Well, the sale of tha venture was halted, but I recieved a phone call from Mr. Funeral home yesterday, and he told me basically that I need to come up with 2300 bux by friday, or he will go get a order to enter my home with the police and constable, (whether I am home or not, by the way) Again, I told him that I would file a chapter 13BK, but he said he would get his money that way, through the courts. I even informed him that 7 months from now I would convert to chapter 7. again, he said he would re-file for a new judgement. he also said that to have the sherriff come to do a "home inventory" would cost ME 200.00 per hour and take 8-10 hours. All of which would be added to the judgement. I am not sure of several things. 1- I sent him a check with a 1st payment with a plan I proposed. He very quickly cashed the check. Does this constitue a acceptance of the plan on his part? 2- Can he and the sherriff come in my home when I am not at home? seems to me like breaking and entering. 3- is 200.00 a hour steep or what? 4- If I am not mistaken, are judgements thrown out in a bankruptcy proceeding? 5- Is he allowed to call me and make demands on me for money? after all, this is CIVIL, not criminal. all this is taking place right here in Pittsburgh, PA I would like to thank everyone for their help in advance. You folks are absolutely brilliant. shawn
I always thought, that if you made an honest effort in paying a bill (hospital, funeral anything that isn't a "loan") then they couldn't "do" anything until the "timely payments" stopped, if a balance was still owed. Example: I owe the local hospital $2700, they sent me 2 bills before I ever mailed a payment. I called to set up a payment plan and they wanted $250 a month, I told them I couldn't do it (I could but I look at it as interest free, why rush to pay it off), they wouldn't budge from he $250, we hung up, and I started sending $100 a month on my own. EVERY month I get a "thank you for your recent payment, please send next payment or balance in full by (30 days from last payment)" I have been doing this for 9 months, no CA involved, no threats. Look at it this way, if you DO go to court, you will be in the driver's seat if you have been making reasonable, timely payments. I am almost certain any reasonable judge would see there is an effort being made and withhold the judgement. You have begun a good faith resolution to this, this funeral jerk needs to realize all or nothing won't always work. Make any sense? OH, maybe a restraining order would be in order, sounds like this guy has a few loose screws, I would think calling you and threatening your property would be reason enough.
Shawn, If you file any sort of bk petition either, 7 or, 13 everything stops. Inventory judgements, the whole thing. Yes, judgements like this are discharged in bk. This dumbass {sorry pbm!} can file for all of the post bk judgements he likes but, if the underlying debt is discharged in bk then, he's going to be denied and probably fined for filing a frivolous lawsuit. I doubt seriously by cashing your check he bound himself to any agreemnent. As to the sheriff's inventory question, I don't know what PA law allows. Sounds like if anyone ever needed automatic relief from a creditor through a bk stay it's you. Good luck!
Unless you explicitly stated that it's a conditional check, it's not (Example: If an insurance company receives & cashes your premium check, even if you're late you can't lose coverage. And that is explicit in your contract). The judge may feel it's money the FH is "entitled" to, and therefore they were free to cash it.
Judges feel their job is to interpet contracts and not change them. If the orginal contract adheres to state law, the judge will have no choice but to enforce it. In KHM's example, it appears that the hospital agreed to the alternate payment plan. In this instance, the funeral home is not willing to cooperate.
Keepmine- AHHHHHHH!!!! I just stumbled across the "admission" paperwork for the hospital, and nowhere in it does it say you will pay $xx amount by xx/xx. All it says is you are responsible for what isn't covered by insurance (don't have any).
as much as i hate to do it, i think that BK13 is my only option. so much for the credit cleaning process. shawn if i die, i don't want him to do my funeral.lol
Shawn, whoa there. Doing the bk thing should not be taken lightly. I'm not sure how much you owe and how much you have to pay. As for this FH creditor, you should consult an attorney to hammer out a deal. Once you retain an attorney and the creditor knows about it, the forum shifts from your attorney to their attorney. Trust me the bk-13 or 7 is not the place to go if you can help it. I've been there and still am there. If you have any questions just leave a post here and I will try my best to answer your questions. Best regards, Mirage
Hi Shawn All I have to say is HOLY CRAP what a butt hole. I live in Virginia, but maybe this will help. I think first of all that he can't get a constable to enter your home and "look around" and charge you $200.00 /hr. This is the most outrageous think I've heard in a long time. I think first of all you might want to contact a lawyer if you can afford one, or at least go down to general district court and find out just what is available to individuals as far as collections. You can act like you are going to do some collections, and though they will not give you any legal advice (which you don't need perse) but they will tell you the different forms, and processes. Believe me this will tell you alot about how much this guy can actually do. As far as the bankruptcy if you file, I would simply file Chapter 7 to start with. He cannot collect, nor can he refile for a judgement on a Chapter 7 discharged debt. They will usually discharge unsecured debt as long as no fraud occured, which is not the case here. He is full of doo doo on this account. Call the police and tell them you have a lunatic harrassing you. call the sheriff or constable and ask if he can actuallycome to your house do this, they will be able to tell you immediately.
this is true, and sometimes the judge will rule in the debtors favor. a good friend of my husband had open heart surgery to repair a torn valve. He made payments every month, but the hospital took him to court because it wasn't enough according to them. He brought a box of receipts and told the judge he was trying and showed him the receipts. Not only did the judge rule in his favor, the judge told the hospital that he no longer owed the debt as far as the judge was concerned. It was over $100,000.
Check your phone book under 'Lawyer Referral Service' and you'll get a consultation with them for like $35 (that's what mine was). They'll ask you the nature of your problem and then hook you up with an attorney not far from you. You don't have to hire the attorney, just pick their brain about this situation so you know your rights. If that doesn't interest you, call up a law school in your area. They have the students giving out free legal advice over the phone (at least Dickinson Law School around here does). Of course it's not 24 hours a day so you'll have to call and find out what the hours are. I'd also just go to the district justice's office - they can't give you legal advice there, but you can specifically ask them what the abilities of a constapable are - so you can then decide if this guy is yanking your chain or not about them coming into your house and taking inventory. The only thing I've ever heard of a constapable doing around here is helping peole retrieve their stuff once their wife/husband/so kicks them out so there's not altercation between the parties.... (and I'm in PA too). Also... search on google for a lawyer in your area - email them your question and you might just get some free advice that way. These last 2 options don't cost ya a penny... I didn't see where you indicted your whole debt, but filing BK for $2300 is probably not your best option. Ozzy.
Do you know if this guy has pulled your credit report as part of the collection process? IF so, it's a fcra violation and you could always counter sue him for the violations... It violates section 604 Permissible Purpose. They can pull once to determine whether or not to do business with you, but unless you give very express written permission, not after that... ever. You may want to check... it could give you some ammo.
As I recall from Shawn's post last month, this is no longer a law suit. Apparently the funeral home has a judgement and that's why the aggressive collection activity.
that is correct, it is not a lawsuit any longer, but it is a judgement. I would have to go a chapter 13 as it has not been 6 years since the chapter 7. it will be in june of 2003. If I do file, i will go on everything, not just him. I will go on my 99 van, which i still owe 16500 on, and the book is 12900, and some other loans and other stuff that was on the file too. might as well do it right. shawn
Is having him served with a restraining order an option? You can state that he has made threats against you, your property, your family, etc. Tell the magistrate that you are in fear for your safety as this psycho has repeatedly stated that he can legally break into your house anytime he wants and the cops won't object. He's clearly deranged. Ask for an injunction against him contacting you directly or indirectly for 30 days. That'll buy you some breathing room. Did you happen to contact the funeral home action group? Dancer
A creditor with a judgement in there pocket can use the police and sheriff's office to collect. I've done it myself a few times. I've executed a couple of till levy's and since we had to pay the county for the deputy sheriff's time that day, we were allowed to add that back into the cost of collection. It really sounds like this funeral director is taking it personally for some reason. The guy is on the verge of getting zip when he may be able to salvage it all over a year or so. This guy does sound nuts but, he's a nut with a court order in his pocket.
I concur with the restraining order + the payment each month + lawyer. If you go to court demonstrating you are sending 200 bucks a month + the restraining order against this nutso-- I would bet the judge would be on your side. This guy is clearl insane. He must need the money to buy his monthly supply of lithium- Lordy!
Thanks for the advice. The restraining order sounds like a good idea to me, although this guy would probably try to sue for slander. I agree that he has made it personal for some reason, and I would like to know why. I know he is just being a fool, and more than likely will lose his money and judgement, if i have to file the BK13, so it will be his loss. I have given him warning, so the way I see it, if he chooses to pursue, I shall assimilate him with a BK notice. His loss. again, thanks for all the valuable Info. shawn does anyone know any funeral home association names?
