Complaint Review: FIDELITY CREDIT MANAGEMENT

well, i now have a new obsticle to work thru. A processor served a Lien Notice of 33,000, for this debt, last friday. In all of my understandings of the courts, this may be more difficult to overturn. It now forces me to report any/all assets, in addition to now having this Debt attached to my mortgage. This lien requires that I report to court Oct 3, to review my financial status.

In all honesty, this has been a bluff job, and their scare tatics of my consequences, if i don't pay, are great. Harrassment? This all occurs during a meeting, directed by the Judge, as she would rather not even take this type of case any further in her courts. So, i again, conference with these lawyers outside of court, and return, with more pressure to pay in full, or find my home at the auction steps, and all ive worked for, during these 10 years, gone.

I find this legal system so bias and corrupt to those that don't have the means to seek legal counsel. And, incidently, when I have paid by the hour for advice, its always been the same response: JUST PAY THE DEBT. WHO CARES IF YOU'RE X WAS ASSIGNED THIS IN THE DIVORCE.. ITS YOUR NOW. That still makes no sense to me, as I paid a substantial amount of money to have a Divorce Lawyer represent me, ensuring all assets, were protected, and this particular debt was signed, sealed, and notarized to 'x', 3 years ago.

Apparently the loop holes of the law, enables this "ambulance chaser" lawyer to "disregard" any evidence of past divorce arrangements, and thus, putting back on me. So, im back where i started, and, i suppose in the worst scenerio, will have this lien to pay, when home is sold.. but, my chances of ever "refinancing" is gone. Ive tried 5 times, with no luck. I won't say Ive thrown in the towel, but, given my inability to understand the law, puts me in a very vunerable position, and now, further down the hole of "i o u's" to those that don't deserve it.

Ugh...I understand this has become more conviluted, than anticipated.. however, i do thank you for your efforts and words thus far.

Design

Design,

Sorry for assuming that you were the husband in this matter. I guess I'm just a bit of a cheauvanist (and I'm SURE I spelled that wrong - we didn't have any spelling classes in law school).

Given your update, I must modify my original advice.

First, given that you have taken such strides to keep your credit clean, a Chapter 7 probably isn't in your best interest, as it will certainly lower your credit score, and any credit you obtain in the next few years will be on very unfavorable terms.

Second, it sounds like you may just need to file a lawsuit against your ex. The complexities of your matter forbid me from getting into too much detail as to what types of relief you would seek in such a suit. However, you may be entitled to certain "declaratory judgments" that could prevent creditors from coming after you and possibly removing certain liens; you may be entitled to restraining orders regarding your credit and creditors; and you are likely entitled to some sort of judgment against the ex.

But you need to consult with a local attorney to get this all figured out. Try to find someone who will give you a free initial consultation (many, if not most attorneys are doing this nowadays). Then you can at least get a clearer picture of what you are and are not entitled to under the law.

Feel free to posit any more questions that you may have. I normally charge per hour, but the work I do for free is the most personally rewarding.

Best regards!

HELLO... PLEASE forgive me, but, in reporting this, my sentence structure was not up to par.. I am the wife, and the x spouse was husband. During these years, i have been able to (with help of parents) obtain a home, which now has a Lien of $35,000. from Fidelity Credit Management. I am not sure if filing for bankruptcy is my best option, but, the idea of passing on the right responsibilities to the origin, via, lawsuit, is a simple process, that could be done. Simply, my x has deferred all responsibilities of taxes, debts, etc.. (although the divorce decree states that he take certain debts) but "by default" I have been putting out wild fires, because im one of those 'responsible' citizens who once had an impeccable credit rating. Thus, I have paid 100,000's towards cleaning up this mess. I have used all my 'nesteggs' in this firefight, and am down to just a property that is 2/3 paid. (bad info for public, but, true, all the same).

This debt became apparent to this Fidelity Credit Management Co.. due to my exposure in Divorce (3 years) and my vunerability to fight the law solely. Get my drift? I welcome more of your ideas, and thank you again for your 'upright' contributions thus far.

Design

Designer, a couple things for you:

First, signing the debt over to your ex wife (and I'm not even entirely sure what that means) did not have the effect that you think it had. You were a party to an agreement between you and this creditor, and likely accepted joint and several liability with your then wife. This means that, when the agreement was signed, you BOTH became liable, individually, for any amount that would come due, and the creditor could come after either one of you, or both of you, to collect on any defaulted debt.

When you signed the debt over to your wife, that was an agreement between you and her, but it DID NOT affect the rights of the creditor to come after you for the money.

What you did, or may, have established when you signed the debt over to your wife was a right of indemnification against her. This means that, should you get a judgment against you for the amount due, you can then turn around and sue her for said sum. In fact, you could do it all in the same lawsuit. The result of such a lawsuit is tricky to explain, but it basically works like this: 1) you are sued by the creditor; 2) you "implead" your wife as a "third party defendant" (meaning that the creditor has a lawsuit against you, and you simaltaneously have a lawsuit against the ex); 3) a judgment is rendered against you personally for the amount due to the creditor; and 4) a judgment is rendered against your wife for the same amount, but she owes it to YOU, not to the creditor.

I hope that wasn't too tricky to understand, but the law is rarely easy to understand!

I can't give you any competent legal advice because I am not licensed in your jurisdiction. If I COULD give you such advice, I would advise one of two routes:

1) File for bankruptcy. If you qualify for Chapter 7, it will eliminate this debt and put a halt to any legal proceedings. But any non-exempt assets that you have will be taken from you and applied to your debts (but most people who qualify for Chapter 7 don't have any non-exempt assets).

2) Go through the trial and see what the outcome is. If you are held personally liable, and your wife is obligated to indemnify you, I would again recommend filing bankruptcy. Going this route, you will achieve the same effect as above, but this time the Trustee is going to sue your wife to get the money out of her.

But remember, if the debt is beyond the statute of limitations, then you have a solid affirmative defense to the whole matter. You will need a lawyer to look into this and to raise the defense.

Best of luck!