Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
Help my dad is being sued and harrased
My dad is being sued for not following through with a contract and is being taken advantage of. The court decided that he needed to pay $5,000 and both he and my mom are being constantly harrased by the guy. My dad applied for a payment plan and the guy is demanding $500 a month with post dated checks for all of the months. My parents can barely afford their rent and can not possibly pay this. My dad sent in his earnings and info on stuff he owns and they told him he could not attach a letter. The guy attached a letter claiming all of my dad's info was lies. He has been sending my parents threatening letters and has been making stuff up in every letter. What can my dad do? Any advice could help!
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Help my dad is being sued and harrased
It is unclear to me from your email whether judgement has been entered or not, but no one should be subject to harassment. I would try to speak with an attorney asap. If payment is an issue, the local bar association in your area can direct you to non-profit legal aid programs.
Good Luck,
Bryan
Re: Help my dad is being sued and harrased
Your dad should arrange to tape record these telephone calls. When the creditor calls he should loudly announce that the conversation is being recorded, and if he does not wish to be recorded then he should terminate the conversation. If the creditor then proceeds to verbally abuse and threaten him he should take the tapes to the district attorney or an attorney that works with type of cases.
Re: Help my dad is being sued and harrased
If he has a judgment against him, that means he lost, and his story and reasons no longer matter. The only options now are to appeal the judgment [costly], negotiate a payment plan to avoid lien collections, or go bankrupt. However, $5k is not grounds for BK. IF the plaintiff is actually violating the debt collection laws, that might be used to 'persuade' him to back off and allow payments that are realistic. The problem is that any money spent on attorneys to help now is money that could be used to pay the debt.