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jail time for not paying Circuit Court claims
Posted by: hai haiex ()
Date: July 05, 2015 10:21PM

I have court on Monday. for something I did... I am being sued at the Circuit Court for $20,000 dollars,For the damage I did. I don't have the money so will I go to jail If I don't pay? help pleaswe be honest

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Re: jail time for not paying Circuit Court claims
Posted by: criminal or civil ()
Date: July 05, 2015 10:25PM

Is your case in criminal court or circuit court?

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Re: jail time for not paying Circuit Court claims
Posted by: criminal or civil ()
Date: July 05, 2015 10:28PM

Dang, can't type tonight.I meant to say:

Is your case in criminal or civil court?

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Re: jail time for not paying Circuit Court claims
Posted by: hai haiex ()
Date: July 05, 2015 10:41PM

ITS Civil (criminal would be if I did something like Justin Wolfe )

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Re: jail time for not paying Circuit Court claims
Posted by: criminal or civil ()
Date: July 05, 2015 11:02PM

Keep in mind, I'm not a lawyer. But...

Generally, jail time is not a factor when it comes to not paying judgments. In the event you lose your case, then the plaintiff will have what is called a "judgement" against you, for a specific dollar amount. This will provide the plaintiff with the ability to then use the court system to collect on that judgment through a variety of means, such as:

1) Garnishment of your wages (if you are employed)
2) Garnishment of your bank accounts
3) Seizure of property that you own via a Fieri facias
4) Seizure of equity in property that you own

In the meantime, your credit report will take a hit if there is judgement in your name on the books; it can damage your ability to get leases on apartments, cars, etc... It also won't help your employment prospects if potential employers background check and look for civil judgments. And a judgement will be on your record for 10 years.

My advice; find the plaintiff before the proceedings, and see if they would like to mediate the issue. Vindictiveness on their side aside, this is about them getting some form of financial result for their efforts; if you are willing to make some form of accommodation, they might listen.

One last question; is this a hearing or the actual trial?

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Re: jail time for not paying Circuit Court claims
Posted by: hai haiex ()
Date: July 05, 2015 11:09PM

Hearing its the first time but not sure... I will try to get a court appoarimtnet lawyer

criminal or civil Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Keep in mind, I'm not a lawyer. But...
>
> Generally, jail time is not a factor when it comes
> to not paying judgments. In the event you lose
> your case, then the plaintiff will have what is
> called a "judgement" against you, for a specific
> dollar amount. This will provide the plaintiff
> with the ability to then use the court system to
> collect on that judgment through a variety of
> means, such as:
>
> 1) Garnishment of your wages (if you are
> employed)
> 2) Garnishment of your bank accounts
> 3) Seizure of property that you own via a Fieri
> facias
> 4) Seizure of equity in property that you own
>
> In the meantime, your credit report will take a
> hit if there is judgement in your name on the
> books; it can damage your ability to get leases on
> apartments, cars, etc... It also won't help your
> employment prospects if potential employers
> background check and look for civil judgments. And
> a judgement will be on your record for 10 years.
>
> My advice; find the plaintiff before the
> proceedings, and see if they would like to mediate
> the issue. Vindictiveness on their side aside,
> this is about them getting some form of financial
> result for their efforts; if you are willing to
> make some form of accommodation, they might
> listen.
>
> One last question; is this a hearing or the actual
> trial?

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Re: jail time for not paying Circuit Court claims
Posted by: criminal or civil ()
Date: July 05, 2015 11:16PM

One other thought. It sounds like you don't have an attorney. Especially if this is an initial hearing, you probably could ask the judge for a continuance tomorrow so you can look at getting one. Might buy you a couple weeks to find counsel and/or negotiate with the plaintiff.

I would at least suggest you pay $40 for a month at RocketLawyer.com so you can ask a real attorney questions online and have a phone consultation with one. There might be avenues you're not exploring. It's a cheap way to gut check your situation without spending a huge amount on full legal representation.

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Re: jail time for not paying Circuit Court claims
Posted by: criminal or civil ()
Date: July 05, 2015 11:20PM

Getting an attorney (or at least speaking with an attorney) would be wise. Glad you're thinking of asking the court to provide one. If the answer their is no, you should still be able to get a continuance to seek out your own counsel.

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Re: jail time for not paying Circuit Court claims
Posted by: sorry but ()
Date: July 06, 2015 06:41AM

hai haiex Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hearing its the first time but not sure... I will
> try to get a court appoarimtnet lawyer
>
>


You can only receive a free court appointed public defender if it is a criminal case and you are facing jail time.

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Re: jail time for not paying Circuit Court claims
Posted by: it's fair ()
Date: July 06, 2015 09:27AM

They make you do restitution by working at Subways until you've earned back the $20,000 plus court costs.

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Re: jail time for not paying Circuit Court claims
Posted by: criminal or civil ()
Date: July 06, 2015 10:23AM

sorry but Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hai haiex Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hearing its the first time but not sure... I
> will
> > try to get a court appoarimtnet lawyer
> >
> >
>
>
> You can only receive a free court appointed public
> defender if it is a criminal case and you are
> facing jail time.

Yeah, I thought that probably was the case. I think the key thing is to at least ask for a continuance to acquire an attorney. That should work at least once, and at least buy some time to negotiate with the plaintiffs.

And yes, I would recommend a small investment in RocketLawyer.com so you can have at least one consultation with a real attorney. I used advice from them in a case I was involved with and it probably saved me over $1k.

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