confusing situation Need advice ASAP

[Anonymous]

my big thing is this.  assuming I settle with the OC and they remove it from my credit report, the fact that I have a judgement against me will put me on the hook for a ridiculously high balance with the RI courts.  Now I do not know if a RI court can issue a wage garnishment for me as I live and work in MA, but just the fact that they have a judgement would allow them to transfer teh case into MA where they could easily start proceedings against me there. (even though the account is past the SOL for the OC), wouldn't he judgement in RI supercede any SOL in MA?

Edit: 

In Massachusetts, wage garnishment (income-withholding) is NOT ALLOWED under Chapter 246: Section 20A if the order comes from an out-of-state court(in my case, RI). Like other states, Massachusetts requires a judgment be domesticated before it is enforced by a local court.  However, the SOL in MA is 6 years, so what does it mean to have a "judgement be domesticated" here in MA?

Edit again:

"An out-of-state Judgment must first be "domesticated" here in Massachusetts, which means an entirely separate lawsuit must be filed in the Commonwealth"

Doesn't this mean that a new case has to be filed against me in MA and if so, can't I just go to court and claim SOL as in MA it is only 6 years?  From everything I am reading, they can not garnish my pay, or do anything else legally as I am a MA resident now, so any previous court order is not valid in MA anyway?

Doesn't this take all the teeth out of this law firm as I live and work in MA and have no intentions of ever returning to RI?

While we are on the topic, doesnt the OC fall in teh same bucket at this point as its past the SOL for them to collect from me?  This debt(both collections accounts) are due to fall off my credit report next February?

Alos, guiness, you have been a huge help and I just wanted to thank you again.

[guiness56]

You are welcome.  I found this as far as being served in RI:

Upon an individual from whom a waiver has not been obtained and filed other than an incompetent person, by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to the individual personally or by leaving copies thereof at the individual's dwelling house or usual place of abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then residing therein

Since this was not your address it could be you were not properly served.

As for the judgment being domesticated in MA, yes, MA has to accept the judgment from RI.  It goes by the date it was originally filed in RI and not the date it is domesticated in MA, so it would not be outside of SOL for suing.  Judgments have their own SOL which typically are anywhere from 10 to 20 years for collection.

Since you no longer live in RI, no, they cannot garnish your wages in MA.  But, if MA domesticates it they can.  It would be the same thing as if MA got the judgment.

The OC couldn't try to collect on their own anymore but the judgment SOL is much longer.

[Anonymous]

i am just wondering what it means to have to open a new suit entirely against me in MA.  I mean, if they have to serve me something here in MA, I will most definitley NOT be missing any court date at all, at that hearing(assuming there is one), could I try to challenge the debt entirely right there, esp if I pay off the OC and bring proof?  Couldn't I also claim SOL as it supposed to be a new suit entirley if I am reading what I posted earlier correctly.

You know the sad thing man?  This was all due to me leaving power of attorney to somoene else when I was deployed overseas.  I can't file fraud charges as the person legally was able to act as me without any legal recourse for myself.  The other sad thing is that the total debt was actually less than 500 dollars(max limit on this credit card) and now has exploded to over 3200.  Now to top it off, I have two different companies saying I owe them the money,both wanting me to settle with them ASAP for different amounts.

Im wondering if this law firm will even try to have this judgement domesticated in MA at all.  I have decided I am going to the court house in RI to get a copy of all documentation regarding this but am faced with the dilema of whether or not I hire a lawyer to help me out here.  If I have to pay for a lawyer, I can't pay a settlement amount, so I am in a catch 22 if I lose.

I know I sent the law firm an official DV letter but do not know if they will even send me anything else aside from what they already sent me.  Some web sites say it is easy to domesticate a judgement in MA while others say its not so easy.  If they have to file a new lawsuit entirely, are you sure that it would be based off the judgement in RI and not the DOFD in terms of SOL?  Sorry for all the questions here.

[guiness56]

What domesticating a judgment is is basically asking the new state to enforce the judgment from the other state.  The law firm would need to register the judgment in MA requesting enforcement of the RI judgment under MA laws.  It would require a new law suit in MA to domesticate it.  You would need to be served and given the chance to challenge the suit. 

From what I understand, the smaller the judgment the less likely it will be domesticated because it would cost more to the creditor in the long run.

What type of POA did you have?  I know it is family but as you said $500 has turned into $3200.

[Anonymous]

i don't know what POA means but the original credit card had a limit of 500.  obviously interest, late fees, etc...increased that balance to 1200-1300 or so before it was charged off.  At the time of the judgement, the balance I see listed was 2200 but that was in October 2009, now the law firm claims the balance is now at 3200-3300 or so.

[guiness56]

POA is power of attorney.

[Anonymous]

duh, sorry man.  It was just a general power of attorney as I was deployed.  It was put in place for 12 months the first time and then 6 months the second time after that.  I extended my deployment voluntarily, thus the POA extended for 6 more months. 

There were other problems that occured while I was gone, like my cousin buying himself a new car with money from my checking account as well.  He was more like a brother too me and we are still close today,(well, not close, but not enemies either) but he doesn't have a job and has no way to pay me back for anything.  On a good side though, he still has and drives the car he bought back in 2006.

It is common for marines to get POA set up when being deployed, especially when the deployment lasts longer than 1 year.

[guiness56]

Ya, I know.  25 year AF Retiree.

However, those POAs are not to be used like that. 

[Anonymous]

nice and Thank you but what do you mean by those POAs are not to be used like that?

[guiness56]

It means that when you deploy POAs are used to take care of your bills and things like that while you are overseas.   They are not to be used to get credit in your name unless you specifically said it was alright. 

That is the problem with general powers of attorney, they can be used as if you are there.