Hopefully I have all the right info here... My sister in law was married to a troublemaker who took her car (by that I mean registered to her only, he put his own plates on it) and proceeded to crash through a neighbor's house. He was sentenced to 1 year suspended sentence, 1 year probation, and restitution in criminal court. He was deemed 100% responsible for the car loan in the divorce decree as well. The homeowner's insurance (Nationwide) paid for the home damage. Yesterday, she received notice from "Law offices of Jay W. Smith" in Van Nuys, CA for the cost of what Nationwide paid the homeowner. They are threatening suit. I do not see anything on here that says this is an attempt to collect a debt. Actually, I think this is not an attorney but a collection agency (says this law firm has been retained by National Commercial Services and the client is Nationwide), and I don't think she's responsible at all. The responsibility for the loan is spelled out in the divorce decree and the restitution is part of his criminal sentence. Am I wrong? She is scared to death about them coming after her. Please advise, thanks!
Adding - NCS - Attorney services Jay Smith is the collection lawyer for National Commercial Services. NCS is in suite 100 and Jay is in suite 200.
One thing that most people don't understand until they learn it the hard way is that creditors are not bound by a divorce decree. If her name is on the loan she is responsible. She can sue the ex to recover the money under the divorce decree, but that's about it. I'm not sure why Nationwide is coming after her. If they are listed as plaintiff, they are suing her using the law firm specified. She should consult an attorney. Many will give an initial free consultation. This appears to be more than a simple debt collection.
I'll tell her about creditors/divorce decree but why isn't he responsible when criminal court ordered him to pay restitution? That's not a legit defense? He doesn't pay her child support when ordered, I'd doubt he'd pay if she got a judgment against him for the car. My understanding is the homeowner's insurance paid for the damages and now they want to be reimbursed. Since her ex was uninsured at the time, they are coming after her since she is the registered owner. She will. She was here yesterday freaking out so I was looking for answers. Thanks for responding.
Let us know how it turns out. I'm curious about this one. If the court ordered him to pay restitution he's responsible for that. But I assume there is something because she's the registered owner of the car. This is a little beyond my experiences with insurance.
I'm not sure why Nationwide is coming after her. If they are listed as plaintiff, they are suing her using the law firm specified.
