Posts by crimsonbadger24

Thanks.😁
Since there's like, way less being said here on the forum, I guess...
But wait, why's the race running late anyway?

darkmarlin16 said:Man, I was wide awake by 4 AM local time 😁

Anyway, does anyone actually know what time it is right now?😁

Man, you seriously could have slept in for another two hours, especially after how early you rolled out of bed.😁
A and honestly, I messed up my schedule by an hour too; this whole Daylight Saving Time thing is seriously getting on my nerves.
Anyway, does anyone know where I can find a fresh weather forecast for over there today, like, is it actually going to rain?

Brian Campbell36 said:Stop hesitating—turn up the volume, grab a beer, and start listening to the German-Italian anthem.

👍😁

Honestly, if they had just been sitting on that fresh set of tires, I reckon Hamilton would’ve been pulling a gap over Vettel about as big as the one Vettel had on him, and honestly, who knows if even Rosberg wouldn't have blown past him at that point.
And man, if it wasn't for the SC, everything would’ve played out exactly like the last race.
I really, really want to believe this is some kind of sign that the season is actually going to be interesting, but let's be real, we are still a long, long way from seeing any real drama.

ruggedmaker2 said:hollowmason64 makes a fair point, but honestly, that’s not how the world works. It doesn't work like that. First in line are the people who actually moved to collect—the ones whose writs of execution were filed first.
As the creditor here (yeah, you), you should have already taken steps to get your money back.
Given how things look, I'm guessing you should have filed a private lawsuit and then used a final court judgment to go after the assets via a writ of execution.
But you didn't... you just sat there waiting and hoping. Other creditors weren't sitting around; they acted faster, and now they're the ones at the front of the line getting paid.

This whole personal bankruptcy law isn't going to change anything overnight in practice. Knowing how things usually play out in our legal system, they'll announce it goes into effect on some specific date, and then we'll spend months—maybe years—waiting for them to figure out the fine print, interpret the rules, or release some new regulation... blah blah blah.

And frankly, I doubt any law can actually force a creditor to just write off a debt. A law might use the statute of limitations to strip away your right to forced collection, but to actually demand someone cancel a debt? I highly doubt it.
John Clark6, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Well, the money was trickling back in bits and pieces constantly, even now while all these other garnishments have already hit, he was still paying back tiny amounts here and there.

If I had sued earlier, maybe I would’ve been first in line (though that's a big "maybe" since I didn't even realize what the actual situation was), but even then it wouldn't have meant much because I'd just be stuck waiting for everything to kick in, and honestly, it’s not even worth his while to deal with it now given how everything is playing out.

He used to work under the table, so at least he gave me something to hold onto, but now he’s stopped working entirely and is basically just ignoring the rest of the debt. He’s telling me he’ll sign whatever paperwork is needed once he starts working again so he can pay me back before the banks get a cent, and I’m just supposed to "figure out" how to make that happen? Yeah, right.

And let's not forget, just the basic fee to walk into a law office is like $1333 so after all the other costs, I ended up spending more than the debt was even worth in the first place...

You’re forgetting it’s an election year, so everything is going to move super fast, just like this debt forgiveness stuff and all the pre-election nonsense.

How can you say that?
It’s crystal clear: they said if he doesn't pay it back within 1 to 5 years, it gets wiped.
He’s got no assets, and since he’s an IT guy by trade, he can just work remotely under the table and chill for the next five years if he has to.
He finally realized that every bit of money he paid back until now was basically a waste, so he stopped being scared and started acting like this.
He used to be terrified of the courts and the law, but now? He couldn't care less.
And honestly, he's totally within his rights.

hollowmason64 said:I mean, what can I say? I totally get where you're coming from. Honestly, I’ve been in that exact same spot more times than I care to admit. 😁

Our legal system is just something else, isn't it? Truly a sight to behold.

Look, I don't claim to be an expert on how our legal system works—honestly, the whole thing can be such a headache—but you can't really blame anyone else for this situation. You were the one who decided to split the cash upfront, and then you sat around waiting for a miracle to happen just to get your money back. It’s one of those things where you reap what you sow, I guess. 🤣

I think you’re asking the right person here—I should be able to give you a solid answer on this one.
So, I was thinking about this scenario the other day—just a bit of a hypothetical legal headache. Let's say you’re running a business and you have an employee who's currently dealing with some garnishments. They’ve set up a protected account through the Federal Reserve to shield a portion of their income, which we all know can get complicated. Now, let's play out the math. Suppose Chase is the first one in line to collect on a loan they issued, so they're technically the primary creditor waiting on that money. But then, out of nowhere, Citibank sends over a notice for a different garnishment directed straight to your accounting department. It makes you wonder: who actually gets the hands on that specific slice of the paycheck? Does the money go to Chase because they were first in line, or does it head over to Citibank since they're the ones who just filed the paperwork? It’s one of those "whoever reaches the finish line first" type of situations, but with much higher stakes for everyone involved.

I don't see this personal bankruptcy law actually taking effect anytime soon. It’s just one of those things that sounds good on paper, but getting it through the system is going to be a massive uphill battle. In my experience, when you deal with stuff like this, there's always a huge gap between what gets signed into law and what actually starts happening on the ground. I honestly wouldn't hold my breath for any real changes in the near future.

I have to say, looking at how things are set up right now, I’m having a hard time seeing how this actually crosses the finish line. It just feels like it's going to be an uphill battle to get it approved in its current state.

I’m honestly not so sure that any specific law can actually force a creditor to just write off a debt. Sure, the statute of limitations can definitely step in and prevent them from having the right to pursue forced collection, but for a law to mandate that they simply wipe the slate clean? I don't think that's really how it works.
John Clark6, feel free to jump in and set me straight if I've got any of this wrong.

Look, if you don't have the legal standing to go after a debtor through forced collection, and they just flat-out refuse to pay up voluntarily, you’re basically stuck. You don't really have any other moves left besides writing it off as a loss. At that point, you're just sitting there watching the clock run out until the whole thing eventually hits the statute of limitations.

I already laid all of this out above, so maybe give that a read so I don't end up repeating myself like an idiot.
It's not like I was just sitting around twiddling my thumbs waiting for this, but I guess I didn't really have any other options left.
By doing it this way, I managed to pull out a massive chunk of the debt, leaving only a relatively small amount behind—though even that little bit still feels like a huge amount of money to me.

hollowmason64, thanks for the reply, even if it wasn't exactly what I was hoping to hear.😁

Since this whole new personal bankruptcy law kicked in today (which is really the main reason I was poking around), I might just have to throw in the towel and forget about collecting anything at all. If this person files for bankruptcy, I'm basically screwed because they’ve got a mountain of debt, zero assets to their name, and no job, so I'll probably be forced to just write off the whole thing regardless of whatever court order I managed to get...
Our legal system is just a joke, honestly. I already dealt with this nightmare through my business—having to write off debts during pre-bankruptcy and bankruptcy proceedings—and now it looks like I'm going to get screwed over personally, too.

hollowmason64 said:Go ahead and laugh if you want, but I was honestly hyperventilating when that notice showed up at my door. 🤣

I mean, I get that the deadline was pushed back because the courts were complaining it wasn't enough time—and I'm not going to get into whether that's a valid excuse or not—but what really gets under my skin is how they can rake in interest on all that massive amount of seized cash during those two months. 😁

Well, that wouldn't quite work that way. By that logic, you could just seize someone's assets even if they had already paid you back. How is a clerk at the courthouse or someone at the Federal Reserve supposed to know that?
The fact that your debt is the oldest doesn't affect the order of collection. Everything follows the sequence of when the writ of execution was filed in the registry. Should someone who was more proactive than you get to jump "ahead" of you just because you lent them money first? 🤣
And of course John Clark6 doesn't know when you'll see your money—he isn't carrying his friend's private ledger around in his pocket. Though, if you actually hired him, purely just talking shop here on the forum, he'd probably manage to squeeze out that 😁

So, I mean, what if we just headed over to the notary today and hammered out some kind of addendum or an amendment to the existing contract? Like, we could have him basically sign off stating that the debt is exactly this much and that much, and then give me the green light to go after it through a writ of execution if things don't work out any other way... or something along those lines, I guess.

Why the hell not? I mean, seriously, what's the big deal? I guess I'm just asking because it seems like everyone’s always looking for some reason to say no when there’s absolutely no reason to hold back, you know? Maybe I'm just being difficult, or maybe I'm just seeing things more clearly than most people around here, who I don't know, are always overthinking every single little thing until it's basically paralyzed by indecision. Honestly, if we're just gonna sit around waiting for the perfect moment or some cosmic sign that everything is absolutely flawless, we might as well just pack it in now. So yeah, why not? Just throw it out there and see what happens, right?
Look, I’m just saying, if you follow any kind of actual common sense—you know, like real-world logic instead of that nonsense they teach in textbooks—the first debt you ever take on is basically the one that comes back around to haunt you first. It’s just how the cycle works, I guess. You pull the trigger on a loan, you set things in motion, and eventually, that original debt finds its way right back to your doorstep. It’s almost poetic, if you think about it, but mostly it just sucks.
Don't you think it’s just absolutely wild that I'm stuck sitting here waiting on my own damn money, all because this guy is busy paying off credit card balances and loans he racked up using cash he basically borrowed from me? Like, seriously, isn't that just beyond messed up?
I mean, look, you’re basically acting like someone who goes out and signs up for a brand-new loan just so they can tell the bank they aren't paying back the old one—like, "hey, I'll settle the new debt first, then maybe I'll get around to the old one." Seriously, just try saying that to a loan officer at Chase and see what happens, right? I guess you’d probably get laughed right out of the building, or maybe just flagged immediately, because honestly, who actually thinks that logic holds any water? It sounds totally delusional if you really stop to think about how the banking system works here.

Look, I’m pretty sure they have no clue, honestly. I actually sat down and mapped out the whole timeline for the proceedings, including the actual process itself and what those legal fees are gonna look like, so if they had even a shred of sense, they could at least give me a ballpark figure.

Look, if I’m being totally honest here, I haven't quite figured out if this guy is actually an accountant or some kind of lawyer—honestly, who even knows anymore?—but he seems like he's got everything under control, you know? Like, he clearly wants to help, at least up to a certain point, and since I’m pretty much guaranteed to end up hiring a real attorney down the road anyway, I figure I might as well let him give me a hand now. I don't need him to start quoting specific sections of the Uniform Commercial Code or pulling out a bunch of legal jargon and stuff, I guess... I just really need to get a general sense of where things stand so I'm not walking into a meeting completely blindfolded.

I'm just sitting here waiting to see if anyone’s actually gonna bother to reply to me, but hey, might as well try to help you out while I'm at it.

So, check this out, here's the article you were looking for:

http://zakonipropisi.com/hr/zakon/ka...anak-prijevara

Now, you really gotta sit back and think about whether you actually scammed them or anything.
Like, did you mess around with payroll, or fake an ID, or lie to an employer, or whatever else?
And even if you did—and I'm just saying, I don't know—is there actually any proof?😁
If there isn't, then honestly, why are you even sweating it?
And yeah, look, the whole burden of proof is on their side, right? They have to actually come up with hard evidence for whatever they're claiming; they can't just waltz in and file a report without having something to back it up.
I mean, even I know that, and I'm definitely no lawyer, but if one of them does track you down, they'll give you a straight answer, but basically, this is just hanging over your head and you're the only one who really knows if you should be worried or not.😁

hollowmason64 said:Well, did it ever occur to you that they do that to protect people from being sued over money they already paid back?
I actually went through this myself... luckily, her mom insisted we put down in writing exactly how much cash I had handed over (this friend was traveling abroad at the time), and we literally just scribbled it on the corner of some random folder.

To me, the rule about the bank not releasing seized funds within 60 days makes way less sense. Waiting 30 days felt like an eternity 🙄

Okay, fine, I get why that would make sense in certain cases, but why on earth am I being hit with extra fees in a situation like mine?

So, look, there's nothing controversial here—I'm actually on pretty decent terms with the debtor, it's just that he isn't paying me back, even though he promised he would as soon as he started working again.

If I followed this legal process, I'd at least be making sure that once he actually lands a job, I'm the one getting paid, instead of him starting up with those same old excuses about how he has to pay off other creditors first and doesn't have anything left for me (and honestly, this has been dragging on for two years now, which sucks because I actually do believe him, but I can't and won't just forget about this debt, especially since it's super obvious now that his business is doing way better and he pulled some cash out to invest elsewhere while still dodging me by giving me tiny little bits at a time, claiming he's gotta cover payroll or taxes or whatever).

Besides, my debt is the oldest one on the books, and it feels totally unfair that everyone else gets to collect before I do; I mean, logically, you'd think the oldest debts should always be settled first, right?

But instead, I've got to shell out who knows how much more money (only crimsonbadger24 knows, I'm just sitting here waiting for them to reach out 😁 ) and then wait who knows how long (not even crimsonbadger24 knows how long) only to end up feeling like I'm still not even going to be first in line to get my money back.

John Clark6 said:I mean, you’re basically forced to file a lawsuit first just to secure a judgment—you know, that enforceable writ—before you can even think about starting any actual collection proceedings... It’s honestly always been a bit baffling to me—if you already have a notarized contract in hand, why on earth do you have to waste all that precious time litigating? You end up essentially proving the exact same thing that is clearly laid out right there in the notarized document (though, I suppose, having the court's backing gives you a much stronger hand in the end).... yeah, the bottom line is that you can't just jump straight to the seizure process without going through the legal motions first.

Man, I was actually counting on you for the answer since you know this stuff firsthand. Thanks for the help.

So, okay, step one is hitting up a lawyer, but then what?
What am I looking at in terms of a ballpark price for the whole ordeal—lawyer fees, court costs, everything—and how long is this whole mess gonna drag on?
I know it’s super tough to give even a rough estimate, but if you could just give me a hint so I know what kind of rabbit hole I'm jumping into, I'd appreciate it.

And also, is there any way I can dodge the whole legal fight by getting him to sign something? Anything at all. I mean, unlike most messy situations, he isn't even trying to deny he owes me money or anything; there aren't even any issues with the guy himself.

hollowmason64 said:🤣🤣

Let’s just say everyone is playing nice and he agrees to sign—how exactly do you think that puts you at the front of the line?
In the official court records, there's a specific order for collections. If you go through the legal system, you can only get to the very end of the queue—assuming the debt hasn't hit the statute of limitations, though you didn't mention when his last payment was made.
The only way you're truly "first" is if he hands you the cash directly.

Don't take this the wrong way, and it's not just you, but—come on guys, let's try to use some proper grammar.

If the IRS froze your account, they are the only ones who can unfreeze it, and that usually requires paying them off. Since you'll be making more than double what you owe this year, what's the hold-up? 🤷
They used to offer installment plans a year or two ago... I think it was about two years back. Whoever set one up then, set it up. You can always try to reach out for a settlement or file a formal request.

Apparently, you can request an administrative garnishment if he gets a new job.
Like, his boss could be forced to divert a third of his paycheck straight to me to cover this debt, which would technically jump me ahead of everyone else. Or, I guess, there's the logic that since my debt is older than the others, I should naturally be first in line anyway, depending on how the dates shake out.

Honestly, I don't have any beef with him right now; I'm still playing dumb and just sitting here listening to him whine about how he'll pay me back the second he gets the chance.

I actually stumbled onto all this because I'm pretty tight with his father-in-law—we used to vacation together back in the day—so I ended up recommending him to some friends for a summer trip.

Then they tell me they aren't even sure yet if they're staying at his place or at his father-in-law's place in Washington, D.C., since he also runs rentals for him.
And yeah, he only has one father-in-law.😁

The best part is, he's been paying me under the table most of the time; I might have like two actual bank transfers to show for it. He knows I'm too much of a pushover to drag him through the mud, which is why he keeps acting like we're cool.

Personally, I think I'm gonna be totally blunt with the lawyer about how much cash I've already received under the table. I might even list those discounts he gave me back when he ran his own business as part of the debt repayment, just to keep everything transparent. I don't care—I just want him to learn his lesson and pay back what he owes, even if the amount isn't massive (around $4000).

We signed a contract back in 2008 where he promised to settle everything within two years, and if I remember correctly, the statute of limitations is ten years.

Quick question for you guys.

So, basically, about 7 years ago, I lent a chunk of cash to a friend—well, an ex-friend now, obviously😁. We actually had everything notarized, so the contract clearly lays out how he was supposed to pay me back, when, and exactly how much. There wasn't any interest involved because we didn't talk about that; it was just a straight-up favor between buddies.

But, uh, he hasn't exactly stuck to the plan. He tossed a tiny bit into my account once or twice, but the rest? Nothing. Zilch.

In the meantime, the guy has piled up a mountain of debt—some private stuff like credit cards and mismanaged loans, and some business debt through his own companies too. And honestly, he doesn't have any assets to his name.

As of today, he’s totally broke and unemployed, but I did manage to dig up some info suggesting he pulled some cash out and invested it in vacation rentals down by the coast through his father-in-law. I’m pretty sure about one or two of those units are actually his, or at least tied to him—his father-in-law basically spilled the beans, which is what really got me thinking about taking action.

Now, look, I get that realistically I might just have to eat the loss, but what I’m really wondering is—since my debt is the oldest one on the books—do I actually have priority status when it comes to collecting? Like, if there's no other way, can I somehow jump ahead of the big banks and everyone else to get my money?

If I were to, you know, 😁 politely ask him to sign something stating that I get paid first, is that even legally possible?

What’s really eating at me is this looming threat of that new personal bankruptcy law. If that goes through, I’ll be completely screwed, assuming I even had a shot to begin with.

I’m definitely heading to a lawyer, obviously, but before I do, I wanted to see if you guys think I have any chance at all? Even a slim one? Or am I just chasing ghosts here?