In jail for being in debt

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pahunkboy -> In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 7:22:16 PM)
http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print_This_Story?sid=95692619 One afternoon last spring, Deborah Poplawski, 38, of Minneapolis was digging in her purse for coins to feed a downtown parking meter when she saw the flashing lights of a Minneapolis police squad car behind her. Poplawski, a restaurant cook, assumed she had parked illegally. Instead, she was headed to jail over a $250 credit card debt. Less than a month earlier, she learned by chance from an employment counselor that she had an outstanding warrant. Debt Equities, a Golden Valley debt buyer, had sued her, but she says nobody served her with court documents. Thanks to interest and fees, Poplawski was now on the hook for $1,138. Though she knew of the warrant and unpaid debt, "I wasn't equating the warrant with going to jail, because there wasn't criminal activity associated with it," she said. "I just thought it was a civil thing." She spent nearly 25 hours at the Hennepin County jail

ThatDamnedPanda -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 7:28:25 PM)
Read the article. The headline is bullshit. They don't put people in jail for being in debt, they put them in jail for ignoring judgments. It's still a shitty practice, but it's not as sensational as the headline would have you believe.

laurell3 -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 7:31:32 PM)
They aren't arrested for having a debt. They are arrested for not following the compulsory system to disclose information to their creditors. If the court says you have to show up, you have to.

pahunkboy -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 7:36:24 PM)
Why is debt a criminal matter?

laurell3 -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 7:38:22 PM)
Failing to obey any order of the court is always a criminal matter, regardless of the nature of the original suit.

Level -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 7:42:48 PM)
And, as the article states, it varies place to place. They don't show up down here, a default is granted, no jail. And they can't garnish your wages here, either.

ThatDamnedPanda -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 7:47:16 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: pahunkboy Why is debt a criminal matter? It's not. Failure to pay your bills is a civil matter. But if you don't pay, your creditors can sue you, and then if you ignore the court it becomes a criminal matter. Still a pretty odious law, which I half expect to see changed, but even so it's not as medieval as that sensational headline would have you believe. They sold a hell of a lot of papers with that one this past Sunday.

pahunkboy -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 7:47:41 PM)
--- so then it is ok? put people in jail over credit card bad debts? That is ok with you?

servantforuse -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 7:50:40 PM)
When she found out, by chance, that she had an outstanding warrant, she should have gone to the court house and had it taken care of. The police have no choice but to arrest her. Boo Hoo.

pahunkboy -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 7:53:07 PM)
Why should police be in charge of credit card collections? Why?

laurell3 -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 7:57:15 PM)
Level I would guess you have some sort of debtor's examination or compulsory disclosure of your assets, accounts, jobs etc. That's what people get arrested for, not giving that information and failing to follow the Court's order. Here it's an actual hearing that you are sworn in for, so if you lie, it's perjury (assuming they can prove that by two independent sources and the intent), in other states nearby it's just a form you have to fill out and return within a certain timeperiod. PA, the police aren't collecting, they are executing the warrant issued by the judge.

rulemylife -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 7:58:55 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: servantforuse When she found out, by chance, that she had an outstanding warrant, she should have gone to the court house and had it taken care of. The police have no choice but to arrest her. Boo Hoo. I really hate having to agree with you Servant, but you are right. Regardless of whether anyone agrees or disagrees with the circumstances, she had an outstanding warrant she was aware of and failed to take action to clear it up.

pahunkboy -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 8:01:57 PM)
"The law enforcement system has unwittingly become a tool of the debt collectors," said Michael Kinkley, an attorney in Spokane, Wash., who has represented arrested debtors. "The debt collectors are abusing the system and intimidating people, and law enforcement is going along with it."

ThatDamnedPanda -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 8:02:07 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: pahunkboy --- so then it is ok? put people in jail over credit card bad debts? That is ok with you? Depends on who we're talking about. If it's you, no - it's not OK. If it's Servant, hell yeah - he's a Packer fan, for christ's sake. Oh. Wait a minute. So am I. OK, screw it. I'm changing my answer. No, I'm against it.

FirmhandKY -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 8:08:12 PM)
I once had a credit card company attempt to sue me for $8k. They sent me a letter. Failure to acknowledge and contest generally is taken as a legal acceptance of the responsiblity. It wasn't my debt, and I wrote back to them telling them so, and asked them to provide proof that I owed the money (which they are required by law to do). They never responded, and months later I got a summons to court. Since I suspected them of being somewhat unethical anyway, I had had my lawyer actually send the original request for information, and handed the summons over to him. He calmly explained the law to the company, and forwarded a copy to the court. It all went away. However, at any point, if I had not correctly responded, and kept records, and just ignored the letter and the summons, I'd likely have a valid legal judgment against me. If you have a debt, or even if the debt isn't yours, and ignore the law, you will get into trouble. Firm

marie2 -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 8:14:45 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: pahunkboy http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print_This_Story?sid=95692619 One afternoon last spring, Deborah Poplawski, 38, of Minneapolis was digging in her purse for coins to feed a downtown parking meter when she saw the flashing lights of a Minneapolis police squad car behind her. Poplawski, a restaurant cook, assumed she had parked illegally. Instead, she was headed to jail over a $250 credit card debt. Less than a month earlier, she learned by chance from an employment counselor that she had an outstanding warrant. Debt Equities, a Golden Valley debt buyer, had sued her, but she says nobody served her with court documents. Thanks to interest and fees, Poplawski was now on the hook for $1,138. Though she knew of the warrant and unpaid debt, "I wasn't equating the warrant with going to jail, because there wasn't criminal activity associated with it," she said. "I just thought it was a civil thing." She spent nearly 25 hours at the Hennepin County jail If you don't show up for a court date (regardless of what the issue is and whether it's civil or criminal) they put out a warrant for your arrest...it's called a "bench warrant", I believe. The cops can pick you up at work, at home, or wherever/whenever they find you. She didn't go to jail for 25 hrs because she owes debt, she went to jail because she blew off the court date. At any rate....whether she actually did receive the court documents or not, she still knew she had an outstanding debt that she wasn't paying off, so there should be no surprise that the balance owed would be growing interest while she continued to skip payments. And the 'fees' are added on because the county collection person, has to chase you down and do a bunch of leg work to pursue the money...ie....siezing bank accounts and things of that nature. lmaoo....she owes $1,138.00 in credit card debt. What I wouldn't give....

pahunkboy -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 8:15:24 PM)
Taxpayers foot the bill for arresting and jailing debtors. In many cases, Minnesota judges set bail at the amount owed. In Minnesota, judges have issued arrest warrants for people who owe as little as $85 -- less than half the cost of housing an inmate overnight. Debtors targeted for arrest owed a median of $3,512 in 2009, up from $2,201 five years ago. Those jailed for debts may be the least able to pay.

pahunkboy -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 8:17:54 PM)
The collection machine The laws allowing for the arrest of someone for an unpaid debt are not new. What is new is the rise of well-funded, aggressive and centralized collection firms, in many cases run by attorneys, that buy up unpaid debt and use the courts to collect.

laurell3 -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 8:19:55 PM)
That's called journalism PA. Read the content, not the conclusionary opinions.

pahunkboy -> RE: In jail for being in debt (6/9/2010 8:23:07 PM)
are all your bills current? ALL of them?

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