Posts by John Clark6

Basically, what this boils down to is that you really have to file your claims against the bankruptcy estate right ON TIME—that’s truly the only thing that matters here, I guess.

🙄 I honestly don't even know where to begin—so, I think I'll just skip the intro entirely... though I have to say, I always find reading your posts so incredibly engaging 🙂

If a foreclosure or seizure process has actually been triggered—and we’re talking about someone who truly knows their way around the legal system—then it is NEVER happening!!
I really think Bill Gates should make it a point to emphasize exactly which debt we're dealing with here.

It just isn't possible

Lawrence Reyes2 said:Quick question about VIP

So, a buddy of mine sold his small business back on March 17, 2011, and included a clause stating all debts would transfer to the new owner. Well, yesterday he gets hit with a collection notice from VIP for several unpaid bills dating from March 19, 2011, onwards.
He’s not saying he doesn't owe the money, but he thinks—and I'm inclined to agree—that they've got the wrong guy. Those charges popped up after the sale, so they should be hitting the new owner's doorstep, not his.
My advice to him was to fight the collection immediately to stop them from grabbing his cash, then deal with the proof later. If they drain his bank account now, I doubt he'll ever see a dime from the new owner.
Any tips or advice is welcome!

Honestly, your friend is being a bit of a fool if he didn't take that contract straight to Verizon to officially switch the account holder's name. It doesn't matter what that private agreement says—it’s basically meaningless to them—because the legal obligation lies with whoever is listed on the service contract. How is Verizon supposed to know about some private handshake deal between two people? The only thing he can really do is sue for reimbursement later to try and get back whatever Verizon ends up stripping from him. As it stands, there aren't really any grounds for a formal appeal.

steelheron47 said:I can tell you one thing for certain: nothing has been paid, and there was definitely no payment plan set up. This debt has been sitting there since December 15, 2007. All the IRS has done is send a reminder every two years in one of those standard white envelopes with a return receipt, and that's about it.
I guess my main question now is: should I just wait until they issue a formal levy notice? Wouldn't that document specify the exact dates the debts were incurred, which would give me the necessary evidence to file a request based on the statute of limitations??

Yes, you should receive a detailed ledger showing all the outstanding amounts. Best of luck! 🙂

When it comes to sales tax and corporate income tax, people usually talk about a three-year window—and for social security contributions, they say five years—but honestly? Those are just relative statutes of limitations. It’s not quite that straightforward, I guess. If you were making partial payments, perhaps working out an installment plan with the IRS, or if you reached some kind of agreement to settle up, you might have actually interrupted that clock entirely. Once that happens, the absolute statute of limitations can jump up to six years for taxes and even ten years for those contributions. There is so much nuance involved here! It isn't just a simple matter of checking a calendar; you really need to sit down with the specific notices and assessments regarding those tax obligations and then carefully crunch the numbers to see if there is actually any legitimate ground for an appeal.

Daniel Martinez9 said:You aren't being annoying; you just don't have the data. Tax debt is a completely different beast than a late utility bill from the local water department.

Basically, tax debt from January 2006 doesn't expire in January 2011 (assuming a 5-year statute of limitations—just using that as an example). The clock actually starts running from January 2007, which is where people mess up...
I'm not positive, but I think sending out notices can extend the statute of limitations, making it harder to argue based on the original due date...
Check exactly what’s expired and how much, then follow what Opak wrote... just play dumb. When the collection notice hits—file an objection in 3 or 4 copies. In the objection, cite the statute of limitations (and make sure to request a waiver for court costs—you'll need an IRS certificate proving you aren't a registered taxpayer). Also, definitely object to the attorney and notary fees—if most of the claims are already past the statute of limitations, those collection costs should be lower.

grba, tax debts aren't collected through the court system or via standard garnishment laws. But you're totally right to ask generally about the type of debt involved, since it could be a three-year statute plus the year the ruling was issued.
Lauren, what is this debt for?

Well, steelheron47, there are honestly a million different ways to play this—it’s quite a bit to juggle! I guess you could file an appeal once you actually receive the decision regarding the enforcement, and then maybe you could try invoking the statute of limitations if... well, if that applies. But, if you ask me, the best move might just be to play dumb—you know, act like you haven't a clue until the very last second! If you decide to go the statute of limitations route during the initial warning phase, you can certainly try to cite it, though—and I should mention this—they aren't strictly obligated to honor that request.

redmaker33 said:Does anyone happen to be available to offer some legal advice? 🙂

Honestly, I’d say just go ahead and file for the garnishment—there isn't any requirement for a formal warning from Quincy, you know? You simply need to submit the proposal for the garnishment against Quincy, and if they decide to push back, well, then they can try to prove the validity of your invoice in court. Sometimes, you just have to fight those jerks all the way to the end! As for a warning, you can always send one yourself if you want—it's really just a gesture of good faith before you start the actual legal process, so to speak. Does that make sense?

Nicholas Cruz7 said:So, here's the deal: Verizon blocked my account back on August 19th, but since I wasn't even in the States at the time, I only just managed to get into my protected account yesterday. Can anyone walk me through the fastest way to get those two specific amounts back—specifically the September and October STIPENDS—which shouldn't have been subject to any seizure in the first place, yet they just grabbed them anyway. The bank is telling me this whole process could drag on for a month or more, assuming they even bother to return it at all. Who exactly am I supposed to reach out to at Verizon? And how do I go about getting back the extra fees taken from my stipend by FIFA (those collection costs)? Any advice would be appreciated.

Oh boy... honestly, I doubt you'll get that money back just by having a conversation—you’re probably looking at needing some legal help here.... and as for those IRS fees? Just forget about them. In my opinion, the IRS actually really messed things up rather than the lawyers did, because the garnishment order was for all assets, not specifically excluding your stipend. The IRS really should have been watching for that, though I guess they don't care. I suppose it’s a bit of a "you reap what you sow" situation too—if you aren't paying your bills, you're basically asking for trouble, and now you're seeing the fallout. I'm thinking—and I might be wrong here—that if you had your permanent residence registered outside of the US, you probably should have had a designated temporary representative appointed.

Eric Fowler19 said:I contacted the service provider and filed a formal complaint with JB, but I didn't reach out to Hanžeković.
I sent them an email and I'm waiting to hear back. If necessary, I'll just pay the seizure costs directly.

Now, my dear lady, you can finally rest easy! In my opinion, Hanžeković really should have forwarded that appeal over to JB—whether they actually did or not, well, neither of us truly knows, I suppose. But look, there are specific legal remedies designed for exactly these kinds of situations, and I don't mean just filing an objection, an appeal, or more back-and-forth paperwork—even if you are absolutely in the right. There are much stronger options out there. So, I wasn't just being dramatic when I suggested finding a lawyer right away!

Daniel Martinez9 I’ve been digging through some fascinating stuff lately—I just spent quite a while reviewing about ten different rulings from appellate courts and various state district courts regarding debt repayment appeals. It turns out there is a really interesting legal nuance here! Even if you explicitly state that your payment is intended for the principal balance, it seems that under certain interpretations, the creditor still maintains the right to apply funds toward interest first before touching the principal. It looks like that specific section of the Civil Code regarding the "order of application as determined by the debtor" isn't actually mandatory in the way most people assume. From what I can gather, that provision is more of a guideline designed to protect the creditor and essentially nudge debtors toward more disciplined payment habits. It seems the courts point back to a different section of the Civil Code that dictates the actual priority of how payments are applied. It’s definitely one of those tricky legal grey areas where what you *think* you're doing might not be what the law enforces!

Daniel Martinez9, regarding that case of yours—if I were to write a half-page just on that, I’d probably lose my breath! You might be able to get a waiver on the appeal costs if you meet certain criteria, provided you have the right documentation and everything—so basically, you can't just file an appeal and assume it's a free pass. It’s not quite that simple. As for this idea of paying back the principal in installments... well, I honestly wouldn't even comment on that part. Whether the creditor actually agrees to a payment plan is entirely up to their goodwill. And even then, we're just talking about the principal itself. What happens to the interest, the attorney fees, or the court costs? I truly don't follow your logic here. Even if they *did* grant you a payment plan, you'd still be on the hook for everything required by law, right? If you showed up to a hearing with arguments like those, I—to put it mildly—would absolutely "bury" you at the hearing, and I might even charge you extra just for showing up! From my experience, simply filing an appeal will trigger additional expenses—things you seem to be overlooking—like the cost of the appeal itself plus the costs for one or more hearings for the creditor. They are perfectly entitled to collect all of that if your appeal lacks merit; the only way out is if you are waived from the costs of the appeal. Personally, I don't offer anyone a payment plan once I've already initiated the collection process—unless they reach out proactively after receiving a warning. For those who just complain for the sake of complaining and bring up nonsense? There is absolutely no room for negotiation there; they're just creating more work and dragging out the legal process. That's just the perspective of a debt collection agency 🙂, so sorry if that sounds a bit blunt. This is why I have the reputation I have 🙂

Patrick Doyle70 said:I’m not entirely sure if I’m hitting the right sub here, but I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction so I don't spend all day clicking through random threads
Here’s the situation. A while back, my husband ran his own small business. Naturally, he left behind a mountain of unpaid payroll taxes and social security contributions. That total has ballooned to about $50,000 now... yeah, just great.
He’s been unemployed for a while and we don't actually own anything—we don't even have a car anymore. We’re currently living in a house owned by his parents, though they live down at their place on the coast. My big question is this: if a debt collection agency comes knocking, can they come after the house we're living in, even though it legally belongs to his parents? We are both officially registered as residents at this address.

Running a business a long time ago might mean the statute of limitations has kicked in—and even if it hasn't, they can't seize the house since it isn't legally yours.

Well, once again, what you wrote is just a bit too vague for me—you clearly intended to share your personal experience, but there isn't really a solid takeaway to be found here, so maybe give it another read? I certainly wasn't feeling quite bold enough to jump to any definitive conclusions myself 🙂

ps. I honestly have no idea if I’ve offended anyone, nor am I aware of any deletions, but I suppose the truth can sting sometimes

Your whole "post" is just completely incoherent—and honestly, it looks like you managed to blow every single opportunity you had by filing such a baseless appeal, and now you're going to be stuck footing the bill for the debt collection agency's fees too, right?

Eric Fowler19 said:We filed the seizure motion and signed the objection right on schedule.
Shouldn't we have received a summons from the court by now?

Well, you absolutely should—and honestly, it’s something worth looking into—though I suspect they might not even grant you the same consideration... at this stage, you really ought to be looking into vacating the clause due to finality... maybe just go ahead and hire an attorney...

Let's go over this for the hundredth time—it really all comes down to when the public notary actually received the proposal, not just when you guys got notified, especially when we're talking about whether payments were made on time... I mean, if you haven't changed your registered address, or if that address doesn't even match where you're actually living right now, then everything just ends up posted on the court's bulletin board. So, any guesses as to which scenario would actually lead the Federal Reserve to unfreeze an account?

steelnomad65 said:So, here’s the deal... I quit my job at the beginning of July this year. My employer didn't officially process my termination until July 31st, and that only happened after I sent him a formal resignation notice because he hadn't been paying me. Since he owed me for four months of pay (not counting my July salary), I reported him to the Department of Labor on August 8th for withholding paychecks and failing to provide pay stubs. The inspectors did a site visit on September 17th, confirmed everything was messed up, and I got the official notice along with my pay stubs on September 27th. The notice basically says that for monetary claims, I have to go through the court system and that claims expire after three years. I called the Department of Labor, and they mentioned that besides suing, I could potentially attempt a garnishment through Chase Bank using those pay stubs. I went down to the bank, and they told me to fill out a request and bring in tax documents and the pay stubs, but the tellers weren't sure if it would actually work since the employer is currently going through pre-bankruptcy proceedings, and they don't handle those specific details. I checked the bank's online portal, and it shows a hearing scheduled for October 11th at 10:00 AM, with a vote happening later that day at 11:00 AM. Does it make sense to keep pushing for this?

P.S. And does that hearing actually mean anything for me?

I guess I can't really explain the whole Chapter 11 bankruptcy process to you right here, but what matters most for you is whether the public notice inviting creditors to file their claims has already passed—that window usually lasts about a month. Once that period closes, no more claims can be filed, and you won't be able to pursue collecting your wages later on; I mean, you could try, but any legal challenge to your attempt to collect will likely be upheld. And if a creditor meeting is already scheduled that soon, it probably means the deadline for filing claims has already lapsed.