Sued for Past Due Rent

I am currently being sued for past due rent from back in 2003. It was a written agreement and I'm not too sure how how exactly this effect the sol but would love to know? My state is Indiana if that makes a difference which I'm sure it does.

For a written contract in Indiana, the SOL is 10 years.

Looks like they filed just in time!

Darn looks like they did. I wasn't too sure what category this debt fits into. Whether it was just a written contract or a contract for payment of money. I guess your answer clears that up. Looks like I have to file bankruptcy on this one seeing as how the bill is nearly 7 fold now. Nothing worse than being forced to pick the lesser of two evils.

Thanks,

Logan

Well..call me jaded, but you've had almost 10 years to fix this and pay the thing.

How do you think the landlord feels?

Granted I had plenty of time to pay the thing but I fail to see the logic in going after someone who would not have the means to pay such a large lump sum. It's just a waste of time unless some reasonable agreement could be made to resolve the issue but it's clear to me this is not their intent otherwise the summons wouldn't say garnishee defendant which doesn't leave me with much headroom to keep the payments low enough. I mean come on 25% of my disposable earnings? So about 250 month. Not too sure who exactly comes up with these disposable earnings figures but it's a bit much given the cost of living. I would love to see some of these guys live off this so called disposable income of mine. With that figure after paying my bills I would have 30 dollars for anything else I may need. No matter I got the answer I was looking for and I appreciate that much.

I'm honestly not trying to argue with you - k? But I'm curious (I'm NOT a landlord, by the way - just so you know!). How much do you think would be fair?

Why is it fair that the landlord has to sue someone for money owed to them?

When someone has to sue for money owed to them it tends to be because he/she doesn't have the funds to pay for it to begin with. It's like fishing in a lake with no fish and the only thing you will accomplish is wasting time. If the landlord and his attorney could cut the debt down to something less than 7x what was owed I could afford that and it wouldn't be so out of reach. As a matter of fact I would be more than willing to settle the debt for the cost of bankruptcy. Which will be more than the original debt. Now I'm not saying this would be fair but it would be their most feasible option and much better than taking a greater loss on the whole case. Something is better than nothing especially if it would cover the original debt? If I am wrong please elaborate.

Given the substantial increase in the debt amount the whole thing comes off as more of a form of punishment than a debt collection attempt. What I fail to understand is how these people think increasing the debt increases the likelihood the debt will be paid. The more the debt increase the more surreal the debt seems and the less likely the debtor will be able to pay it off.

If the person doesn't have funds to begin with, they shouldn't take on the debt burden. Now, there are circumstances beyond our control which can make our financial lives hell - but these are rarely present in the case of unpaid rent.

You seem to believe that the landlord SHOULD negotiate with you. Why? He had to hire an attorney to get what was due him; why should he be left with anything less than what he's statutorily allowed to collect?

As far as bankruptcy goes, the average cost if you hire an attorney is around the $2-5k mark for a simple Ch 7 . Pro se would of course be far less.

It would be, in my opinion, incredibly foolish to do a bk for $5k. Incredibly foolish.

I honestly believe it would be in his best interest to do so but by no means do I believe he is obligated to do so. As far as it being foolish to file for bankruptcy I disagree. If my wages are garnished of which I'm sure they will be. I will be left with too little to pay my current bills. It will be a never ending cycle unless I can resolve it through negotiations or bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is not something that I see as the morally correct choice but it is the lesser of two evils.

As far as bankruptcy cost go 2-5k does seem rather high and I am evaluating my options. If I have to represent myself then so be it but there are other options as far as the paperwork goes and I've heard tons of mixed up info on the overall price of a bankruptcy. What I have found so far is it tends to be a bit lower for simple cases. Starting at about 900.00. If you would like a source I would be more than happy to oblige. Representing myself of course would be far less at around 450 is my current estimate.

As far as "He had to hire an attorney", he had to do nothing of the sort and he tried nothing else. I don't have a single letter from him, I have never received a call, and as far as I can tell he made no attempt to contact me through any other method not listed. Now granted perhaps what I could offer him per check wouldn't be enough to satisfy him and the end result would be the same but as far as I know he made no other attempts. So he did what he thought he had to do not what he had to do. I think the biggest problem I have is this all or nothing mindset people seem to have. Most wont take less and they want as much as they can get and to get it they're willing to lose it all. Now that statement was purely speculation on my part as I have yet to talk to this attorney but given the quick actions to garnish my wages before even trying to set up a payment plan I will assume my speculations to be correct. I think the best part of it all is I believe my wages will be garnished before the hearing.

Quote:

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Quoting logan7221

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I honestly believe it would be in his best interest to do so but by no means do I believe he is obligated to do so. As far as it being foolish to file for bankruptcy I disagree. If my wages are garnished of which I'm sure they will be. I will be left with too little to pay my current bills. It will be a never ending cycle unless I can resolve it through negotiations or bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is not something that I see as the morally correct choice but it is the lesser of two evils.

As far as bankruptcy cost go 2-5k does seem rather high and I am evaluating my options. If I have to represent myself then so be it but there are other options as far as the paperwork goes and I've heard tons of mixed up info on the overall price of a bankruptcy. What I have found so far is it tends to be a bit lower for simple cases. Starting at about 900.00. If you would like a source I would be more than happy to oblige. Representing myself of course would be far less at around 450 is my current estimate.

As far as "He had to hire an attorney", he had to do nothing of the sort and he tried nothing else. I don't have a single letter from him, I have never received a call, and as far as I can tell he made no attempt to contact me through any other method not listed. Now granted perhaps what I could offer him per check wouldn't be enough to satisfy him and the end result would be the same but as far as I know he made no other attempts. So he did what he thought he had to do not what he had to do. I think the biggest problem I have is this all or nothing mindset people seem to have. Most wont take less and they want as much as they can get and to get it they're willing to lose it all. Now that statement was purely speculation on my part as I have yet to talk to this attorney but given the quick actions to garnish my wages before even trying to set up a payment plan I will assume my speculations to be correct. I think the best part of it all is I believe my wages will be garnished before the hearing.

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You can try to justify this until you're blue (and red and green, given that it's the Christmas season and all!) in the face.

But the bottom line is, you owe him.

If he gets a judgment against you, that judgment will last a LONG time.

And really? Stop blaming the landlord. YOU didn't pay your bill. End of story.

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As an aside, my husband also read this thread.

He has a question for you:

"Can I please borrow $2000 from you? I promise I'll pay you back".

Sounds fair, right?