You’d be correct if you guessed…….

$3,089,204.00

Sometimes I advise small businesses to use the small claims system even though their debt may exceed the $5000 jurisdictional limit. For example, say a client is owed $5700. It is cheaper and faster to right off that $700 and proceed with a case in small claims court.

Right now I have a contested collections case between two business. The amount is approximately $20,000. The case was filed in July of 2010.  Pleadings were closed in early December of 2010. A pretrial was held yesterday and the matter was set down for trial in March of 2012. The case is simple. It’s at best a morning bench trial. It’s the kind of issue that’s resolved in small claims court in short order.  The delay and the uncertainty are bad for my client’s business.

The benefits of small claims court is that it’s usually fast. Trials are held months after a complaint is filed.  Pleadings and discovery are condensed. Win or lose the matter is usually resolved within about 6 months. My client would love nothing more than to have his day in court.

For many Connecticut small businesses problems can arise when debts are between $10,000 and $25,000. Those amounts are too high to write off and two low to engage in full scale litigation.

My proposal is to create a docket for claims arising out of breach of contract – a collections docket for disputes under $25,000.  More time could be saved by creating mandatory discovery and disclosure provisions in the practice book similar to those used in divorces and car accidents. Limiting pleadings or at least the time to file them would also help speed the process up. The judicial branch should guarantee bench trials within six months of the return date or at least target such a goal.

Providing businesses with certainty both in terms of process and time will help drive down the cost of doing business in the state. The judicial branch should consider creating a “medium claims” docket. Such a docket would help Connecticut small business.

It has been a busy week for me. Not a lot of time or energy to post. So I’m going to borrow from a conversation that I had earlier in the week:

“If you owe a bank a thousand dollars…they own you. If you owe a bank millions of dollars…you own them.”

For whatever reason, that stuck with me.  It hits the nail on the head of a number of pressing legal, economic, and political problems that we’re experiencing.

Right now, for $35 and often not marshal fees a person can get their day in court before a magistrate.

The CT Law Tribune is reporting that the legislature is looking to raise the court entry fee to $60.

Even at $60 bringing a small claims action is a bargain.  Serving papers alone in Superior Court costs more than $60.

Of all places the legislature can raise fees, this one makes sense.

The statutes do not make it clear as to whether or not a plaintiff can commence an action at the same time that it commences a prejudgment remedy.

I know from experience that some Connecticut court clerks allow this to happen while at least one won’t. I found this out the hard way.

Here’s my argument as to why a plaintiff should be allowed to commence an action at the same time it files a PJR.

The filing of a prejudgment remedy does not prevent a plaintiff from commencing a civil action. There is not statute or case that holds the filing of a prejudgment remedy bars a plaintiff from commencing a civil action at the same time.

The required process of obtaining a prejudgment remedy is different from commencing a civil action. Bernhard-Thomas Building Systems, LLC v. Duncan, 286 Conn. 548, 558 (2008). Individuals seeking a prejudgment remedy must attach an unsigned writ, summons, and complaint to the following documents: (1) a prejudgment remedy application; (2) an affidavit stating facts sufficient to show that probable cause exists that a judgment will be rendered in the action in favor of the plaintiff; (3) a form of order that a hearing be held; and (4) a form of summons for the prejudgment remedy hearing. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-278c(a).

 Our Supreme Court has made it clear that applications for prejudgment remedies and civil actions are separate and distinct proceedings. Bernhard-Thomas Building Systems, LLC v. Duncan, 286 Conn. 560 (2008).  A prejudgment remedy can be brought at anytime: before an action, while an action is pending and even while a judgment is being appealed.

There is no statute that restricts a Plaintiff from filing a complaint. Ruling that an action cannot be brought while a prejudgment remedy application is pending enjoins a plaintiff from commencing an action which is clearly not the requirements of Connecticut’s statutes.

Commencing an action at the same a prejudgment remedy is filed is both common and preferred practice in Connecticut. How To Get Your Clients Paid: The Use of Pre-And Post Judgment Tactics, Materials from Connecticut Bar Association CLE on March 26, 2007.

 There are a number of good reasons for a Plaintiff to commence a civil action at the same time it files a prejudgment remedy application:

1. The filing of prejudgment remedy application does not commence an action for statute of limitations purposes; 

2. Service of process on any documents can be difficult and having the documents served at the same time deprives the defendant of an opportunity to willfully avoid service; and

3.  Doing so provides parties with the opportunity to resolve the underlying dispute and eliminate the need for a prejudgment remedy hearing at all.

Whether or not I’m right is an open question. I think I am but there should be uniformity across Connecticut courts as to whether or not filing a PJR at the same time as an action is acceptable.

Perhaps this is an issue for the legislature or perhaps it can be resolved with a change to the practice book.

In the meantime, before filing a PJR, call and ask the clerk in the Judicial District whether or not you can file a PJR at the sametime you commence an action.

According to the article, Governor Rell is proposing lifting the mandatory 18 percent penalty charged to property owners who are late on payment of their taxes. The theory being that this would provide municipalities much needed cash.

My question is what happens to lien holders who are not the municipality?

Towns across Connecticut sell property tax liens to private investors at auction.

A purchaser of municipal tax  liens ”steps into the shoes” of the town having all of the same rights as the town - including the right to 18% interest per year. Further, a purchaser of those liens can take possession of the property through the initiation of a foreclosure action.

Would legislation providing amnesty on municipal tax liens would amnesty apply to property owners whose liens have been sold to private parties?

If the legislature gives amnesty who are delinquent on their property taxes then it will be taking from those who purchased the liens expecting a return on their investment.

On the other hand, if the legislature only applies amnesty to liens held by municipalities then only some property owners would receive amnesty while others would still have to pay interest at a rate of 18% per year.

It will be interesting to see how the legislature sorts out this issue.

While the woman referred to in this post was not responsible for the debt being collected, the current state of the economy certainly has caused many people to fall behind in paying their debts.  Collection agencies are working hard to collect these debts, which are purchased from creditors at a low price, in order for these agencies to make a hefty profit when payment is received.

Although it is illegal, many who owe money are harassed by their collectors and can’t seem to find any relief.  Illegal harassment includes, but it not limited to, verbal abuse, threats, repeated unwanted contact, calls to work and other family members, and using misleading tactics to collect debts.  All of these activities stress out the debtor and place undue strain on someone who is already evidently having financial troubles.

How can individuals deal with this sort of behavior, within the confines of the law and their obligations?  It is of paramount importance that you get in touch with an attorney who can assist you with getting your name cleared up so that you can move on with your life.

When dealing with a debt collector you feel is harassing you, you must stay calm.  This is extremely important.  If you say something under duress, the collector my try to use it against you later.  Try to make arrangements, and if you have sought legal counsel, refer the collectors to that individual.  By no means should you be contacted if you have legal representation.  Ask the collector to stop calling you, and have your attorney write a formal letter asking the same thing.  This paper trail will help end these unwanted calls.

Being in debt is tough, and unethical collection practices must be nipped in the bud.  Be proactive and get help before you fall too far behind.  Contact an attorney and get the appropriate counsel to find your most reasonable course of action if you find yourself in this situation.

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This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of the best criminal justice programs. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com.

-I’d like to thank Kelly for both reading and contributing to this blog.

The them is/are large national debt collectors. These thugs by debt for pennies on the dollar and then try and collect anything they can from anyone.

Two years ago, an elderly woman came to me telling me that her identity had been stolen.  She’s never had a credit card in her life, hasn’t made a mortgage payment in 30 years, and had never been late on any bill in her life.

Yet she kept getting calls and letters from Thug Debt Collection, LLC (not their real name) claiming that she owed them $65,000.00. She was terrified. She was losing sleep that someone had stolen her identity.

Through some investigation and placing a credit freeze on her accounts, it turns out that no one had stolen her identity at all and she didn’t owe a penny to anyone.

After several heated calls with Thug Debt Collection, LLC, I finally got one of their supervisors to explain what happened. He said that when they purchase debt they look for someone who’s name is close to the person’s name who actually owes the debt and try and collect it from the person with a similar name.

My client told me that if the amount had been smaller she would have paid the debt out of fear.

I’m sure she’s not the only one.

If you are a senior citizen or know a senior citizen who is in a similar situation – you should contact an attorney.

When time is of the essence, either in an eviction or collection matter the last thing a litigant needs to happen is to have a clerk send back paperwork because some clerk doesn’t like your military affidavit.

The affidavit requires a party to show facts sufficient to state the defendant is not in the military.

I’ve had tenants served in hand and landlords swear oaths that a person works at a certain place and that has not been good enough for some clerks.

Most recently, I ran into a problem when I had the defendant’s date of birth and but not his social security number. I obtained a military affidavit from the Department of Defense with such information only to have it sent back to me by a clerk.

The clerk told me that I needed a military affidavit obtained with a social security number. I asked the clerk where in the practice book that was required. The clerk’s response was that we are at war and she was not about to default someone who maybe serving our country without a military affidavit obtained through the use of a social security number.

The clerk then told me that I could obtain default with the date of birth of the defendant and some other information as in where the defendant worked.

I had to play google detective for an hour to obtain more information on the defendant.

I repeat there is no uniform rule about what a clerk will and won’t accept for a military affidavit in Connecticut.  What’s good enough for one clerk may not be good enough for another clerk.

In the absence of a uniform rule on this, landlords and businesses need to obtain the social security numbers of their tenants and/or clients.

Why bLAWg? Reason 2: Marketing

I read lots of ABA materials about how blogs can be used to generate business. Invariably the advice goes something like this:

• Register a blog with a domain name like www.ctfamilylawyerblog.com (I think it’s an available URL);
• Write about 1 area of law and 1 area of law only;
• Post links to other blogs on your website; and
• Lace your entries with keywords that people are likely to search.

I do none of those things. If you want your blog to generate a ton of business for you – do not use this blog as a template.

If this blog were music it would be jazz.

Here’s a shameless attempt to lace this post with searchwords: Sometimes, I write about areas of law that I practice (personal injury, family law, probate, elder law, housing law, conservatorships, collections, child custody child support,  real estate, home improvement law). I could never write about just 1 area of law because I don’t practice just 1 area of law.

Sometimes, I write about seaweed law. Sometimes, I write about John Trautwein.

This blog is a box of chocolates – you never know what you are going to get from entry to entry. I never know what I’m going to write about.

I don’t have a long blogroll because I don’t like clutter. Blogs with too many links distract me. When I read something in a blog that I like, I link to it in my entry.

For example, I really enjoy www.apublicdefender.com and Norm Pattis’ blog. I’ve mentioned before that the godfather of this blog is:  www.connecticutemploymentlawblog.com.  Susan Cartier Liebel’s blog is a great resource for small firm attorneys.  Enough with the shameless linking.

You see, when someone links to my blog, I receive notification that they have linked to me. The idea or so I read is to market your blog to other bloggers who will in turn blog about your blog.

Anyhow, the total number of clients that I can trace directly to this blog is: zero!!!

This month alone, I’ve had 64 hits from the Slovak Republic! Hello to my Slovakian readers. 

 I’ve also had hits from China, Japan, the Netherlands, Kuwait, Australia, Singapore, Germany, Poland, Brazil, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Korea, Great Britain, Switzerland, and a place that shows up only as: European Country (France, I’m looking at you).  Who knows, maybe I can one day achieve a “Johnny Drama in Viking Quest” like popularity overseas.

I could and perhaps should do a better job at marketing this blog and “optimizing it for google” but that’s not me. I’m not a lawyer who is comfortable with my face on the side of a bus or a billboard or on the back of your phone book.  That works for some attorneys but it’s not for me.

For me this blog works as a marketing tool in a very different way. What I want is someone to get my name from an existing client or some other referral source and then “google” my name. What I hope that person will find is a nice website about Connecticut law. Maybe, I’ll have written about an issue that is important to that person.

I also hope the prospective client will get a sense of who I am as a person. I try to keep things light in this blog (e.g. Don’t Dye the Easter Bunny). I write about baseball because I like baseball. I post links to local events that I enjoy.  

This blog is for you, the Slovakian guy, logging into this site at 3 a.m. eastern standard time, and reading about John Trautwein.