Of Slumlords, Greaseballs, Lackeys and Lawyers

I called my parents as soon as we got home. I was finally excited at the possiblilty of owning a new vehicle, one I had picked out, something I had always wanted to have.

I got the E-mail Monday morning:


Hello,

Your loan has been placed on hold. Please show proof that your civil judgment is paid and then your loan will be re-submitted to the loan officer.


Thank you,


Thank you? Are you kidding, Thank you?

How can I give them something I don't have? I did the only thing I could do, I E-mailed my lawyer. Yes, I actually have a lawyer for this particular credit problem.

I had to get a lawyer, the landlord served me with eviction papers. Things went like this: In September '03 I sent a letter to my landlord asking what he had on his records for the total arrears I owed. I wanted to make sure we were on the same page. I never got a response from him. I sent another letter in February '04. I finally got a response in April '04. I had a meeting with them and the number they had was almost $6,000 more than my record. "Well, you have to figure in the 18% interest" the slick landlord smirked. I almost shit a twinkie. When did they start charging me interest? I was never told they were going to start charging interest. That's why I paid off the high interest credit cards first! I kept my mouth shut. I didn't want to blurt out or agree to anything without thinking about it first. Plus, I think I was in shock. You also should know I had not missed a rent payment in over two years.

The Greaseball (I really started hating this man at this point) and his lackey manager had a great idea to help me out. They would knock a couple grand off the total and I could refinance! They gave me the name and number of a broker that could help me out. How kind of them. I agreed to pay double rent in the meantime. I needed to make some home repairs and clean up my credit report before I could apply for refinancing. I set up automatic payments with the bank and got busy on the rest.

Come October I had still not applied for refinancing. I just wasn't comfortable with it. There was no way I would get it with the judgment on my report anyway. I had gotten a two E-mails from the manager throughout the summer - checking on my progress. Jeez - They couldn't be bothered to respond when I contacted them, but the opportunity to grab a large lump sum of change lit a fire under their asses. I wasn't worried, I hadn't missed a rent payment in 30 months, plus I'd paid $2k more in 5 months towards the arrears. That should keep them quiet for a bit, or so I thought.

A couple weeks later I received an eviction notice - come up with the full amount (which was now $2000 more than the original amount, despite what I had paid!) within 30 days or go to court an face eviction. I hit rock bottom at that point and sought out Mom & Dad's help. Mom gave me the money to retain a lawyer.

The lawyer contacted Mr. Greaseball. Mr Greaseball wasn't too happy, he thought he had an easy mark, he thought he had me over a barrel and I would give in without a fight.

He thought wrong.

I was sent their payment records to compare with my own. I had set up a spreadsheet with dates, amounts and check numbers so it only took an hour to reconcile that the payments matched. My record was sent off to Mr. Greaseball for him to do the same.........3 months later my lawyer had to re-contact him, because he never responded. "I got busy with other problems" was his only justification of inattentiveness. Hmmm.......I thought this was important enough to try and have me evicted over? He was going to fax out another record for me to compare to my own. "But we already did that" Was my response to my lawyer. He understood my feelings and assured me all was in control. I was making regular payments, it had gotten to a point where they would have to refile if they wanted me evicted, and he totally questioned the legality of their interest charges. They would have a hard time explaining their actions in court. He recommended I just continue making payments as I was. So I did.

Cut to June '05 and my E-mail to the lawyer. He contacted my credit union and sent them a copy of the judgment (which, by the way is $20,000 lower than what was on my credit report). He also told them how much I had already paid and what my current balance was (about $2500). I would have to show them my records of payment and something from the autopay department showing proof of payments. I E-mailed the credit union contact letting her know that I had everything. She told me to hold onto it until I heard back from her - the loan officer was reviewing what the lawyer had sent them.

I didn't know if that was good or bad.