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About Regan Shinski
Expertise
I can answer questions on collections, repossessions, bankruptcy, credit repair, credit counseling, FICO scores, credit planning, and the cause and effect of credit related decisions. I can also answer questions on collection settlements and preparing to sue your creditors for false debts and credit credit reporting.

Experience
Fifteen years ago I was financially devasted due to severe health issues. I filed bankruptcy, had a foreclosure, car repossession, tax lien, and ruined credit. I immersed myself in credit law. I settled dozens of accounts and had them removed to improve my credit. I personally sued four creditors and collection agencies and won cash settlements for their false reporting on my credit reports. Since then, I have completely recovered and have nearly $100,000 in revolving credit lines and perfect credit. I have owned a credit repair company for the past five years and have an additional three years of specific work in the collections and debt management industry. I am fully versed in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Acts (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and have used them successfully in collection settlements and lawsuits for myself and others. I am also familiar with and abide by the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA). I have deleted or helped delete literally hundreds and hundreds of derogatory items from consumers' credit reports and helped negotiate many settlements with collection agencies and creditors. I have also advised people on bankruptcy at any stage. In the current credit market, I have successfully advised numerous people on how to obtain credit and how to negotiate for better terms.

Education/Credentials
BA University of Minnesota

You are here: Experts > Business > Corporate Law > Collections Law > my nephew the soldier who will not pay his debts

Collections Law - my nephew the soldier who will not pay his debts

Expert: Regan Shinski - 10/28/2009

Question

"my nephew came to live at my home in 2006 and did not even have a drivers license then. my common law wife became his legal guardian.and thus I was able to claim him as a dependant. this allowed me to sponser him onto my Usaa auto policy and enable him to get his license. He had told me his intent was to serve after graduation. and I would be paid back for the auto insurance cost and the cell phone he wanted. when he got his enlistment bonus. He damaged one of my cars and so I entered into another verbal agreement as he was 16-17 then that if I repaired a ford taurus that I had bought he would also reimburse me for the parts and any gas money loaned as he only had a part time job and was ADD and had trouble in school. when he turned 18 in march of 08 he confirmed the deal was still good so I saw no reason to put this on paper [bad move] or the fact that since the money used to pay his cell bill and auto parts and auto insurance was all on a credit card at 14% interest. He had stated he would pay that too.

The car a 1993 taurus had to be in my name to be insured at the cheapest possible cost.

One month before he left for the army the car broke down so he used our van as I was not gonna fix it again.

He now freely admits he borrowed money from me but says that since he did not keep pocession of the car his debt is paid in full.

His captain has stated since I have nothing in writing except an admission of the debt to the captain and a facebook statement transcript that he and his wife would start paying against the 3400 total debt in aug 09. [they stated that in may of 09 but are now divorcing].That the army can not order him to repay the debt.

He also borrow 400 bucks more in dec 08 to pay for a airline ticket 249 a cash gift for his mom 100 and 50 directly withdrawn from my account to open his USAA checking account.

I live in minn he was stationed in alabama and he deployed to the middle east in sept 09 from Ft Lewis in washington State. he now states that by not buying the ford taurus from me the entire debt is settled. He was to pay for the repairs to make it a safe running car for him to use. I had stated he could have the car when he payed back all the money borrowed if he wanted it.

He got married in Washington state and is getting divorced there.

All I have is his social security number. I dont know his Drivers license number, or if he changed his residence state.

SINCE I have his admission of borrowing the money and its past aug 09. Can I legally report the debt on both his and his wife's credit as an insufficient unsatisfied debt. As the debt is now 90 days overdue.

Do I have to have him sued in washington state or here in minn.

Please treat this as a hypothetical answer on the lawsuit as If I was a resident of your state if necessary.

thank you for your time sir

How do I serve him since he is overseas

Answer
Dear Chuck:

You are not going to like my answers. This goes under the case of "no good deed goes unpunished." You have a lot of obstacles to get your money back.

* It's a little complicated to follow your timeline, but let me start by saying you cannot enter into a contract with a minor - either verbal or written. You also cannot "back-date" a contract meaning anything that happened when he was a minor, you cannot get him to admit it as an adult and make it hold. The only claim you have is for anything he AGREED to as an adult and you GAVE him as an adult. If I understand the timing in your question, this eliminates most of the car and insurance issues.

* You may not be able to collect the insurance in any case. A lot of people do it, but in essence you committed insurance fraud by putting the insurance in your name to get cheaper rates when you knew he would be the primary driver. A court will often not enforce what they deem - fairly or unfairly - insurance fraud.

* Private citizens cannot report to the credit bureaus. You have to be a client of the credit bureau that extends credit that is open to the public. Even in a hypothetical world where you could do so, setting yourself up to report this on his credit reports would cost a significant amount of money.

* From what you wrote, I see no contractual agreement with his wife. So no credit reporting or lawsuit against her unless you had a specific verbal or written contract with her.

* The military or any other company will not garnish his wages unless you have a court-ordered judgement against him.

* If you are going to sue him, you really have to do it in his state or residency. I guess technically you could try and sue him in Minnesota. However, the cost for a Minnesota process server to serve him out of state is prohibitive and he can dismiss the Minnesota suit with simple proof he does not live in that state. You would then be out that money without even a court date.

* Serving him overseas is typically not an option for the same reasons. It's expensive and he can get out of it very easily. I'm not even sure you CAN serve him overseas, but I KNOW no court in the land will expect him to come back. So he can have it dismissed even if you could serve him.

I know that does not leave you many options. Looks like he may owe you - legally - the $400, $249, $100, and $50 as those amounts you claim he entered into and was given when he was an adult. What you want to do is be patient. Maybe try and get him to admit those debts in e-mails. That would help your case a lot. Even getting him to say he "borrowed" money from you in an e-mail is powerful - better than what you have now.

Collecting on it will have to wait until he is back in the country - at best. You will likely have to sue in Washington.

I wish I had better news for you. Sounds like you were wonderful to him to help him get his life together. Take solace in that good deed. Eventually, he may turn around.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.

Regan
mbscompany@aim.com

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