I just received a notice in the mail about an old credit card bill. The original matter involved a credit card that I took out for a $200 limit back in 2000 or so. Well, I used the card and had almost paid it off when my marriage at that time took a turn for the absolute worse. My marriage had become incredibly abusive and at that time I focused all my time in initiating a divorce and in reassessing where my life was to go. So, I let all of the other bills be put on the side while I focused every penny on attaining that divorce. The matter went into a heated custody battle and I needed all of my focus on bringing enough money in for the support of my daughters. I have always been the main provider for them and had never been able to rely on child support. I held down my employment and every penny went into supporting my children on my own with very little help from any other source. I could not afford at that time to pay anything but the mortgage, car payment and utility bills. Which I did. However, in putting that credit card on the side the interest built up very dramatically in the interim to the point it grew way out of control. I had tried on many occasions to work with them, but they never would accept an amount that I could afford to pay. I even paid them on serval occasions anything that I could afford in good faith-but it never even touched the balance since they always made the interest rediculous.
The years went by and I endured my abusive marriage by no choice since if I were to get a divorce in Massachusetts my husband at that time would have gotten half of everything. It is scary since he never paid one bill and I fought desperately to give my children a decent life on my own. I worked hard for everything I had and always did. I fought hard for the custody of my children which out of spite my husband at that time wanted to take away from me along with the house he never paid one dime for. And all this while he owed me many thousands of dollars in unpaid childsupport from the many times of separation. I was scared and did not have the income to afford an attorney to represent my matter based on every penny going into raising my children on my own. This matter was put on the side despite my many attempts in contacting them in hopes of working out a payment plan that I could afford to make matters right again. They denyied any reasonable payment plan that I offered. All this while I was raising my daughters on my own. I even had to take my husband at that time, despite the horrible abuse I endured, back into my house since I was scared of losing everything I worked so hard for. He was emotionally, mentally and physically abusive, but I had no choice. I was not impressed with the legal system in his even having a chance of gaining custody despite his abuse and major amounts of child support owed. After that fiasco, I never took out a credit card again and paid everything by debit and what I actually had in the bank. This matter was forgotten since I had to focus all of my energy on survival. At that time I was living in Norton and my mortgage had been fixed. However, it soon turned into variable and I had to fight to pay the raising mortgage cost on my own so I would not lose the house I worked so hard for. I had decided that the best move was to sell my house and to move out of state where I could purchase one outright. I found my present house in Maine. I was able to puchase it outright from all of the equity I had gained from my house in Attleboro and then Norton. I took my husband back into the house because I needed him to get us up to Maine where I now live. I took a huge risk and knew the physical danger I was in by doing this. I wanted desperately to find a home and a job in this new state to be able to make things right and to pay off all of my debts. I only had that one credit card debt-that would not rest or work with me. But, I had every intention of making the matter right. We moved up to Maine in 2003. It only took 6 months for the abuse to escalate and for him to reach the point of almost killing me. This occurred in 2003 in December. One night he came after me while extremely drunk after hanging out with the neighbor across the street. He woke me up from sound sleep to beat me. If my daughter had not walked down stairs I would have been dead for I was found curled up in a ball while he was punching me in the head. He called the police and tried to blame it on me, but the police up here in Maine saw the truth of the matter and arrested him on the spot. He left bruises which I had pictures taken at the hospital of and I was able to use that as evidence in this state to finally divorce him. In Maine they recognize pre-marital property (they do not in Massachusetts). They also recognized that I was the one who paid all of the bills and the property that was in my name was paid for by myself and not he. Thus, they granted it all to me. I had oodles of paperwork showing my payments on everything and his lack thereof. To this day, I am still owned over $20,000 in back due child support from both of my ex-husbands. I am currently married to a wonderful husband and he is truly good to me and very supportive. I am working part time at an insurance agency. I was hired initially to work eventually full time, though that never happened. I had started a fiber farm here and had hoped that that would gain extra money for the household to make up for the lack of child support over the years. Alas, that never panned out. I never made enough money to cover the expenses of the livestock and had recently had to sell them. I only got $500 since they were older sheep. That money I gained from their sale I am using for Christmas money for my girls and step kids. Since my current emploment never honored my insurance license and turned my job into a mainly clerical one-I had let that license laspe due to lack of encouragement. I lost hope. I have an extensive resume for insurance and paralegal skills, though have always been over qualified for any other employment I sought over the years in this state of Maine. There are no decent jobs to be had and then the economy fell for the worse. I have also published three novels. I have spent years working on since they are historical fiction and hoped that even that would earn enough money to help pay for things. I have brought my household budget down to levels of incredible scarcity, so much so that it is quite impressive. I live totally and completely within my financial means-which most people cannot say at all about themselves. I only purchase what I can pay for in cash and have not had a credit card since the early 2000. I have done everything in my power to raise my children and have known incredible hours of work with no break from; working down in Lewiston, to the commute itself, the taking care of my two youngest daughters who are special needs, to the farm, to working on wool from my sheep, to working on my novels, to even working on the garden to put food on the table. I received this notice in the mail that this attorney, who has never worked with me, wants a writ of execution to order the seizure of my property to pay off this credit card bill. The initial balance was paid off back before 2003 and all there is is the exhorbitant interest. The order was dated 2008. The original paperwork for this matter has long been lost for it occurred so many years ago. I have been to court on this matter several times. Can she take away my car or house for $1509.00? After all I have done over the years to make this right and the incredibly high interest rate they illicitly charged? The interest was so high that any amount I paid them would not even cover the interest and therefore the balance (of the interest) was never touched. I do not know what to do and I certainly cannot afford an attorney. For currenlty I am trying to gain my licenses back and need $109.00 to retake the exam so I can get appointed to this company to earn more money. I also need to buy my girls winter boots and jackets-not to mention all of my household bills etc.... I am trying so hard with everything I do and am scared about this. How can the court grant this writ when I am owed more than $20,000 in child support?????? It does not seem fair that I have always been the one to pay my bills and to try to make them right with every cell of my body and they (my exget away with owing many thousands more????? Please, does anyone have any ideas on this? I just does not seem right. I know my story is one of many others out there. But, if someone is reading of this and has any ideas on what I should do about this-please let me know. |