Being sued for past due rent....

[drb7465]

What is the name of your state?Ohio. My question mostly deals with how we can eliminate or severely post-pone this situation...Last summer, we voluntarilly left a house we had been renting from a private party for three years. They asked us to leave, there was no actual eviction process. We had a one year lease, and then lived month to month with them for the final two years.

They had been very understanding with us as we went through some very difficulties financially - and we continue to as well. Over time our past due rent and utilities snowballed, and now total over $8,000. We just received this weekend that we are being sued for the total amount, and have a court date of March 14. We don't dispute the amount - we know we owe it, and would love to be in a position to make payments, but that is impossible right now, and probably for quite some time yet. We have plenty of other past due amounts, health bills, etc..that we owe on. We really are lucky to pull off paying for basic living expenses. My general questions are...

- Is there a strategy to put this to rest or put off somehow for a very long time?

- Is it true that garnishing is a seperate process apart from getting a judgement against us?

- Can the garnishing be stopped if it is deemed that basic living expenses are barely being met currently?

- If a judgement against us happens, could it then be wiped out in bankruptcy?

- We literally have no money for a lawyer right now - any ideas?

- Mexico is pretty nice this time of year, isn't it?.....!

[cmorris]

Originally Posted by drb7465

What is the name of your state?Ohio. My question mostly deals with how we can eliminate or severely post-pone this situation...Last summer, we voluntarilly left a house we had been renting from a private party for three years. They asked us to leave, there was no actual eviction process. We had a one year lease, and then lived month to month with them for the final two years.

They had been very understanding with us as we went through some very difficulties financially - and we continue to as well. Over time our past due rent and utilities snowballed, and now total over $8,000. We just received this weekend that we are being sued for the total amount, and have a court date of March 14. We don't dispute the amount - we know we owe it, and would love to be in a position to make payments, but that is impossible right now, and probably for quite some time yet. We have plenty of other past due amounts, health bills, etc..that we owe on. We really are lucky to pull off paying for basic living expenses. My general questions are...

- Is there a strategy to put this to rest or put off somehow for a very long time?

**Since you are being sued, I doubt it. You can try to bury them in paperwork, but you may wind up paying for their legal fees if you try to run up their legal fees in order to make the process longer.

- Is it true that garnishing is a seperate process apart from getting a judgement against us?

**Yes.

- Can the garnishing be stopped if it is deemed that basic living expenses are barely being met currently?

**Not 100% sure, but they can probably still get the garnishment, so long as that is legal in your state.

- If a judgement against us happens, could it then be wiped out in bankruptcy?

**Yes.

- We literally have no money for a lawyer right now - any ideas?

**Go pro se? You don't have money to pay these debts, settle, or get an attorney. I'm not sure what else you can do.

- Mexico is pretty nice this time of year, isn't it?.....!

I'm sorry you are going through this. If it were me, I would borrow the money from my family to file for BK. It sounds like you are drowning in debt you can't pay. I would personally rather have a BK than a judgment on my credit reports. Good luck in whatever you do.

Do a Ch & Bankruptcy. America is the land of second chances, just dont get into any new debt right after filing your bankruptcy, and a year from now you'll have top notch credit.