Reposession In Texas Being Sued In Missouri

[JANGY]

My husband was a truck driver. He went into business as an owner operator and bought a used rig. His payments were over 1200.00 per month. This was not bad with this money that he was making. But he had an accident. (fell of of the trailer) He has had surgery and is still on Workman's comp. Due to the fact that he was an owner operator the income that he made on his 1099 was not taken into consideration. Only his income on his w2. He only had 5% of income put on the W2. Therefor his weekly bennifits were only 249.00 per week. This put us into major financial trouble. The choice was to feed our family and have a roof over our heads or to pay for this truck. Of course we had to make the decission to give the truck back. We were sick over it because we just had a new motor put into the truck. That was over 16k. We had no choice. My husband still is not able to work. When we called them for the voluntary repo they were nice about things. But did not pick up the truck for a couple of months although we made multiple calls to them. He was served today by the constable with a court date in Missouri for FEB 21, 2007. Today is Feb 24, 2007. So court has already passed. It states if he does not show up then they will win a judgement. The papers say that my husband entered into a contract in Jackson County Missouri and therefore jurisdiction is proper befor the court in Jackson County Missouri. My husband did not buy this truck in Missouri. He bought this truck in San Antonio, Texas. Before the collection department had called me and harrassed me to the point of telling me that I was lying that my husband was in the hospital in surgery. They also told me that I was lying that he was not working due to the injury and really talked badly to me. I told them that I only make 14.00 per hour and can not keep my family going on that and i was told that it did not matter they would garnish my wages, bank account, take my house and cars. I told them that I did not sign any paperwork. I did not buy the truck and they said that it did not matter. they also said that they would take my IRS refund. My checking account and house is in both of our names. Although he signed papers with the bank for me to get a loan on the house soley in my name. Both of our vehicles are only in my name. And I have a utility trailer in my name. This is the only property owned that has a title. The rest is personal property. What can they do to us? Can they take us to court in Missouri? Can they fraudulently say he entered into a contract in Jackson County Missouri when he really entered into a contract in San Antonio Texas? I am having a hard time taking care of my family and my injured husband. The doctor said with his injury he will never go back to trucking because he can not strap the loads. And is disabled in his right arm so it is not safe for him to operate a rig. Can they garnish his 249.00 a week workmans comp? I am so scared. I can not afford to take off of work and go to Missouri or hire an atty. What should I do? If they can not touch me I can close the checking account and open only in my name. Maybe even take his name off of my house. Please help I am desperate. Especially since he was not served untill after the court hearing.

 

[debt_helper]

Ok- lots of questions. A collection company cannot garnish workers comp. They won't try to because the court will say they can't and the atty will know they will never allow it. It is non-excutable funds. If they try to levy your bank account, you can show them bank statements evidencing the amount of contribution you made to the account, and what funds are not subject to levy (the worker's comp.). Your money- unless you are listed in the suit- is not subject to levy. Additionally, if you are not listed in the complaint and there is no judgment against you, they cannot touch any of your assets. This includes your home- although here you run into very complicated property laws. If you bought your home with your husband while you were married- most likely you own as joint tenants. If that is true, and the judgment is only against him, they cannot take your home. However, if you own as tenants in common, they can force a sale of your home (although you will be entitled to 1/2 of the sale price). Taking his name off the deed is not going to help- it will be a fradulent conveyance and will be deemed void... but this may not matter. As for the notification and judgment- if judgment is entered against you, make a 'motion to vacate the default judgment and allow time for defendant to file an answer'. First, explain the improper service. You must make this motion in a timely manner- namely as soon as you know for certain judgment has been entered against you (or your husband). Once this motion is granted, file your answer and then you can raise the issue of invalid jurisdiction. Provide the sales contract of the truck as evidence of the location of the sale. This is all very legal, so you may want to consider going to legal aid (if you cannot afford a private atty). Good luck.

 

[JANGY]

Debt Helper,

Thank you for your help. I got his contract and read it from front to back. In the contract is a clause that he allows them to take him to court in Missouri if there is a default. Although I did not see anything that says they would go by Missouri Laws. I think due to the fact that he bought the truck in Texas they will have to go by Texas laws. Also in small print there is a note on the court papers that they served that if he is a resident outside of Missouri he can call them and they will rescedule. Several years ago when we got a home equity loan my mother reminded me of a paper my husband signed with the bank relinquishing his rights to the home so that I would be able to get a home equity loan on my own. But, his name is still on the deed. So, I dont know if that will work. I will have to call the bank. I was also told that with my home being homestead in texas noone but IRS and the gov could touch it. But, I am unclear of that. If I find out that the judgement is not yet be issued by the courts on my husband can I then take him off of the deed to my house? Or is this fraudulant? He has been so depressed with this. He can not work and now this. I had a bad day with him yesterday wanting to committ suicide. I had to call family in. This is just tearing him all up. I try to explain that the law here in texas is that if he dies I am fully responsible for his debt. It is not like he wanted to loose his truck. This was just all due from an accident. Thank you again for all your help.