Just got back from an attorney's office to discuss an issue I was having with a voluntary repo. To refresh everyone's memory, I have a ca coming after my DH for 11k for a leased veh that was turned in 3 months early. I learned a few things during this meeting that may be able to help some people out. First of all, in my situation this car was in my DH name only therefore I am not responsible for this debt, which I kinda knew. What I didn't know was that the ca is basically at the mercy of my DH. Here's why. My DH makes commission so they can't garnish wages. The ca can't touch my house in FL because it is homesteaded. The ca can't touch my wages because it's not my debt. The ca can't touch anything in the house because it was acquired during our marriage and therefore partly mine and can't be touched. I have a new found love for the car that I've been driving around in (you know the one that I got after turning in the car in question. The car I've been driving that has caught on fire with me in it, the one with no a/c during summer with temps near 100 degrees, the one that breaks down on me at least 2x a month) well because this car is in my name only, it can't be touched. So basically, my dh debt is uncollectable. In this case it is a car but if you're in a similar situation and live in FL, use this information to suit your own situation, use it to your advantage! Now because I like to pay everything that is owed and I don't try and shirk responsibilty, the attorney suggested that I get all the paperwork on the car, i.e how much they sold the car for etc and deduct that from this 11K they are trying to collect. With my calculations, including the 2months that we were behind and the several months that we still owed, plus the overmilage fees, I owe about 4K minus what they got for the car. The attorney suggested that I come to my own figure and offer them a settlement stating to them that basically I dont own this debt and my husband is uncollectable so take it or leave it. If they won't agree to my terms, in my case, let them serve the legal papers. They may win a judgement against us, which is collectable up to 20yrs in FL but it won't look good to the court that we tried to settle and the ca wouldn't let us. HERE'S ANOTHER ANSWER THAT I DIDN'T KNOW FOR THOSE OF US IN FL: If you do settle with a ca for less than owed on any account, they CAN NOT, I repeat, CAN NOT, come back and try and sue you for the difference even if the SOL is not up as long has you have everything in writing. According to my attorney, As long as you have everything in writing, and as long has you have upheld your end of the bargin (paid the amount that you originally agreed to without missing a payment or making a late payment) if they do try and sue you after you have settled, then you actually can sue them for breach of settlement, and you will win. Sorry this is so long but I paid a good amount of money today for just a short time with the attorney so I felt that if I passed the info along to everyone than my money went even further.
Message Edited by nfg on
12-03-2007 08:30 AM
