Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with settlement

Settlement threatening benefits?

sonicbloom — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:00:19 -0800

Will a class-action settlement affect Medi-Care/Medicaid benefits? My g/f is a conservator of her son, who has bi-polar disorder and is currently in a health care facility. He was prescribed Zyprexa in 1999, and is now being represented in a class-action lawsuit (due to contracting diabetes, which he got over recently). The law firm has settled with Lilly for an amount between $10 - $15 k per case.

He is on SS disablility and SSI (supplemental) income, which pays the shared cost of his facility costs, most of which are borne by Medical/Medicare. The amount is about $6k by medical/medicare, and $600 from him, which is pretty much his whole SS disability check.

We were wondering if getting the settlement amount in full would make him ineligible for Medical/Medicare. We know his SS disability is safe and that his SSI would probably be lost. No big deal, as the SSI is probably less than a hundred bucks.

There is also the option of getting a structured payment, which may help us retain the medical benefits. Also there is the option of creating a trust, but we don't have much knowledge of what is needed.

Would a structured payment be safe? Do you have any advice, experience, or tips?

maybe I should have gone to judge judy like my grandmother suggested...

Kellydamnit — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:25:53 -0800

Looking to collection on a small claims court debt. Are there collection agencies or settlement advance places that work with smaller amounts? I was scammed on a used car, turns out the old owner owed on it and it was repossessed. I've already filed in small claims court, but don't have high hopes of seeing the money from him, although I do think the odds are more than in my favor of winning. (and the lawyer in my family I hit up for not legally binding advice said as much)

Are there collection agencies that will deal in smaller amounts from individuals (as opposed to corporations), or those advance lawsuit settlement places? I know there will be a fee, but I'd rather deal with that than chase after this scumbag.

The total isn't a lot to some people, I'm sure, but for me it's substantial. I'm on unemployment, so it's almost fifteen percent of my annual income at the moment. I'd rather not just write it off as a bad debt.

Sorry if this was a duplicate. I did search, but all I could see were articles about the other side of collection agencies.

Moving on up, or not...

smoke — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:34:11 -0800

Buying House dramas: tenants in place we are due to settle don't want to move out by settlement, but we want to move in! Apologies for length. After many dramas, we are finally settling (aka final payment to vendor) on our apartment on Monday. However I had a delightful call from the real estate agent this morning, informing me that the current tenants are claiming never to have received their notice to move out, and won't be ready by Monday.

This is not a good situation - settlement has already been delayed, as a result we run the real risk of being without somewhere to live ourselves before we move in (our own lease expires).

I had a very terse conversation with the real estate agent explaining that whether tenants did or did not receive notice is their problem as property manages and thus they need to fix it, cause come Monday they won't be property managers, and we'll be moving in. He hemmed and hawed a lot, tried to push it back on us.

What are my rights here? This is a frickin' nightmare. In addition to being without somewhere to live, I've taken time off work, hired a ute, etc. etc. My renting experience tells me what I said to the real estate agent is fundamentally true; it's their error either way and the onus is on them to sort it out vis organising accomodation for tenants, or kicking them out. Does anyone know for sure? FYI, I'm in NSW, Australia, and waiting for a call back from my solicitor. Thanks for your advice.

Insurance Settlement

cmh0150 — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 11:36:17 -0800

A friend, a 62 year old woman, was injured while driving in TN; her car was totalled. She is suffering back pain. She has been to an attorney who has retained an independent doctor to evaluate her. The doctor has assessed that she retains 5% PPI (permanent personal impairment?). The question she has - what is the likely dollar value of the settlement based on the 5%?

Is it possible for my wife to go from Australia to the UK on a tourist visa and then apply for a settlement visa when we get there, without having to come back to Australia again?

ranglin — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:25:03 -0800

Is it possible for my wife to go from Australia to the UK on a tourist visa and then apply for a settlement visa when we get there, without having to come back to Australia again? Hi Guys.

Wife and I are thinking about visiting the UK at the end of the year and, if we like it, possibly staying there to live for a while. However, we want to try it out first, so were thinking about going for a "holiday" first and then seeing what we want to do when we get there. I'm a British Citizen (dual-citizen), so I can just go over and do whatever I want, but we were wondering if it's possible for her to go over on a tourist visa and then change to a settlement visa once she's there, or if she'd have to come back here first (which would be a pain!)? I've tried googling this with no luck, and the embassy wants to charge you $10 just for picking up the phone and ringing them.

Any help (including possible places to look) would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Legal troubles over a decade-old debt to bank

not_on_display — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:35:08 -0800

[I am asking this for a friend.] Legal troubles over a decade-old debt to a bank. I am being sued by a law firm representing a collection agency. I would like to find a way to resolve this situation that does not involve hiring a lawyer, since I cannot afford one. I receive income via Social Security Disability. I recently received a letter from a law firm hired by a collection agency which has been trying to get me to pay a debt incurred about ten years ago through an overdraft credit line at Bank of America. The collection agency has owned the debt for probably six years now, and recently decided to sue me for the money. The letter came about the same time as a summons from District Courts of Massachusetts (Cambridge Division) letting me know that I had 20 days to respond to both the court and the law firm.

I would like to find a way to resolve this situation that does not involve hiring a lawyer, since I cannot afford one. I would like to negotiate a settlement, if possible, and am seeking advice about how this can be most effectively done.

I cannot really afford to make payments on the debt--as for my financial situation, I am the parent of a minor, and my income is derived from Social Security Disability Insurance and food stamps. I am officially "disabled" by Social Security standards, after having undergone a long process of evaluation a few years ago, and do not work. My annual SSDI income for 2008 was $10,692 plus food stamps amounting to approximately $2760 for a grand total of $13,452. I do receive significant financial help from my child's father, though this is not officially or exactly on the record.

During phone conversations with the collection agency in 2006, I explained and documented my financial situation, proposing to settle the debt for significantly less than the amount they then said I owed including interest. Following these phone conversations, I wrote to them via certified mail to make this same offer in writing. [I've pasted the letter below.] My offer was also less than the amount they were willing to settle the debt for, which was $4785.93. (This figure is several hundred dollars less than the original debt incurred by me). I received no response to, nor acknowledgement of, this letter. Instead, I received continued demands for payment by phone and mail.

My credit is otherwise fine; I have student loans in good standing (deferral) and I am able to get credit cards and have always paid them on time in the rare instances that I use them. This particular loan, however, I have paid almost nothing on, due to a continuous state of financial exigency and, honestly, a long period of denial and irrationally hoping it would "go away".

Any advice would be much appreciated.

~~~~~

Here is the letter, and the offer I am still able to make now:

"I am writing to reiterate the offer I made with representatives of your company, [person 1] and [person 2], during our telephone conversation on 6/17/06. At the time of this writing, the offer still stands: I would be able to get a loan of $2000.00 from my mother on the condition that I show her a letter from [the Debt Recover Company] agreeing that this amount will settle my debt. Upon receipt of such a letter, I would be able to get $2000.00 from my mother and would be happy to pay it to you immediately.

"It was explained to me that your company wouldn’t accept this amount to settle the debt, and has opted instead to accept a monthly payment from me in the amount that I can afford to make. Enclosed is a check for five dollars, to be applied to my balance, as well as documents outlining my financial information.

"As you can see from my financial documentation, it is not possible for me to make anything beyond a "good faith" payment unless my health improves (or some other windfall occurs!) allowing me to substantially change my financial situation. Unfortunately, because my illness is degenerative, this is unlikely. For this reason, and because I don’t know how long the offer from my mother will continue to be available to me, I urge you to reconsider accepting the $2000.00 to settle the debt."

Expat/citizenship Filter

Grrlscout — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:02:06 -0800

Expat/citizenship Filter: Before I became eligible to apply for citizenship in the country I live in, I was all for it. Now that it's six months past my first date of eligibility, I'm not so sure. Anyone else been through this process? Any advice? Any advice or stories from you wonderful Mefites to help a girl make up her mind? I have permanent residency, so it isn't a question of needing to apply to be able to stay. In short, I can't see many practical reasons to apply. The only thing I can't do here is vote, but I can contact my MP if an issue fires me up. If I need to work outside the UK, the company sending me files any necessary visa paperwork for me.

If I were to apply, it would be for personal reasons only, at this point... or because the idea of not having a vote really started to bother me. It was my principal reason for considering an application in the first place, but now I'm not even sure who'd get my vote if I had one. Barring this past presidential election, I already have citizenship in a country where I often hold my nose and vote.

I'm not used to this kind of doldrums, so I fully admit that there might be something going on in the back of my head about commitment to the country I'm in now or conflicted feelings about my home country. The recent changes to immigration law in the UK won't affect my application (aside from the possible new volunteer hours provision). They have left a bad taste in my mouth, though, and brought up all sorts of thoughts about my own foreignness and the shaky sort of acceptance I've been able to win. Just what does that all mean? In other words, a lot of money and hassle and a new passport later, just what will citizenship change?

I'm getting a little tired of questions from friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic asking me about this application. The Americans seem to be divided convinced that I'd be nuts to not grab the chance to get an EU passport and dual citizenship. The Brits seem to be equally divided between people who see it as my final commitment to living here and people who don't understand why I'd want to cement ties to this country.

So, what says the hive mind?

Garnished wages can we still settle the debt?

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:49:11 -0800

My Mom’s wages are being garnished by a collection agency. Can we still settle the debt? How much do we offer and where do we get the money? My mother’s Ford Fiesta bit the dust a month ago and she needed to get a new car. Her hours have recently been cut at her old job and she has just taken a second job for significantly less money ($7.50/hr versus $10.50/hr). After talking with her I came to the realization that she couldn’t afford to even purchase a reasonable beater for a few grand. I decided that I would help her out with a few hundred bucks and an interest free loan on the condition that I could look at her finances and make sure everything checked out. Here is what I found:

Her monthly income is variable but appears to average about $1000/month +/- $200 (her rent is $480/month).
She has one credit card with a balance of about $1100
She owes a collection agency about $13,000 and they have begun garnishing 25% of her wages at her primary job. The debt comes from a credit card where the original balance was about $6000. She settled with the credit card company but then failed to make the payments and the account sat in collections for a couple of years.

Here are my questions:

Now that the collection agency is garnishing her wages is it too late to settle with them?
If we can settle with the collection agency how much should we offer?
If we do offer to settle, how should we raise the money to pay them off? Will banks make loans to me or my Mom for this purpose?
Should my Mom just file for chapter seven bankruptcy?

We are both located in Michigan. My Mom does not have any significant savings or assets other than a 401k. I have only been out of school for a couple of years so I am still trying to get on my feet. I have good credit and some savings, but not enough to pay for this endeavor unless I borrow against my 401k.

Barbri Settlement?

Ponderance — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:34:13 -0800

Did the BarBri settlement money ever get sent out? I registered to get my BarBri settlement under their antitrust suit, twice in fact, and haven't received a thing. Has anyone else gotten paid? I gave those folks a pile of cash a couple hundred back would be swell.

Does anyone have any insight?

How much should I pay my lawyer to settle a wrongful death claim?

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:38:11 -0800

I'm going to hire an attorney to settle a wrongful death claim in the state of Ohio, USA. I hope to reach a settlement rather than going to court. What percentage of my settlement should the attorney get? A law firm offered to represent me for either 20% of whatever is gained by reaching a settlement, or 35% of whatever is awarded by a jury if the case goes to trial. Does this sound reasonable? Should I try to negotiate a lower percentage in either case, and if so, what is the lowest percentage I might reasonably expect them to accept?

We've already had a free consultation with the lawyers who will be involved. If I wish to negotiate the contract further, what protocol should I follow - ask for another meeting (and more of their time), call them up or send an email?

Anything else I should know before signing up with a law firm? The claim is against an estate, so a personal injury lawyer and an estate lawyer will both be involved. Their contract seems fairly straightforward and includes their expenses plus the percentage.

How can I get enough money to replace my car?

Alison — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:19:12 -0800

How do I get a fair settlement for my totaled car in Pennsylvania? The insurance adjuster insists that I am not owed the replacement value of my car and refuses to budge. My neighbor hit a patch of black ice a few weeks ago and struck my unoccupied, parked 1996 Mazda Protege. A few days ago the insurance adjuster (Traveler's insurance) came back with a settlement of about $3300 based on the NADA book value.

I looked around and the Kelley Blue Book value for my car starts at about $3500 and goes up to $4300, with my low mileage car (~49,000 miles) in the upper range. Even cars with twice the miles are retailing at $4000. I've been collecting sales ads for replacement cars due to the good advice in this thread.

The adjuster refuses to budge and insists that I am only owed the NADA value of my car and nothing more in the State of Pennsylvania, even if a replacement vehicle would cost much more. They won't even consider retail prices for equivalent vehicles and were very short with me when I brought up the option.

My insurance (Geico) has been absolutely no help and has left me to take care of this on my own. I'm considering retaining legal counsel, but I don't know how to sort through all of the ambulance chasers. I'm not even sure if it will be worth it for less than $1000 difference.

I've contacted the state insurance bureau, but it will take them a few days to answer my question.

So, how does this work for Pennsylvania? Am I not entitled to the cost of a replacement car? Is the insurance adjuster even telling me the truth about PA law? They're taking the rental car back on Friday so I'd like to have a course of action planned by then.

CCF Settlement...

RandlePatrickMcMurphy — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:34:22 -0800

Any experience with or deeper information about the Foreign Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation (whew) settlement? I got the mailing regarding the settlement of the class action lawsuit against banks charging excessive (is there any other kind of bank fee?) fees on foreign currency transactions. The basic info is here: http://www.ccfsettlement.com. You may have gotten this too.

There's been internets rumblings that this is a scam to get your bank and cc data. I accept that it is legit.

My question is this: I'd like to file under "Refund Option 3" where you need to list the amount of foreign transactions by year. I lived overseas and used my cc and atm a lot during the eligible period, so it seems worth the effort for 1-3% of around $10K per year for 5 or 6 years.

But somewhere out there there should be someone who's gone through this process, or who has some insider tips into how to maximize the return or who can tell me that there's some cap somewhere and I'm not going to get as much as I think unless I... I don't know what. Or even the criteria on which the "administrator" (a judge?) is going to decide what the refund rate is going to be.

The FAQs on the site are a good start, but other than that I haven't been able to google up much more than some news articles and the debate over whether or not this is an elaborate phishing scam.

Any suggestions, insights into this? IANL answers welcome.

Best place to get married/divorced?

zaebiz — Wed, 30 May 2007 16:39:56 -0800

Where is the best place in the world to get married in terms of most favorable property settlement and alimony laws to the primary provider in the event of a divorce? Just wondering. (No I'm not planning on finding some Tanzanian girl to marry) Also if you get married in another country and move to the favorable country and get divorced there, do the laws of the new country apply to the divorce?

Should I find a lawyer and ask for more money from the other party's insurance company?

spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints — Thu, 17 May 2007 12:49:41 -0800

Does this sound like a reasonable insurance settlement? Should I find a lawyer and try to negotiate more, or just accept it and move on? I was involved in an auto accident about a week ago. The other driver pulled a fairly crazy and illegal traffic maneuver and my car was totaled. I was bruised from my seatbelt but declined an ambulance. I carry liability and uninsured motorist coverage. Both I and the other party were the only people in our vehicles. The accident occurred in Texas.

The other party's insurance company contacted me today to offer a settlement amount. The person I spoke with said the amount is based on the resale amount for my vehicle in my location, the new tires I recently purchased (nothing fancy, just new), tax, and title.

Other items (like the car seat for the toddler) that were in the car that were damaged will be reimbursed after I purchase them and submit a receipt.

While I don't think the settlement offer would be enough to get me the same car in the same condition, it's pretty close to what I would guess, and I'm not an expert at these things. I've been looking at craigslist and will probably take out a 401(k) loan to augment the settlement and buy a replacement vehicle that'll get me and mine from point A to point B safely and comfortably.

I feel very inconvenienced by the other party. I understand that accidents happen, but the other party gave an incredibly different account of the incident (so incredulous, actually, that it probably helped my case much more than him, due to the photographs of the scene and the laws of physics). They changed their story from "My bad, I didn't see him, but it's not my fault because I was trying to evade this other accident" to "This is totally the other driver's fault because the other driver was being crazy and reckless".

It's basically that last statement that's got me riled up. Had the other party just given a truthful account of the event I'd probably be accepting this settlement offer.

Before you answer, I know you're not a lawyer. I know that some of you may be a lawyer, and that you're not my lawyer. I understand that contacting a lawyer immediately would be a wise thing to do, but my wife and I are not sure that it's in our budget right now. If contacting a lawyer would pay for itself then we could go that route, but if our settlement is $x and the lawyer fees are $x/2 it's not really worth it.

If I'm going to contact a lawyer, what kind of lawyer do I look for? I don't think I'm really looking for a personal injury attorney, because my person wasn't really injured. I also loathe the idea of gouging someone because they made a mistake. I'd like to know if the amount I'm being offered should be accepted, or if I should ask for more given the circumstances.

Sorry it's long, first time asking, wanted to make sure I gave you all the info you might need. I looked at this thread but it didn't seem to fit my question.

Credit Counseling - No More Interest- How?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 16:38:04 -0800

How do I get my debtors to allow me to pay them off on a payment plan and no further interest charges? I have approximately $400,000 in debt, not including several pieces of real estate.

I have no liquidiy due to family medical issues, but do not want to declare bankruptcy although I have no money "for the short term" (say, 6-9 months) even to make minimum payments.

I want to make a deal with the creditors that I am not running away, that they should close the accounts and not charge any more interst going forward, with low minimum payments to be made until it gets paid off (or for a one year period, lets say.)

I am not concerned about ruining my credit; its ruined itself over the last 3 months.

I do not want to declare bankruptcy either.

How would I do this? is it best to go to a place like BuCCs www.buccs.com? or to do it alone? (using a service would make me only need to pay one bill each month instead of 30?)

or to ignore them until it is 120 days past due and then settle?

or let the bills rise until they write them off?

Besides all other moral concerns about owing the money, I do not want my entire family getting phone calls and would not not particularly love process servers at my door.

Since I am posting this anonymously, let me generously beg y'all kind souls not to take this question off topic or discuss its (im)morality.

yes I am aware that just because a credit cousieling service is "nonprofit" that does not mean they are there to help you. (and yes I am aware that many of these agencies are sponsored by the CC comanies themselves.)

What is the best way to get on a payment plan, while stopping all accruing interest?

My health is being severly ruined by this (headache, stomachahes from stress) and I really want to do this tomorrow....

Can I keep the house?

pgoes — Thu, 18 May 2006 10:24:42 -0800

Can one partner of a divorcing couple compel the sale of the house for the purpose of division of assets? IANAL and YANAL, but perhaps Metafites can advise before I see a lawyer:
My spouse and I may be divorcing soon. We live in CA and own our house jointly as community property. If my spouse wants the house sold as part of the division of assets, but I want to keep it and live in it, am I compelled to sell if no other agreement can be reached?
I recognize some options, such as selling at some future date and splitting the equity then; or me buying out my spouse's interest at the current assessed (or market) value. But my spouse may want the money immediately, and for emotional reasons would not want me to keep the house.
This may be the only potentially contentious issue in an otherwise amicable split.

Montreal is cold - Need Compensation

Napierzaza — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 19:39:09 -0800

My apartment has had no heat (which is included) since the beginning of the month. Basically the landlord has had no furnace for about a year and has only this past month started installing everything. I'm not sure how to proceed with compensation. I have talked to him about it and he claims that he has been dealing with the people since May and they have only recently been able to start work on it. He says that there isn't much he can do and though the work is finally finished, they now have to wait for the city to make some modifications on the line as well.

I'm pretty pissed off, it has been very cold (Montreal, Que, Canada) and it's been hard to live. My girlfriend isn't so happy to come by (still does though, whew) and my roomate is more or less irrate. Apparently someone in the building is talking to the Housing people.

My roomate is demanding that I ask for a reduction in rent, I'm having trouble figuring out how much though and how to put it out there; my roomate is more clueless.

Any suggestions on how I can go about this one?

Collecting a small claims settlement

cahlers — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 15:18:55 -0800

A relative recently won a settlement in small claims court for $3,000. However, he is having difficulty collecting the settlement. What resources are available to aid in collecting the settlement?

Arguing with my apartment manager.

alex3005 — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 22:52:28 -0800

For the past three months, my building is having construction directly below my apartment. This has caused me much grief in terms of early morning noise. Since the problems are almost over, I would like a financial reimbursement in light of this inconvenience but the building manager is not very cooperative. What to do? The building manager dismisses our complaints, saying the construction noise is justified. I'm a college student that sleeps very late and wakes up near noon. It's incredibly annoying to have jackhammers and drills go off starting at 7am in the morning. The construction finishes in a week, there's no point complaining any more, but at this point, I would like a reimbursement. What steps should I take to get my way? Are there any legal precedents for this situation?