Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Minnesota
Need advise on how to handle sueing claim
I recently received a summons from an ex-girlfriend from about 4 years ago stating that she was sueing me for about 6000 dollars. When we were dating we both had joint accounts with multiple creditors. When we broke up we split up the accounts and each agreed to pay off the creditors we had taken responsibility for. She paid off her half but I was not able to and after the accounts had gone through collections they were eventually written off marring both of our credit historys. Now according to the summons she is demanding the $6000 as damages for the amount she paid to the creditors. She did not pay off the amount that I owed. Those amounts are still reflected on my credit history. She is demanding the money for the half of the debt she paid. My question is two-fold: 1) Can she legally sue me for money that I do not owe her (I owe the creditors), and 2) How do I go about handling this if I do owe her the money. I am a college student now paying for my own way through school and I do not have a lot of extra cash each month. Can she force me to make payments that would prevent me from making my school payments thereby forcing my to drop out of school? Any answers to these questions would be most appreciated.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Need advise on how to handle sueing claim
I think she can do this. The type of claim she has against you is called "contribution." Assuming she paid debts that both of you owed, she is entitled to half from you. Had you paid the portion you agreed to pay, that would have been a setoff against her claim and you would owe her nothing. But as it is, it sounds as if she may have you.
What should you do? Good question. If you have no income and no assets you may be what we call "judgement proof." She may not be able to touch you until you become employed or acquire some assets.
On the other hand, if you do have something you can lose, you might want to consider a bankruptcy. List all those creditors and list your former girlfriend. A chapter 7 bankruptcy should make it all go away. It doesn't look so good on a credit report, but if you already have a bad report, a chapter 7 bankrutpcy can actually improve your credit. Anybody looking at the report should be able to see that you don't owe those debts anymore - they all predate the bankruptcy.
Be sure you learn something from this. That's probably the most important thing. Great care should be taken when it comes to getting involved with credit cards and members of the opposite sex.
Good luck.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
