Lawyer/CA., and that they will act on the Stip Judg. even if I make the payments.
That possibility worries me the most. I have so little,and if they have the S.J. in hand, couldn't they just go to court
with that, and get my bank account info., and empty my account? If that happens I'll never be able to pay for the
BK.

Also, as I wrote in my previous message, I'm trying to sell my house. Would a judgment affect the potential sale?

In addition, when they sent the S.J., they also sent a :" Summons And Complaint" document. However, it had no
date, or any court information.I checked on PACER, and it hasn't been filed.

The Summons and Complaint had just their allegations in 4 statements or paragraphs, including how much money they
say I owe.

Why did they do that? If I've already agreed to a payment plan, and I've made several payments on time, why
did they send me a Summons and Complaint?

Do Lawyers always send a Summons and Complaint when they send a S.J.?
Is this just standard operating procedure?
Do I need to answer it, to them, not the court, even if it hasn't been filed with the court?

Thank You for your kind help to my endless questions. I'm one of those kind of people
who needs to understand what's going on.

Dennis

[shark66]

HI HHM, thanks for your input.
My plan is to file for BK. I can't file until I save another $700 to pay the attorney.
Also, I need to get current on my mortgage payments.I am 1 month behind.
So, I'll need about $2300, which I don't have.

Getting this money should be your number one priority, even if you have to borrow it from friends/relatives...read on...

I'm just trying to buy time with this local attorney/ Collection Agency until I can file BK.
My over-riding concern is that they not get a judgment against, which would then allow
them to garnish my bank account. If that were to happen, then what little money I've saved
to pay for the BK and mortgage payment would be gone.

Take the money out of the bank and all the reasons for any concern are gone.

In addition, I currently have a house I'm selling. I have a buyer, and Chase seems to be going along
with the sale, it's a short sale. I'm concerned that if this Lawyer/ CA gets a judgment against me he
could put a lien on the house which would prevent the sale, or make it more difficult.

Why are you doing the short sale in the first place? To do local realtor a favor? You've got absolutely nothing to gain by that course of action.

Include the house in BK, surrender it and call it a day.

Is this the same house you're behind on mortgage, BTW? If it is, why bother catching up? File the BK, let Chase foreclose and move on...



Thanks

Dennis

Good luck...

[discouraged]

I would get my money out of the bank and only keep what is necessary for living expenses that you pay via check or online. If the money isn't there, they can't take it.

I did this and my lawyer said in my case it wasn't necessary, as I'd switched to a small neighborhood bank and got everything out of Wells Fargo, but I felt safer having it hidden around my house. Once the bk is discharged I will put whatever is left back in the bank. Currently I am using the cash for groceries, etc.and putting my receipts in envelopes so I have proof for the trustee that I am not 'hiding' money, just keeping what I have safe.

I am also using money orders for most bills except my internet service, which does come out of my WF account. I will keep $10 a month for my dial-up internet service in that account and th bank can have that if they really think they need it.