Being Friday the 13th, I was fittingly scheduled to be
at a "pretrial conference" for a judge here in Escambia
County Florida. This was for a small claims court case
filed against me by my condominium association or home
owners' association. Just as I am late on my mortgage
payments (read
that story here), I am also late on my association fees. In
fact, I have not paid either since November 2007. The
following is from the court notice:
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"SUMMONS/NOTICE TO
APPEAR
FOR PRETRIAL CONFERENCE
You are hereby notified
that you are required to appear in person or by attorney
in the assigned courtroom on June 13, 2008 at 1:00 pm
for a PRETRIAL CONFERENCE before a Judge of the Court.
The case will not be
tried at that time. Do not bring witnesses.
The Defendant must appear
in court on the date specified in order to avoid a
Default Judgment. The Plaintiff must appear to avoid
having the case dismissed for lack of prosecution. A
written MOTION or ANSWER to the court by the Plaintiff
or the Defendant shall not excuse the personal
appearance of a party or its attorney at the pretrial
conference. The date and/or time of the pretrial
conference cannot be rescheduled without good cause and
prior court approval.
The purpose of the
pretrial conference is to record your appearance, to
determine if you admit all or part of the claim, to
enable the court to determine the nature of the case,
and to set the case for trial if the case cannot be
resolved at the pretrial conference. ... If you admit
the claim, but desire additional time to pay, you must
come and state the circumstances at the pretrial
conference. A payment plan may or not be approved and
Judgment or Execution or Levy may or may not be
withheld..."
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I
just received the notice on the 9th of June. As I am
scheduled to fly to Vancouver for work on the 12th, I
will be unable to attend. I contacted my lawyer to see
if he could go, but he suggested that I call the court
and see if they will reschedule.
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I
called the judge's assistant to request a rescheduling
even though the notice specified that there would be no
rescheduling. The judge's assistant reiterated the no
rescheduling stipulation. The judge's assistant did,
however, have some good news for me. If I did not show
up, there would not be a problem other than I could not
contest the claim (which I had not planned to do
anyway). The court would just grant the plaintiff the
claim and continue along the process from there. I am
not sure, however, what that process entails. Hopefully,
I will not have to actually go to court (I probably will
at some point).
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Some interesting numbers to mention: I am in arrears for
almost ten thousand dollars on these two condo units
($10,000). This will continue to accrue future missed
payments, plus late fees, plus interest. Also, interest
accrues at a whopping rate of 18%. Every month that I
miss a payment increases the balance on this new lien so
I am anxious for the banks to finish the foreclosure
process. It might be that the banks pay the homeowner's
association fees once the foreclosure is complete in
order to clear the title to the property, but that is a
few months away. The county is so backed up on
foreclosures it is pitiful.
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With such favorable terms, I do not see how I can keep
going without filing for bankruptcy?
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Have you been through a small claims case? How did you
fair? If you are going through a similar situation,
please contact a lawyer or attorney for professional
assistance.
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I
will update this post as things develop. Sign up on the
comments page to be notified when I do.
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So I missed the pretrial conference with
the judge due to work. I called the
clerk's office today to see how it went
and to find out what happens now. The
clerk informed me that I now officially
have a judgment against me (this was
expected). As soon as the clerk's office
gets all of the paperwork from the
judge's office, they will mail me
confirmation and instructions. When I
get the notice, I may then pay the bill
or work out something with the plaintiff
(the condo association, but I have no
intentions of paying this bill as the
two properties in question are currently
in foreclosure). I do not know yet what
rights the plaintiff has. Hopefully,
that will be in the paperwork that I get
from the clerk's office. I am hoping
that they cannot freeze my checking
account and my savings accounts and my
stock and stock options or any other
assets. From what I understand, the
court does not do anything on
collections. That is still up to the
plaintiff. I am looking forward to
seeing how this plays out. It should be
interesting. Sign-up on the comments
page to get updates whenever I add to
this entry.
07/03/08
Read the judgment.
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