Just got served papers for court..m

[graciebeth]

Ok long story short. my husband and I filed ch 7 in 2001. 3months later he was diagnosed with pancreas cancer and he died in 10/03, I had 3 young children and of course really had no chance to recover after the BK with all that went on. in 06 I had to have open heart surgery, in 08 I nearly bled to death(on a blood thinner since the heart surgery) and had to quit my job to go back on state health insurance, since then where I worked has gone out of business. I live on the SS money that I get for having minor children since my husband died. its $1648 a month, not much and NOT enough to continue paying the credit cards so I stopped paying them 5/08 and have been trying to figure out what to do.

I am now going back to college with hopes of being able to get a good job. I was planning on filing bk again and have sworn off credit cards(about 10,000 in CCs and about $25,000 in medical because I had no insurance at where I used to work)..

What should I do? I obviously can not pay back what I owe for this CC(btw its capital one and I owe just over $3K on it. theres really no room for me to set up any sort of payments either because its just not there, I have a car payment/rent/lights/phone(home and cell) which are both at the minimum/I have a satellite which I could turn off,but we cant pick up a signal out here etc.. we never eat out, we buy store brand stuff, buy stuff off clearance and such and still are always strapped for $ barely getting by.

Do I rush out and find a lawyer who will let me start the process with a little scrapped up $ up front? will that take care of the court thing or would I still have to go? Do I go to court and claim judgement proof? then what?

helllllpppp

-grace

[albacore44]

Grace,

It sounds like you have been to hell and back. wow, what a story, and you found the stength to go back to school to improve your situation. you give me hope for america.

A couple of things you can do. reschearch your states exemptions. It sounds to me like your judgement proof. You could write the law firm reping cap 1 and state that and list your exemptions. They may drop the case.

You can go to court and answer the summons, but that generally costs money but some courts have a hardship form that allows you to file for free or reduced cost if you have limited income.

If they do get a judgement, they could put a lein against any property you own/cars if any. and when you do become employed in the future, they could pounce out of nowhere and start wage garnishment.

Best of luck to you

[graciebeth]

A couple of things you can do. reschearch your states exemptions. It sounds to me like your judgement proof. You could write the law firm reping cap 1 and state that and list your exemptions. They may drop the case.

-how would I research that? just look around online? on the actual summons it states that you can have up to $4000 in persona property and $5000 homestead exemptions, is that what you are talking about? Im not sure if my vehicles together are worth $4k, one is a 1994 jeep cherokee thats got nearly 300,000miles and lots of little issues the other is a 1996 caravan which I cant keep out of the dang shop and it has near 200,000 miles. and would I need to write them? I have no clue how to go about that or what to say, could I just call them or is that out of the question?

"You can go to court and answer the summons, but that generally costs money but some courts have a hardship form that allows you to file for free or reduced cost if you have limited income."

Yeah I dont have the $ to pay court costs, so will be best if kept out of the court,thats money i can spend towards the lawyer.. so its possible I can avoid going to court??? I thought I had to go now having been served, good thougth to think it can be undone somehow and I not have to go,but I need more info on how to do that.

"If they do get a judgement, they could put a lein against any property you own/cars if any. and when you do become employed in the future, they could pounce out of nowhere and start wage garnishment."

I guess if it comes to that then it comes to that,but Im going to have to file BK as far as I can tell, I just dont see another option. if there is a judgement can I still add it in on a BK?? I mean assuming they can do anything with me living off of SS

THANK you.. I'll take all the advice I can get, Im totally freaked out over this and was hping it wouldnt happen, I meant to file before now but the stupid van has stopped me from having the means.

-grace

[killinstinct]

I'm not hearing that you have a damn thing they can take from you. Contact the attorney and explain that you have nothing they could possibly want or take from you. You have nothing to hide. Look up your state's exemptions online, sounds to me like you're well within the threshold. You can always file BK and get protection if necessary, but I don't see that you have anything to protect!?

[pcn]

Are there state organizations that can help someone with low income? What are they called and how could she find them? I am thinking legal aid, or attorneys who help those without the means to pay.

I am thinking for defense, as well as help in filing.

[graciebeth]

if/when I contact the attorney who has issued the summons and tell him that I dont have anything that they will want,and nothing they can get because I have nothing really, might they then tell me they are dropping it? or will I get something in the mail if they decide to drop it? how will I know that its ok to not show up?--assuming they realize its pointless and drop it--

and yeah how would I find out about legal assistance in my area? would that possibly help me file the BK?? Id not even thought about that as I figured if anything was around that it wouldnt help with BK.. a lawyer that works with low income folks would be great, I looked in the phone book and none of them mentioned anything of that sort, tho some said they did payments,which is better than nothing,but it'd have to be low payments.

for the time being Im just scared to bits of going to court, why? I dont know,thats the crazy part. I KNOW they cant come take everything from us, heck I dont have anything they'd want, they wont want the cars(the van isnt paid for anyway) Id be heartsick if they took the jeep as I love it-my husband bought it for me before he died- and my daughter drives it to school but I doubt they'd want it with as many miles as are on it and the condition its in, tho its safe it has quirks and a bad paintjob/cracked windshield etc. the furniture in the house was all used, nothing new and I dont see them having a benefit in taking used furniture or a old computer, theres definately not $3k worth of stuff here.but still I find myself scared of the thought of going to court, and heck I dont know how Id pay the dang court fees which also scares me, the court date is dec 1st as if Christmas isnt going to be hard enough.. but finding out about legal assisatance for low income would be great.

thanks!!! I'll take all the advice I can get to help me stop *shaking in my boots* so to speak.

-grace

[percy]

Legal Aid phone numbers for East TN, call whichever is in your area and talk to them, simple:


Northern Region
Johnson City Morristown
311 W. Walnut Street 1001 W. 2nd North Street
Johnson City, TN 37604 Morristown, TN 37814
(423) 928-8311 (423) 587-4850
(800) 821-1312 (800) 821-1309
Fax (423) 928-9488 Fax (423) 587-4857




Central Region
Knoxville Maryville
502 S. Gay St. Suite 404 Compton Place
Knoxville, TN 37902 307 Ellis Ave
(865) 637-0484 Maryville, TN 37801
Fax (865) 525-1162 (865) 981-1818
Fax (865) 981-1816




Southern Region
Chattanooga Cleveland
744 McCallie Ave, Suite 410 85 Central Ave NW
Chattanooga, TN 37403 Cleveland, TN 37311
(423) 756-4013 (423) 479-8577
(800) 572-7457 (800) 445-3219
Fax (423) 265-4164 Fax (423) 339-3282

[graciebeth]

ok am waiting on the local Legal Aid office to call me back, Im pretty certain I would qualify for some sort of assistance from them and if for some reason I dont maybe I can get some advice from them, or maybe they can hook m up with a good lawyer who has reasonable fees and is understanding of the low income that I have.

I called the legal aid office Friday and it said that due to the excess of calls that it may take up to 24 hours for the call to be returned, that said Im still waiting BUT I do understand there was a weekend and such.Im thinking if they DONT call today then tomorrow maybe I should call some lawyers and see if I can get a free consult SOON and see what I can get going, hopefully I will be able to get a BK going with a little $ down.

oh how I hate waiting on phone calls,and its all automated so I cant get to a person all I can get to is a place to leave a message..

-grace

[rrj]

well, i just called to see if the legal aid in tn could help my sister file

there requirements are that you earn wages that can be garnished and one judgment against you.

so, she does not qualify for free legal aid, all she draws is disalibly

[graciebeth]

thats weird rrj, cause the legal aid office here sent me BK papers and it will only cost me $300 to file through them. I dont have a job, dont have any wages that can be garnished, only have SS coming in the form of survivors benefits since my husband died and I have minor children. I have no judgements,well not yet, that could change Tuesday.

-grace

[rrj]

thats weird rrj, cause the legal aid office here sent me BK papers and it will only cost me $300 to file through them. I dont have a job, dont have any wages that can be garnished, only have SS coming in the form of survivors benefits since my husband died and I have minor children. I have no judgements,well not yet, that could change Tuesday.

-grace

I called them back and so did my other sister and we were told the same thing
she going to have to do pro way,