Being sued by Dell

[brandonb]

failure to appear is when you fail to appear for some criminal or quasi-criminal matter like speeding tickets.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5728588_civil-warrant.html

Does anybody else want to tell me I have no idea what I'm talking about?

Edit - I didn't see your edit.
Edit #2 - Most of the time, its #3 that gets the bench warrant on the person. The asset disclosure. If you just ignore court when you are supposed to disclose your assets, you will get a warrant.

 

[ElFenix]

A bit off topic -
Why is it that the consumer has 30 days to respond to the debt collector to have them verify the debt - and if they don't respond, like the OP didn't, then that is the same as saying 'yes, I acknowledge the debt', whereas the debt collector does not have a time frame at all to respond to the verification request?

At least that is how I read it. At work I am looking at an entity that does debt collection and in order to grasp how things work in that industry I started reading up on it.

Seems like a bit of a scam. Consumer has 30 days to respond and if they don't do so then the debt is considered open and is collectable.
Collector has no time frame at all to prove the debt if the consumer responds in the initial 30 day period.

first off, it's not the same as acknowledging the debt, it only allows the collector to assume the debt is good.

a statement that unless the consumer, within thirty days after receipt of the notice, disputes the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector;

second, the lack of specific time is because the collector isn't allowed to do anything other than verify if the debt is disputed

(b) If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period described in subsection (a) that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or any copy of a judgment, or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification or judgment, or name and address of the original creditor, is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector.

presumably, the debt collector wants to do that, so there isn't a concern that the debt collector is dragging ass.

 

[Corporate Thug]

When you get sued you'll get a court order or summons to appear. If you don't appear, (failure to appear) is in itself an offense you can get arrested for. If that doesn't happen and the judge enters a summary judgement for the plaintiff (creditor in this case), and you still don't pay , you can be arrested and jailed for not paying.

No, it's not. "Failure to appear" only applies in the criminal or quasi criminal context. In the civil context, you have the RIGHT to appear, not an obligation. If you chose NOT to appear, the judge enters a DEFAULT judgment against you, not summary judgment.

Take a look at a CA summons:

http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/sum100.pdf

Notice how is says "The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days." That basically means you have 30 days to respond or a default judgment may be entered against you. There is absolutely nothing that says a warrant will be issued if you chose not to respond because, as I said, you have a right but not an obligation to do so.

As for the OP, it is in your best interest to contact the firm suing you because the DEFAULT judgment that they will get if you do not appear is going to be A LOT more than 3k because they are going to tack on a shit ton of legal expenses and attorney's fees.

 

[highland145]

http://www.ehow.com/how_5728588_civil-warrant.html

Does anybody else want to tell me I have no idea what I'm talking about?

Edit - I didn't see your edit.

1st I'll apologize for being rude.

You're not going to jail for owing $$. I can't even get a warrant when a customer tells the magistrate that he got rid of my collateral. A clear violation of the law but that's on the magistrate themselves.

The one instance that I know of is the master in equity court and you fail to comply with that judges orders/provide financial records, he can issue a bench warrant. But that's not for owing $$.

 

[Homerboy]

Will be summary judgement.
Dell (or the collection agency) will be able to garn your wages if you don't qualify for hardship.
You're going to owe a lot more than the $3000 too. You will be held liable for all court costs which will be 100s more.
Plus interest of course.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Will be summary judgement.
Dell (or the collection agency) will be able to garn your wages if you don't qualify for hardship.
You're going to owe a lot more than the $3000 too. You will be held liable for all court costs which will be 100s more.
Plus interest of course.

Default judgment...

 

[Puppies04]

If I could recommend ...


I see from your sig that you're quite proud of you gaming system -- that isn't cheap, now is the time to clamp down on unnecessary purchases and, if possible, work more OT.

Getting into debt is the American way but it does come with drawbacks.


Brian

I get what you are saying however his gaming PC may be all he needs but it isn't even remotely top of the line. Other than the case and the CPU cooler they are all cheap last generation (being generous here) parts.

OP go to court, be honest with the judge. It would help if you take the relevant information about your household bills (don't include anything that isn't essential and don't try to inflate the numbers). Maybe look for a part time job for a few months.

Show them you are willing to sort out your mess, trust me this is your mess and nobody elses and they should go easy on you.

 

[Clemenza]

Will be summary judgement.
Dell (or the collection agency) will be able to garn your wages if you don't qualify for hardship.
You're going to owe a lot more than the $3000 too. You will be held liable for all court costs which will be 100s more.
Plus interest of course.

Default Judgment.

No you can't go to jail for not showing up when you were sued on a civil matter.

Thug beat me to it.

 

[brandonb]

1st I'll apologize for being rude.

You're not going to jail for owing $$. I can't even get a warrant when a customer tells the magistrate that he got rid of my collateral. A clear violation of the law but that's on the magistrate themselves.

The one instance that I know of is the master in equity court and you fail to comply with that judges orders/provide financial records, he can issue a bench warrant. But that's not for owing $$.

Thanks! It's not often when someone apologizes. Cheers to you! And you hit the nail on the head. Like I mentioned originally if he just ignores the entire thing, he's likely to get a warrant. Not for the debt itself, but judges to get a bit uppity when you just ignore the court. Most of the time in judgments, you can't zap the bank account (garnishments) if the person is on public assistance (welfare, food stamps, etc.) so the court requires an asset disclosure to determine where your funds are coming from. Ignoring that is what gets people in jail.

I probably should have just said that in my original post, but I took shortcuts. So my bad!

 

[Corporate Thug]

Thanks! It's not often when someone apologizes. Cheers to you! And you hit the nail on the head. Like I mentioned originally if he just ignores the entire thing, he's likely to get a warrant. Not for the debt itself, but judges to get a bit uppity when you just ignore the court. Most of the time in judgments, you can't zap the bank account (garnishments) if the person is on public assistance (welfare, food stamps, etc.) so the court requires an asset disclosure to determine where your funds are coming from. Ignoring that is what gets people in jail.

I probably should have just said that in my original post, but I took shortcuts. So my bad!

No, he won't. He has no obligation to respond to a lawsuit, period. After his 30 days are up, the firm repping the collection agency will apply for a default judgment and ask for a monetary judgment to be entered against OP for $3k + interest + fees and costs, which the judge will do..that's it. the end. It's not the court's job to assist in enforcing judgments (that's why some people are said to be "judgment proof.")

 

[GoPackGo]

If you owe the debt it is better to try work with the creditor than go to court. If after divorce you are in such financial hardship chapter 7 may be the best for you.

 

[brandonb]

No, he won't.

Making me break out my MS Paint skills.



What happened on 02/12/2013 and 03/07/2013?

 

[Clemenza]

Making me break out my MS Paint skills.



What happened on 02/12/2013 and 03/07/2013?

It looks to me that there was an order issued on 6/25 that was not complied with and so a show cause was requested. If you dont show up to that, they have the power to arrest you because you are in violation of a court order. You are under no compulsion to appear because someone has filed a civil complaint against you.

The original law suit was already over because the judgment was entered on 11/4/2010. A civil complaint is not the same thing as a court order.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Making me break out my MS Paint skills.



What happened on 02/12/2013 and 03/07/2013?

ugh, a warrant was issued based on whatever happened at the order to show cause hearing on 3/5...not for failure to answer the complaint.

Edit: what Clemenza said.

Basically, you have no obligation to answer or anyway respond to a complaint, but once you chose to, you have to play by the rules of the court. You don't have to believe us here on ATOT, you can ask one of the lawyers your company works with...he or she will tell you the same thing.

 

[SunnyD]

Civil is not criminal.

Our court system would be screwed if there was not a such thing as a default judgment.

I was under the impression that a judge could issue a warrant, essentially for contempt, for failure to appear - even for civil action. Granted, it would probably be some pretty extenuating circumstances to piss off a civil judge enough in that fashion, but it should still be in their power to do so I would think.

(I would think that pissing off the judge by abusing the judge's graces by asking for postponement a couple times and failing to appear or something like that might draw their ire to that point)

I don't pretend to know the law in this case, just what sounds reasonable. I likely stand corrected. I'll get back to reading the thread and catching up on the last couple days of things now...

 

[ElFenix]

I was under the impression that a judge could issue a warrant, essentially for contempt, for failure to appear - even for civil action. Granted, it would probably be some pretty extenuating circumstances to piss off a civil judge enough in that fashion, but it should still be in their power to do so I would think.

in civil it's show cause. but that's only for something where you had an obligation to do something.

a civil citation does not obligate the defendant to do anything.

 

[brandonb]

ugh, a warrant was issued based on whatever happened at the order to show cause hearing on 3/5...not for failure to answer the complaint.

Edit: what Clemenza said.

Basically, you have no obligation to answer or anyway respond to a complaint, but once you chose to, you have to play by the rules of the court. You don't have to believe us here on ATOT, you can ask one of the lawyers your company works with...he or she will tell you the same thing.

I will ask around. The person I was talking to (which was related to the document I just posted) said this debtor basically was ignoring all court orders and did not go to anything. Thinking they didn't have to cooperate and nothing would happen to them. And that it caught up with them and they got a warrant.

Granted, this person may not have been genuine in their communication with me, and was filling me full of crap. Next time I bump into the lawyer I'll ask again. The person who communicated this to me was not a lawyer but worked in the department.

 

[Clemenza]

I will ask around. The person I was talking to (which was related to the document I just posted) said this debtor basically was ignoring all court orders and did not go to anything. Thinking they didn't have to cooperate and nothing would happen to them. And that it caught up with them and they got a warrant.

Granted, this person may not have been genuine in their communication with me, and was filling me full of crap. Next time I bump into the lawyer I'll ask again. The person who communicated this to me was not a lawyer but worked in the department.

The difference is that an order is not the same as a complaint. The court does not care if you show up on a civil complaint.

I would hate to have to explain the rule against perpetuities on this forum.

 

[CptObvious]

Some of you have too much faith in the resources of the American legal/criminal justice system. Small claims courts have truckloads of these cases every day. The judge will spend all of 5 seconds waiting for a response before issuing a default order if the defendant doesn't show up. What court is going to issue a warrant for every deadbeat failing to appear for a small claims summons?

That being said, it's still in the OP's best interest to show up, because the default judgment is most likely going to be a worse deal than working out a deal.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I would look into a debt settlement company.

 

[Corporate Thug]

I will ask around. The person I was talking to (which was related to the document I just posted) said this debtor basically was ignoring all court orders and did not go to anything. Thinking they didn't have to cooperate and nothing would happen to them. And that it caught up with them and they got a warrant.

Granted, this person may not have been genuine in their communication with me, and was filling me full of crap. Next time I bump into the lawyer I'll ask again. The person who communicated this to me was not a lawyer but worked in the department.

Yes, this could theoretically result in a warrant. But ignoring a complaint is not the same as ignoring a court order. Basically, you don't have to answer a complaint... you can let the court enter a default judgment again you (bad idea). But if YOU DO want your day in court, you can't disobey court orders, etc. in an effort to drag your feet. You have to keep the concepts of summons/complaints separate from court orders.

 

[SunnyD]

in civil it's show cause. but that's only for something where you had an obligation to do something.

a civil citation does not obligate the defendant to do anything.

Ah right. That explains the notion of "having to have gone to great lengths to piss off the judge" in order for it to get that far. As I mentioned previously, it would obviously mean trying the judge's patience by walking over their graces (no shows after requesting postponements and whatnot). :thumbsup:

But your point is valid - you have to originally agree to be in front of the judge in the first place for it to be even able to get that far.

 

[CDC Mail Guy]

Update: As of this past pay period, I have NOT had my date in court yet, and am not scheduled to go to court until the 3rd of January. However, even though I have not yet had my day in court, I have a wage garnishment against me...25% of my NET income. That's $738.10 taken out of my check until it is paid off.

Lesson learned: Pay bills as they are due.

 

[SunnyD]

Update: As of this past pay period, I have NOT had my date in court yet, and am not scheduled to go to court until the 3rd of January. However, even though I have not yet had my day in court, I have a wage garnishment against me...25% of my NET income. That's $738.10 taken out of my check until it is paid off.

Lesson learned: Pay bills as they are due.

Nice paycheck.

Gotta say though:

What is the WORST scenario if I don't go to court on that date? Warrant for arrest? Just curious. I do not have $3,000 laying around, and can barely get by from month to month...that is why I stopped paying them in the first place.

With a nearly $3000 net paycheck (should I assume bi-weekly?), and you're living paycheck to paycheck? You've got bigger problems to worry about in the long term than a wage garnishment order. Consider this a wake up call. Get financial help.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Lesson learned: Pay bills as they are due.

I'm pretty sure there's a bigger lesson to be learned here.