small claims judgement and fees after that in Minnesota

[tammyv42]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Minnesota

On 12/31/03 i purchased a comp. and Have made payments in it. on 7/30/04 the place took me to small claims and at that time my balance was $1054.30 left to pay. they took me to small claims for $1395.25 and $60. filing fee.

I lost of course But I know i owe the money. on 2/22/05 a nasty letter comes saying I owe the $1455.25 and pay. Since the orgianl small claims I have made a extra payment of $200.00 towards the bill. I let them know on march 10 I will pay off the balance of $1455.25 minus the $200.00 in payments I have made since the court date. which is $1267.31.

than on 2/25/05 comes a letter (three days later after letting them Know i am paying off the bill with my tax refund) that I owe $1687.77.


Can they collect fees and all these filing fees and taxs after a judment has been made and one letter says one thing and three days later in a new amt?
DO i need a lawyer. what do I do??

Help I feel they are taking advantage now that I have the extra money to pay off this but they keep adding to the bill!!

 

[hbreen]

You got a two letters on the same day saying your amount was different? Something doesn't gel. BTW - if they took you to court and won a judgment against you, interest has been accumulating since the day of the judgment, so yes, your amount is going to be higher - and the $200 you paid probably went toward the interest first.

 

[Happy Trails]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Minnesota

On 12/31/03 i purchased a comp. and Have made payments in it. on 7/30/04 the place took me to small claims and at that time my balance was $1054.30 left to pay. they took me to small claims for $1395.25 and $60. filing fee.

I lost of course But I know i owe the money. on 2/22/05 a nasty letter comes saying I owe the $1455.25 and pay. Since the orgianl small claims I have made a extra payment of $200.00 towards the bill. I let them know on march 10 I will pay off the balance of $1455.25 minus the $200.00 in payments I have made since the court date. which is $1267.31.

than on 2/25/05 comes a letter (three days later after letting them Know i am paying off the bill with my tax refund) that I owe $1687.77.


Can they collect fees and all these filing fees and taxs after a judment has been made and one letter says one thing and three days later in a new amt?
DO i need a lawyer. what do I do??

Help I feel they are taking advantage now that I have the extra money to pay off this but they keep adding to the bill!!

I'm not a lawyer, but I thought the amount they are owed, would be the amount that they won in the judgment.

Try this site: Court Administration has a pamphlet explaining the steps in paying, collecting and appealing a conciliation court judgment. You may pick up the pamphlet at this office or the information is available on the state web site (http://www.courts.state.mn.us/ctforms/).

Please post back and update.

 

[tammyv42]

That is what I thought also. They are adding all these extra fees and intersest to my judgement.I dont know what to do. Get a lawyer or what?
ugg

 

[Happy Trails]

That is what I thought also. They are adding all these extra fees and intersest to my judgement.I dont know what to do. Get a lawyer or what?
ugg

That doesn't make sense to me. What did your papers say in regards to how and when you were to pay the judgement?

From the link I provided above.
How do I pay the judgment?

The court recommends that payment be made directly to the creditor (the party you owe money to). Remember judgment records are public and credit bureaus routinely take information from them. If you judgment is not paid before it becomes final, it may have an adverse affect on your credit rating

When you pay the creditor, obtain a statement of payment called a SATISFACTION OF JUDGMENT from the party you paid and file it with the court. If this is not done, your record will show an unsatisfied judgment, which may affect your credit rating.

 

[hbreen]

See my other post in regards to your other post for interest, but the interest has been accruing interest. Using my handy-dandy Excel spreadsheet to calculate interest, without the $60 filing fee, the interest as of today would be about $1464.06. (for those who are curious, here is the formula - ((judgment amount*interest rate)*number of days since judgment)/365)

If they have had to use a lawyer or anything like that, they could have the legal right to add those fees onto your amount owed as well. In regards to the $200 payment, I would not be at all surprised if they applied it to the interest. Did you confirm that they received the payment and had cashed it?

As to the new balance three days later, contact them to find out what the difference is for - they will know.

Anyway, I hope that helps you understand how they come up with some of their numbers.

 

[Happy Trails]

See my other post in regards to your other post for interest, but the interest has been accruing interest. Using my handy-dandy Excel spreadsheet to calculate interest, without the $60 filing fee, the interest as of today would be about $1464.06. (for those who are curious, here is the formula - ((judgment amount*interest rate)*number of days since judgment)/365)

If they have had to use a lawyer or anything like that, they could have the legal right to add those fees onto your amount owed as well. In regards to the $200 payment, I would not be at all surprised if they applied it to the interest. Did you confirm that they received the payment and had cashed it?

As to the new balance three days later, contact them to find out what the difference is for - they will know.

Anyway, I hope that helps you understand how they come up with some of their numbers.

That's funny. I just got done reading your other post and calculating it out also. Something doesn't seem right with the amount they are arriving at only three days later.

 

[hbreen]

True, but there may be a collection agency fee or something like that. I don't try to understand the runnings of a collection agency!

 

[Happy Trails]

True, but there may be a collection agency fee or something like that. I don't try to understand the runnings of a collection agency!

I don't know either, but you are right they are allowed to tack on interest. But are they automatically allowed to tack on fees that they may incur trying to collect it; without going back and filing another claim? Just curious.

I never had a problem collecting a judgement, so I learned something new yesterday.

 

[hbreen]

It depends on the state, but yes, in many cases, they can file additional paperwork (not a new case) for additional fees.

 

[Happy Trails]

It depends on the state, but yes, in many cases, they can file additional paperwork (not a new case) for additional fees.

So they would be amending the judgement? If the answer is yes, I would think that the OP would have received a notice of that. Like I said this is new to me and I find it educational.

That's why I asked the OP what her paper work stated as to how and when she was to pay the judgement. You would think it would have stated what penalties or interest she would be charged if she didn't make the payment right away.

 

[hbreen]

Yes, it's an amendment of sorts, it's called a "Memorandum of Costs" (at least in SC). Any time new fees are incurred due to collection efforts (and there are limitations on it), they can file the document with the court and increase the amount owed without going back to court. I do this in my business with judgments. Once I am assigned a judgment, I automatically file a memo of costs to increase the judgment by the interest from the date of the ruling on the judgment.

Note that I am not in Minnesota, but as I posted from LawDog in tammy42's other post in regards to post-judgment interest in Minnesota, post-judgment interest can be added, and I'm sure additional fees can be added.

What many judgment debtors don't realize is that avoiding the payment of the judgment can really hurt them! I (a Judgment Enforcement Specialist) have some cases I am working on right now that have more than doubled, due to interest, because the debtors have not paid the judgment in 9 years (judgments in SC are valid for 10 years)! Debtors should either argue to vacate if they feel the judgment is not valid or pay it, or it WILL bite them in the butt!

 

[tammyv42]

But wouldnt you agree, there should be notification to me about the added costs.
I am trying to pay this mistake off and every time a turn around they are adding something new to the amt due. ???

 

[hbreen]

I don't know what your state's rules are on notification. I file my memos with the court and I don't have to send notification to the debtor, though I do as a courtesy. If I were you, I would try to set up a payment plan with them and request that as long as you are on time with your payments that no further interest be added. Can't promise that they will agree, but it is worth a shot.

If you haven't made any other payment than the $200 since the judgment has been ruled on, I can't say I blame them for continuing to tack on legal (as in authorized by law) fees. As hard as it is to do, you have to look at it from the corporate side - you are, in essence, thumbing your nose at a legal ruling, which doesn't show well for you, even if your situation doesn't allow for much in the ways of payments right now.