Old dismissed Ch.13, New old judements, Judgement Proof

[gilwilliams1]

Hello all. I posted this elsewhere on board and it was recommended that I post it here:

I've been trying to look at this "Judgment proof" issue and also just how long debt collectors have to garnish/attach. About 7-8 years ago I entered a Chapter 13 in Georgia under the 1978 statues. My wife during that time was in the process of establishing her disability, which she received. Also we separated due to her mental issues and still lives at another address. More then four years ago, I also became disabled, lost my job, the bankruptcy was dismissed. Just last year, after three years in a shed, I finally won my claim. I've also clocked up another 60-70K in medical bills and still have not received Medicare help, and will probably will clock up 10's of thousands more soon. I did receive the back portion of my disability, but quickly spent that turning the utilities back on and acquiring an RV to live in. She gets around $800(SSI) a month, and I get $1400(SSI) a month. I thought this would see me through better, but my health is lousy, and we barely scrap through each month. Now she get a collection notice for her old truck back from 1999, and I get one from my old truck from 1996. Mine refers to a judgment, which I guess is their original one. As far as property, I seriously doubt she has $3500 of property. I may have $5000 worth of stuff. I want to avoid BK as she will be very hard to manage through it. Then I still have three current pay agreements for big medical procedures and an IRS claim I'm sure they've claimed twice. And there's even a malpractice suit of mine floating around, but the doctor has fled the country! Would our economic state be "Judgment Proof". And after more then four years since the Chapter 13 dismissal, can they still try to collect? Any help would be very welcome.

Thanks

[Dst1]

Well, if they have a judgment against you clearly you are not judgment proof. Having said that, it seems to me the only significant property you have at risk is the RV. But has been talked about in another thread, that doesn't mean they still can't annoy the piss out of you.

I am curious about one thing. If the judgment was in 1996, that was 13 years ago. Is it still valid in your state. Some states the judgments have to be renewed after 10 years. And were the vehicles listed in the 13 BK?

[Flamingo]

I am assuming you filed Chapter 13 in 2001 or 2002 and in 2003 or 2004 your Chapter 13 was dismissed. When your Chapter 13 was dismissed, what that did was put you back at square one at the time you filed, minus any payments you made into your Plan. Therefore, creditors would start coming after you. It appears judgments have come out of that as to your vehicles from what I can gather from your posting and you are looking at a possible 4 year time period from your dismissal. One would assume the judgment was granted during that time period and is not more than 4 years old. Your post is a bit confusing as it goes all over the place as to your debts and timeframe and numerous issues. May I suggest to help you get straightened out and to figure out what to do is for you to contact a few BK lawyers and get a few free initiali consultations - you will have a better feel for things and can discuss the malpractice situation and figure out what can be done there as you stated the attorney "fled the country."

[HHM]

Holy crap...what possible reason could you have to avoid BK. No offense, if there is a poster child for someone that should probably file, it is you.

Granted, maybe you don't absolutely have to, as you may very well be judgment proof, but that means there is absolutely no downside for you to file as well.

As for collection, they can practically collect until the day you die (and even after that day).

[gilwilliams1]

Thanks. Sorry for the confusing detail. To the point of the Chapter 13, it was dismissed over 4 years ago. I was intending to refile for either 7 or 13 eventually. I can manage to stave off paying my current medical bills and come to an agreement to pay the IRS. Due to expensive corrective surgeries of a blown appendectomy that required 6 months of open wound care, and a procedure to correct vascular defects related to my disability, I foresee additional large bills accruing. I was hoping to explore fixing those problems in April when my Medicare finally kicked in. Afterwards I was going to explore the BK possibilities when the whole array of debts was known, and to see possibly if the 2005 BK Bill gets kicked to the curb, since I've heard a few rumblings about it(I'm certainly not going to delay filing over it though, just an aside thing). But Alas these two debt collectors surface The 1996 one had a judgment in 1999. The 1999 one got a judgment in 2003. And more could come, we lost a van(judgment 2004) and two homes(one judgment in 2002 and the other in 2005) as well.

As far as "Judgment Proof", what I was told was that if I had less then $5000 property, there was not much they could attach. They can't attach my SSI from my understanding. I guess I will have to close my bank account and put my auto insurance on a pre-pay debit card. The only reason I have the account is they insist on automated payment. I was also planning on resolving the status of my property, which although mostly paid in principle, still has some interest and tax debt to be paid. It's never been titled to me and was on a rent to own contract through my former employer. Add that in and then I will have $19,000 in assets total.

My natural family thinks I'm nuts for staying here. They are trying to get me to move to Canada. I'd actually fall under an Aboriginal Sovereignty up there. They don't understand their oldest brother is a South Georgia Redneck. -50 degree weather would be very hard to tolerate, especially with a bad vascular system. Still I wonder why I bother sticking to this spot of sand down here. It's just me and my ol chickens in the woods really. I certainly have little prospect of fixing the last dilapidated trailer out back. Then the Wife on the other side of the property really has no where else to go either. And we certainly don't have the $1K for a divorce lying around. I guess it's just onery contrarianism that keeps me fighting.