Old Debt Repo

[vietnamvet]

What is the name of your state? Florida
back in 1995 i gave a car back to chrysler due to all of the problems that i had with it. they put it in my credit as a involentary repo. about a year later, i was sommoned to court about it and they got a judgement against me for 3400.00, the amount that they said i owed after the car was sold at auction. 1n 1997 i got married and this year (2002) my wife bought a house. the mortgage company said it had to be in her name only due to the repo on my credit. i recently found out that the house is in both names, but the mortgage is just in my wifes name. i don't understand how that can be, but it is. last week a police officer came to my door with a summons to appear in court referring to the 3400.00 car repo. the next day i received a letter from a lawyer about the same court appearence. the following day i got a second letter from the same lawyer offering a deal to drop everything if i paid him half of the 3400.00. if i refused, he would go to the court on that date in december and lien our house and freeze our bank account. the only thing in the account is my social security check each month as i im disabled.

my question is... can they really do all of that? my wife makes the mortgage payments an she didn't even know me when the repo happened. can they do this to her?
i would appreciate any advice....
thank you,
vietnamvet

 

[Ladynred]

Ok. The deed to the house has your name on it, but not the mortgage.. quite legal. But, with your name on the property, they CAN place a lien on it.

You *might* be able to file a quit-claim deed on the house, ASAP to get your name off the house before they take you to court. I think this is legal, but if its not I'm sure one of our legal-eagles will say so

Your income is exempt, but if they freeze it you're going to have to prove that the money in the account they would try to freeze is totally exempt. Is it a joint account ? Does your wife have any money it it ?? They can't even garnish your income.

 

[vietnamvet]

Thank you......
yes, the account is joint, but the only monies that are direct deposited are my social security and my VA disability checks

 

[JETX]

Lets take this one at a time:

Ladynred said, "You *might* be able to file a quit-claim deed on the house, ASAP to get your name off the house before they take you to court. I think this is legal, but if its not I'm sure one of our legal-eagles will say so"
**So. Can be done but it would be very easy for the creditor to undo the 'fraudulent transaction'. Based on the timing, it would be very obvious that this title transfer was done solely to prevent the creditor access to the asset.

Vet, back to your questions.
Q1) "can they really do all of that?"
A1) Yes. From your post, the creditor got a judgment against you in 96 or 97. A FL judgment is valid for 7 years and renewable, making it still valid in your case. The current legal action you are seeing is an attempt to enforce the valid judgment.

Q2) "my wife makes the mortgage payments an she didn't even know me when the repo happened. can they do this to her?"
A2) They can't do anything to 'her' directly, but they can certainly attempt to enforce the judgment against any of YOUR assets... including the house that is jointly in your name.

Q3) "if i refused, he would go to the court on that date in december and lien our house and freeze our bank account. the only thing in the account is my social security check each month as i im disabled."
A3) The judgment creditor can certainly attempt to enforce the judgment in accordance with your state laws. And liens and account seizures are some of the actions they can try. In your case, they can seize the FULL bank account and force you to file a challenge to it. When you file your challenge with the court, they will set a hearing for you to bring your 'evidence' in that the seized funds were exempt as 'pension or disability' payments. Any funds in the account that are directly related to the exemption should be returned or released. Problem is, by the time this is all done, you will likely already have bounced checks and expenses due to this action.

Also, due to the broad exemptions provided, it is practically impossible to garnish wages in FL.

Here is a list of judgment exemptions in Florida:
Homestead: Real property including mobile home to unlimited value. Property cannot exceed 1/2-acre in municipality or 160 contiguous acres elsewhere. Property held as tenancy by the entirety may be exempt against the debts owed by only one spouse

Pensions and Retirement Benefits: ERISA-qualified benefits. Funds exempted for various public employees' retirement systems, along with profit-sharing benefits necessary for support. IRA exemptions for conventional, Roth, SEP and SIMPLE plans.

Insurance: Annuity contract proceeds. Death benefits payable to a specific beneficiary not the deceased's estate. Disability or illness benefits. Cash surrender value of life insurance. Fraternal society benefits.

Personal Property: All prescribed health aids for debtor/dependents and $1,000 in any other personal property exempt. One motor vehicle up to $1,000.

Tools of Trade: None.

Miscellaneous: Business partnership property. Alimony. Child support. Prescribed health aids.

Wages: 100% exempt for head of household. However, head of household may sign waiver that allows garnishment of wages in excess of $500 per week. Wages of others exempt in accordance with the federal standard (see the introduction to these tables). Also exempt are 6 months of wages paid and deposited in a bank account.

Public Benefits: Workers' compensation. Unemployment compensation. Veteran's benefits. Crime victim's compensation. Public assistance. Social Security. Alimony, support and separate maintenance to extent reasonably necessary to support debtor and dependents.

 

[rebootit]

if i refused, he would go to the court on that date in december and lien our house
vietnamvet

If the home is your homestead (you claim a homestead exemption) then they absolutly can NOT attach a lien to it in Florida, period.

 

[JETX]

If the home is your homestead (you claim a homestead exemption) then they absolutly can NOT attach a lien to it in Florida, period.

Though correct, did you take the time to look at the date of the posts??? They are almost two YEARS old!!
I suggest you read the dates on threads before responding... it might just save some time.

 

[rebootit]

Though correct, did you take the time to look at the date of the posts??? They are almost two YEARS old!!
I suggest you read the dates on threads before responding... it might just save some time.

Yeah I read the dates, so what? Some people search for topics (like me) and just because it is old means nothing. Information is power and the next time someone with this kind of problem comes to the board they may do a search and find that old post with good information.