A question for the legal types...

Factual Questions
1

I am not asking for legal advice, just for a clue about what a letter that was sent to me might mean, and if I should get a lawyer.

Very briefly, the house we live in is in an incorporated city that about 10 years ago the health department ordered all houses not then on the city sewer system to hook up to the city sewer system. We were currently using a septic system, so our house fell under the new ruling.

The city sewer company divided the cost of the project among the houses that were to hook up, our cost was $23,000. We chose to pay the whole amount at the time. Others chose to pay the amount in increments on each month’s water bill for the next 30 years.

Now, 8 years later, I receive a notice from the country clerk’s office, naming my husband and me as defendants in a case concerning $23,000, with the city government as the plaintiff. We also received another notice naming my husband and me as defendants and the city sewer company as plaintiff in a case concering $23,000.

The only clue to what this is about are the four sentences on the letter. But not speaking legalese, I don’t know what the four sentences mean. Here is it, word for word, leaving out the specifics of the city I am in.

“The receiver of the MY COUNTY Circuit Court reports that there is being held by the Receiver at A CITY BUILDING DOWNTOWN, in the sum of $23,000, plus accrued interest, on account in the above-numbered and styled action since October 1, 1998, with no action thereto within the past five years. There is a pending motion by MY CITY for the funds. However, there is a pending order that the amount is payable to SEWER COMPANY.

If satisfactory proof of claim is not presented by October 30, 2006, the funds will be turned over to MY STATE, Department of the Treasury.

A hearing is set for DATE NEXT MONTH.”

In one letter it is the city government vs. my husband ET AL. The other letter it is the city sewer company vs. my husband ET AL.

My very shaky interpretation of this is that the sewer company and city government each think that the $23,000 that we paid belongs to them, and they are taking this to court to argue who the money should go to.

There is no place on the letter that says I need to be there, or even tells me where the hearing will be held, just the time and date of the meeting.

Do I need to be there? I am guessing I should, because I am named as a defendant. I think I am the ET AL mentioned, as my name is on the deed to the house with my husband, and my name would be on any other paperwork his name would be on.

But there isn’t any reason I should bring a lawyer is there? It seems to me our paying the $23,000 is not in dispute, someone there has the money, they mention it has acrued interest. I don’t have any of the paperwork from that time, I knew I would be sent a bill for the project, and I paid it. I really don’t remember who I wrote the check to, but it would have been whoever the bill listed as who it should be made out to.

I am guessing if I was really somehow involved, the letter would make it clear I had to be there, but I really didn’t understand any of what the letter said. I really don’t know why my husband and I are listed as the defendants in this case.

Does anyone understand what those four sentences mean? Should I be worried, or is this just a notice of something going on that doesn’t involve me anymore, but we are listed as defendants anyway?

Any incite would be appreciated. As it is, I plan on attending the hearing, but not bringing anything or a lawyer. I am just wondering if anyone who knows more about this stuff thinks that would be a mistake.

Thanks

2

Always, always, always consult an attorney when legal issues arise. Always. Did I mention you should give a lawyer a call when legal issues come up? It is never a mistake to talk to contact an attorney. Never. Call your state bar for a referral. It can be a mistake to simply hope for the best and not call one. If it is a ridiculous matter, hopefully the attorney will tell you right off the bat, no charge. Better safe than sorry.

3

IANAL.

Have you called the city to ask them about it?

4

I haven’t called the city yet, just got the letter late this afternoon. From our dealing with the city and sewer company 10 years ago, it is beyond my imagination that I might call there and ask for the Master Commissioner ( the one who signed the letter) and he would take my call, much less give me any information.

I will test it out tomorrow, but I am pretty sure I will only be able to reach a clerk, who I will only be able to give the case number to. From there I am not optimistic they would tell me anything other than, “You have to go to the hearing to find out what it is about.”

What I was hoping for from here, is that someone would say it is common for the homeowners to be named defendants even when they have nothing to do with the case.

Or that since I didn’t have to sign for the letter, it must mean I am not really part of the lawsuit.

I will try their office tomorrow, and will rethink the lawyer part, Operation Ripper. I guess this just brings back the nightmare of what we went through 10 years ago when they cut down 48 trees, several over 100 years old, on our 2 and a half acres and blasted bedrock so close to the house our foundation cracked and water pipes broke flooding our home.

My stomach is in knots just thinking of having to deal with any of those people again. I guess I better just get-over-it, and try to think of this as a separate issue as if I am starting from scratch with them.

But if this goes anything like last time, look for me in The Pit, with a “I fought the law and the law won,” rant.

Thanks for the replies.

5

Am I the only one who thinks ordering you to connect to the city sewer system and then charging you $23,000 to do so is ridiculous?

I’m not a homeowner, though. Perhaps that’s normal…

6

I know this:

The first sentence in the letter from the portion you quoted doesn’t even make grammatical sense.

Other than that, I got nothin’.

If the question ever comes up as to whether or not you paid that bill, surely your bank will have a record. Or is that too far back in time?

-FrL-

7

No lawyer me, but:

I think your interpretation is correct.

I also think you are listed as a defendant (is that the right term for a civil case?) because, since no one’s claimed the money, it’s still yours! Since it’s still your money, you’re still the one they have to sue to get it.

As to whether you have to go or not, I’d say unless you’ve made absolutely sure you don’t have to go, then you should go. Who knows: maybe if you’re not there to stop the madness, the court will decide you owe them both the money. Yikes!

No, I doubt that will happen. But still…

-FrL-

8

I don’t think that’s in question. The letter basically says the city is holding the $23,000 dollars which they (Grits and co.) have paid, and that the sewer company is suing to get that $23k from the city.

I don’t understand at all why Grits would be mentioned as a defendant. Perhaps since the funds are being held and were never actually deposited into the city treasury they’re still technically yours?

9

That’s what I said! :dubious: :stuck_out_tongue:

-FrL-

10

Not a lawyer either, but paranoid and with too damn much experience with them lately.

A) If you’re named as a defendent consult a lawyer PDQ.

B) You have an elected official representing you. City Councilman, Mayor, whatever. Give them a call and ask them to have their staff figure out what’s going on.

11

Frylock is right, the sentence doesn’t make grammatical sense. I suspect either the OP or the letter itself contains a typo in this sentence:

“The receiver of the MY COUNTY Circuit Court reports that there is being held by the Receiver at A CITY BUILDING DOWNTOWN, in the sum of $23,000, plus accrued interest, **on account ** in the above-numbered and styled action since October 1, 1998, with no action thereto within the past five years. "

I think it should read “*an * account”. The OP’s $23k has been sitting in an account since 10/1/98, and nobody knows to whom it belongs.

Get a lawyer.

12
  1. No, it’s “on account”.
  2. See a lawyer. I know that, deep down, you want someone here to tell you that this is nothing to worry about, it’s all routine, and you don’t need to look into
    it further. No one here can do that. (No one qualified, that is. We unfortunately
    have a lot of people in GQ who post wild-ass guesses as fact.)

IAAL, who knows something about the different ways that municipalities finance sewer improvements, and I couldn’t do that here. At a minimum, I’d need to see
the documents.

13

Ditto what RANDOM said. The first sentence doesn’t strictly make sense, but does if you remove the “in”, so it reads “the amount of” instead of “in the amount of.” I think you’ve read it correctly: The receiver reports that s/he has 23K plus interest, and no action has be taken about it in the last five years. The receiver doesn’t want it; if no one claims it, it will be sent to the state treasury. In figuring out who should really get it, there’s both a motion pending by one party that says “you should give the money to us” and an order that says “no, you shoud give the money to us.”

However, you are are named as a defendant because you paid the money originally. If there is some issue as to who it belongs to, there is at least the theoretical possibility that it should go back to you. (Highly unlikely, but still.)

You should have a lawyer look at the papers you received. No one here on the Board will be able to advise you about what they say or what the effect is on you under the law of your state. If you are correct and this is basically a fight over who gets the money, and you really don’t care, it should not cost you must to have a lawyer quickly review the docs and reach the same conclusion. (And by “not much” I mean a couple hundred dollars, unless you know a lawyer who might be willing to do it for free.)

Seeing a lawyer is for your own protection, since you are named in the proceeding. It also may be in your best interest. If there is some dispute as to the necessary amount of the assessment, for example, you might be entitled to a little money back. Probably not, but you never know.

14

As to this part of your query…yeah I think it is. I was nosing around our county court records and looked up my dad. Lo and behold he’s been named in 2 lawsuits - along with everyone else in the neighborhood. Suits were the city vs the housing development. I asked him about them and he said he never did anything about it and he’s not even sure he got a notice.

That being said…$23,000 is a lot of money and you are somehow involved. I’m not sure that you need to go as far as hiring a lawyer but consulting a lawyer to help with the legalese wouldn’t be a bad idea. People here are always helping other people find free lawyer outlets, like law schools and stuff.

If anything, call the county. I had a little run-in with court papers not too long ago and I talked to three people at the county offices over email and the phone, and they were incredibly helpful. And sympathetic. If you call and are nice to them there’s no reason they won’t try to help you out.

My guess is that you wrote the check to the wrong entity, and also the entities involved were blindsided by someone paying off upfront (or even early, like you said you did) and a whole bunch of red tape blew up in their faces and they’re just getting around to straightening it out.

15

Yeah, you definitely want a lawyer licensed in your area to advise you on this letter. It’s not at all clear to me what exactly is going on here. All the talk about receiverships and proof of claim suggests that there is some confusion about what this money is doing there. Kinda doubt you’d be getting some or all of it back, but at the very least you’d want to make sure that you get proper credit for the payment. If there’s a contractor that did not get paid, there may be a lien that needs to be cleared…

16

And because you are named as a defendant, there is always the chance, however unlikely, that your failure to appear might mean a default judgement gets accidentally entered against you, which would truly suck. So, see a lawyer, see a lawyer, see a lawyer.

If I got this letter, you know what I would do? See a lawyer. And I am a lawyer. But it’s not my area of expertise, and I’d be a fool to try to wade through it on my own.

17

Thanks again for your replies. The strange sentence in question was not a typo on my part, which is part of my confusion. It just doesn’t make sense as it is.

I have called the office that sent the letter, and I am still waiting for a return call. It being Friday, I may not get one. But I do feel better now going through the weekend feeling this might not be something that will end up causing me a lot of trouble.

We will contact our lawyer friend, and take him out to dinner, which is what we usually do when we need lawyer advice. We don’t want to abuse our relationship with him, so we only do that when we really feel it necessary. And I didn’t want to do that if it looked like this would be a complicated mess that would require much of his time. But at this point, it looks like we should consult a lawyer just in case, and if we are going to have to spend a couple of hundred dollars, might as well be on taking him and his girl out to dinner.

And I knew asking here would produce some ideas I hadn’t considered. Our little incorporated city does have its own city council, and the elected members love to help city residents out with this kind of thing. I hadn’t thought of that, but feel better knowing I will call them next if the county clerk’s office doesn’t call me back. Thanks for that suggestion!

I had asked a few neighbors if they got the same notice, none did, but no one else paid the full amount at one time. I think that might be why our money has been in limbo. They weren’t expecting anyone to do that, there was no account set-up for it, so it has been held by someone else. I hadn’t considered that before, but it may be part of it.

I do worry I will be expected to provide paperwork concerning our payment. It was all ruined when they blasted too close to our home and cracked our foundation and broke our water pipes. We did get a lawyer then, to try to get them to pay us for the damage they caused, but we lost. So our connecting to the sewer system cost us not $23,000 but another $40,000 in repair work as well.

We also got a lawyer when they showed us the plans for the sewer. In order for the rest of our neighbors to hook up in a straight easy line, our house was going to be surrounded by sewer lines on all four sides. Over half of our two acres had to be given to the city as permanent easements. Anything we planted, any trees we replaced would be on city easement, and could be taken down by them and not replaced. We hired several other contractors to draw up plans showing how the sewer lines could be placed farther away from the house, and not make the project more expensive. We desperately wanted to save the big trees that surrounded us. The reason we bought the house was because we wanted to be surrounded by trees. We lost that case, and all our beautiful trees as well.

So thank you for your logical, unemotional responses. I have a hard time thinking straight about all this.

I will let you know when/if they call me back, and if the city council is able to help if I can’t get answers on my own.

And needing to find some good out of all this, I will focus on the nice dinner we will have next week with our lawyer friend.

18

I just thought someone should chip in to point out that the sewage company may also know something. Call a lawyer first of course and make sure you do get in contact with the government. But if the sewage company can say something interesting today and the government won’t till next week, might as well see what they have to say.