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Expert: Regan Shinski - 10/20/2010


Question
Hi -

I owed back condo fees and the Condo Association's collections attorney took me to court and obtained a judgement that included a payment plan which I have followed faithfully.

This past year the condo association hired a new collection's attorney and I was told to start sending my payments, along with my monthly condo fee to him, which again I have been doing faithfully. I recently contacted the new attorney for my balance (with the hope of being able to pay it off since I had been making my payments for several years now) only to find out that he has not been honoring the court agreement. The court agreement was for $7,000, and after making several years of payments, he claims that my current balance is over $8,700!

Can he completely ignore the original court ruling on the debt and just go and do his own thing? Please help!  

Answer
Hi Betsy:

I am not going to be able to answer your question with 100% certainty without seeing the original documents.  I also am not sure I fully understand if the original agreement was court ordered/approved or just a side settlement.

What I CAN tell you is this is likely a basic contracts case.  Did you have a meeting of the minds, hence a CONTRACT?  If you did and you did not breach that contract, the new attorney cannot arbitrarily change it.

So it really depends on that agreement.  It should specify the amount owed, payments, how those payments will be applied, and any interest, fees or other possible additions to the balance.  I would especially look at the starting balance or clauses for additional interest, court fees, or attorney fees.

Obviously, you should check to make sure all payments have been properly applied.  Since you are adding the current association fees, make sure you did not have some increase or assessment that caused the balance to balloon up.

If you are able to review any paperwork and have questions on it, please feel free to contact me again.

Regan

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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

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