Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Wisconsin

Re: dept collection

You must either pay the judgment or file the financial disclosure statement. Or, if you did not have notice of the small claims court action against you and if you have a defense to it, you can file a motion with the court asking the judge to reopen the case to allow you to defend it.

Here is a copy of the statute that requires you to file the disclosure statement.

799.26 Money damages; disclosure of assets requested.

(1) When a judgment for money damages is entered under this chapter, the court or circuit court commissioner shall order the judgment debtor to execute under penalty of contempt a disclosure statement and to mail or deliver that statement to the judgment creditor or to the clerk of circuit court in the county where the judgment is entered within 15 days of entry of judgment unless the judgment is sooner satisfied. The statement shall disclose, as of the date of judgment, the debtor's name, residence address, employers and their addresses, any real property interests owned by the debtor, cash on hand, financial institutions in which the judgment debtor has funds on deposit, whether the debtor's earnings are totally exempt from garnishment under s. 812.34 (2) (b), and such other information as required by the schedules adopted under sub. (3).

(1m) If the judgment debtor complies with sub. (1) by mailing or delivering the disclosure statement to the clerk of circuit court, the judgment debtor shall mail or deliver a copy of that disclosure statement to the judgment creditor.

(2) Failure to comply with an order under sub. (1) is punishable by a remedial sanction under ch. 785. Execution of a disclosure statement and delivery of the disclosure statement to the clerk of circuit court or sheriff upon service of a motion for contempt is compliance with the order.

(3) The judicial conference shall adopt standard schedules for the disclosure required by sub. (1), which shall inform judgment debtors of the requirements of this section, the sanctions for nondisclosure or fraudulent misrepresentation, a general description of garnishment and execution, and information about the types of assets and income which are exempt from the claims of creditors. The judicial conference shall also adopt a standard form pleading invoking the contempt powers of the court under sub. (2), copies of which may be obtained by judgment creditors without charge from the clerk.

Tom Olson

Financial Disclosure Form, Court Orders After Creditor Granted Judgment for Credit Card Debt

This is serious business, because failure to cooperate and provide required post judgment financial information per the court's order can lead to arrest and jail time for contempt of court. I cannot give you legal advice in this online forum, but you are badly in need of it. Therefore, you need to consult privately with a lawyer as soon as possible. A sufficiently quick bankruptcy filing should cancel the obligation to provide financial information, since the financial information provided to creditors in one's bankruptcy is far more detailed than that requested by the small claims court's financial disclosure forms. Additionally, the process of requesting this information by the creditor is considered a collection activity, and a bankruptcy generally ends all collection activities (in favor of the rights available to the bankruptcy trustee to collect non-exempt assets). Therefore, a speedy bankruptcy filing could solve your problem, but be sure to ask your own lawyer to confirm this. Good luck!