Did I make a mistake that could put me in jail?

[bkshaw23]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia


I really need help. I received a "Show Cause Summons (Civil)" today taped to my door. The summons is because I did not show up to court to an "Answer Interrogatories Summons" for a consumer debt that a creditor got a judgement against me for. I did not go to court because I knew the creditor had already got the judgement and I had no idea what the interogatories was for. From what I gather this is basically a hearing for me to explain to the judge why he shouldn't hold me in contempt for not showing up to the interrogatories summons so the creditor could ask me questions. What can I do? I can not afford an attorney but I also do not want to go to jail. Any help or advice would be great. The virginia code is 8.01.508.

 

[Rexlan]

We can assume the creditor got a judgment because you did not meet your financial obligation. Now you are making it worse.

You need to call the Court Clerk and ask that the hearing be rescheduled. This time make sure you show up. They may give you a free ride if you don't.

 

[bkshaw23]

We can assume the creditor got a judgment because you did not meet your financial obligation. Now you are making it worse.

You need to call the Court Clerk and ask that the hearing be rescheduled. This time make sure you show up. They may give you a free ride if you don't.

You are correct in assuming that the creditor got a judgement because I did not meet my financial obligation. I attempted to work something out with them but they didn't want to work with me and when an original balance owed of $2500 turns into $9000 because of collection fees there is not much I could do to fight the judgement. The creditor attempted to garnishee my wages however I was laid off of my job hence the past due bill in the first place. Thats when they sent the "request for interrogatories" which I assumed was them just looking for a bank accounts or assets. I had no idea not going to this hearing could lead to me being arrested. I just need to know what to do. Should I expect the creditor to be at the "show cause hearing" or will this just be for me to explain to the judge why I didn't appear for the interogatories?

 

[Rexlan]

Problems like this NEVER just magically go away. That is precisely why it is now $9000 and it will go up astronomically. In a year it will be $15,000.

The hearing is to discover your assets, financial condition and ability to pay and that too will NOT go away. Call the clerk and plead stupidity and beg (read between the lines) for a new hearing .... don't offere up a bunch of jibberish about how unfair, etc. it all is.

Don't be late, dress decent and be polite. They will ask all of the questions and above all do not lie or start into your how unfair it all is. The court and your creditor are not interested in your personal reasons ... all they want is what is rightfully owed to them and there is no justification, short of being dead, for having not paid your legitimate debts. If someone owed you the $$ think how interested you would be in their excuses.

Good luck to you ... take care of it Monday AM sharp. If you do that, you will not get into any trouble. Ignoring the court will get you in the soup though and it called contempt. It will also run the bill up further.

Actually, to answer your question the show cause summons is because you didn't show for the first hearing and to explain to the court why you fail to do that .... be careful and plead stupidity ... they courts are generally pretty lenient about that. Miss this one and it might sting. Having tried for a new hearing on the first issue may make this one disappear too. The clerk will tell you.

 

[bkshaw23]

Problems like this NEVER just magically go away. That is precisely why it is now $9000 and it will go up astronomically. In a year it will be $15,000.

The hearing is to discover your assets, financial condition and ability to pay and that too will NOT go away. Call the clerk and plead stupidity and beg (read between the lines) for a new hearing .... don't offere up a bunch of jibberish about how unfair, etc. it all is.

Don't be late, dress decent and be polite. They will ask all of the questions and above all do not lie or start into your how unfair it all is. The court and your creditor are not interested in your personal reasons ... all they want is what is rightfully owed to them and there is no justification, short of being dead, for having not paid your legitimate debts. If someone owed you the $$ think how interested you would be in their excuses.

Good luck to you ... take care of it Monday AM sharp. If you do that, you will not get into any trouble. Ignoring the court will get you in the soup though and it called contempt. It will also run the bill up further.

Actually, to answer your question the show cause summons is because you didn't show for the first hearing and to explain to the court why you fail to do that .... be careful and plead stupidity ... they courts are generally pretty lenient about that. Miss this one and it might sting. Having tried for a new hearing on the first issue may make this one disappear too. The clerk will tell you.

Thank you for this information. I agree it was totally my fault for not showing up in court and I will chalk this one up as a lesson learned.