Why Getting Sued is a Good Thing
Nebraska Debt and Bankruptcy Blog
by Sam Turco
3M ago
When you get sued you hang your head.  You feel like the battle is lost when the Sheriff delivers the court summons to your door.  But getting sued is not the end of the battle. No, getting sued may be the best thing the other side did to equalize the playing field. Yes, getting sued is a serious thing. You are out of your comfort zone and you face a professional litigator.  But there is something you are overlooking. Lawsuits empower you to: Demand an accounting of all charges and payments. Demand a copy of all their documents. (“Motion to Produce Documents”) Demand answers t ..read more
Visit website
How to Fill Out the Lawsuit Answer Form
Nebraska Debt and Bankruptcy Blog
by Sam Turco
1y ago
If you were sued on a debt you have 30 days from the date you are served the paperwork to file a written response with the Clerk of the Court. Let’s review: You have 30 days to respond. The response must be written The response must be filed with the Clerk of the Court. How do you respond? What form do you use? Here is a link to the Answer and General Denial form provided by the Nebraska court system. The form is very simple. Enter the following information: State whether you were sued in “County” or in “District” court. (In most cases this is County court.) The name of the County. Name of ..read more
Visit website
Make them Produce Documents
Nebraska Debt and Bankruptcy Blog
by Sam Turco
1y ago
The second great power of Discovery is the Motion to Produce Documents. When a bill collector sues for nonpayment of a debt, they also open themselves up to answer questions–finally!!–and to provide documents. What type of documents? Well, any document relevant to the debt. Sued on a medical debt? Demand to see the invoices and the claims filed with the health insurance company. Demand the intake forms. Demand copies of all correspondence with the medical insurers. Demand a copy of the Master Service Agreement between the hospital and the insurance company to see if the hospital had a contra ..read more
Visit website
Interrogatories: Make Them Answer Questions
Nebraska Debt and Bankruptcy Blog
by Sam Turco
1y ago
You were sued on a collection lawsuit and managed to file a written response with the Clerk of the Court within 30 days. Congratulations, you have stopped the entry of a default judgement. But now what? What is your plan of action after filing a response to the lawsuit? The next phase is to get answers, especially if you do not agree with the creditor’s claim. They say you owe a large medical debt, but didn’t health insurance pay a large portion of the bill? Did the hospital forget to file a medical insurance claim? Did the credit card lender give you credit for all the payments you made? Wh ..read more
Visit website
Discovery: What you do after responding to a lawsuit.
Nebraska Debt and Bankruptcy Blog
by Sam Turco
1y ago
If you bothered to file a written response to a lawsuit with the Clerk of the Court, what is the next step? What happens after you respond to a lawsuit? Discovery: The next step in litigation is called “discovery.” It is your opportunity (and the creditor’s opportunity) to get answers to questions. Unfortunately, this tends to be the most powerful tool in the debt defense arsenal that most people are clueless about using. Discovery is powerful. It includes these legal tools: Interrogatories. These are written questions you can make the creditor answer. Motion to Produce Documents. You can de ..read more
Visit website
Are Zillow Home Values Accurate?
Nebraska Debt and Bankruptcy Blog
by Sam Turco
1y ago
I read this comment from another bankruptcy attorney today: “Help me understand why the home value (Z)estimates from a company that lost nearly $1 billion of its own money by relying on those (Z)estimates to play in the house flipping market are reliable.” Home values provided by Zillow are important in bankruptcy cases, even if those values tend to be inflated. The first thing I do when speaking to a prospective client who owns a home is to type their address into a Google search. Up pops a list of home valuations, and Zillow is almost at the top of the list. Why do we search the Zillow va ..read more
Visit website
Medical Debts. Should you take out a loan to pay them?
Nebraska Debt and Bankruptcy Blog
by Sam Turco
1y ago
An email from a client (edited to preserve confidentiality): “Good morning. On October 31, 2022, [my husband] had to have surgery to remove his gallbladder. The hospital is requiring payments of approximately $400 a month on the $5,049.97, a sum I am unable to accommodate with our budget. My husband’s income makes us ineligible for an adjusted payment plan. The representative offered to help us apply for a loan facilitated by the hospital through a local bank, but I informed her that I can’t consider any loan without speaking to you. What, if any, actions should be taken in regards to these b ..read more
Visit website
Shoebox Accounting
Nebraska Debt and Bankruptcy Blog
by Sam Turco
1y ago
The client runs a decent sized construction operation.  Revenues in excess of a quarter million per year. But he has no accounting system.  He just takes his bank statements, receipts and chicken scratch notes to the tax man once a year to crank out a tax return. No monthly bank account reconciliations. No computerized records. No accounting journals or ledger reports. The entire system is basically a daily glance at the banking account balance and then just fly by the seat of his pants.  It’s dancing on a hot plate. Who needs paid this week?  What blows up if I don’t pay ..read more
Visit website
Hiding Income: The Bankruptcy Marriage Penalty
Nebraska Debt and Bankruptcy Blog
by Sam Turco
1y ago
There is a marriage penalty in bankruptcy law.  Unmarried couples receive favored treatment, especially on the six-month income calculation called the Means Test. A married debtor who lives with his or her spouse must list all gross income of their spouse on the income schedules.  However, an unmarried debtor who lives with a partner must only show that person’s regular contribution to the household income. This difference represents a significant disparity of treatment. Unless the bankruptcy trustee investigates the income of a debtor’s partner, a debtor may be able to claim their ..read more
Visit website
Hiding Household Income: Household Size
Nebraska Debt and Bankruptcy Blog
by Sam Turco
1y ago
One of these days I’m going to write a post on how shitty we treat married couples in this county.  From a financial perspective, is it better to be married or to shack up? I’m going to write a list. There are some legal benefits to being married, but from what I see its more of a financial burden. Maybe I’m just getting old and cranky, but it seems like you can avoid a lot of financial regulations and limits by just living together. Need an example?  Well, if you are married you are responsible for the medical debts of your spouse, but not if you just live together.  In fact ..read more
Visit website

Follow Nebraska Debt and Bankruptcy Blog on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR