Debtors Exam?? What can they take from us?

All of our personal property is in a storage facility that we can't even get into because we are so far behind in payments. We are barely paying the fee to keep it from going to auction. Everything we own is in there and probably worth less than $3500.

Our vehicle was repossessed and we are living with my parents. I'm ashamed to say we are collecting government assistance. we have NEVER been in this position before. My husband has been unemployed for over a year which is why we were evicted and sued by our last landlord. They sued us for $10,000 and won the judgement.

My husband is due to start a new job very soon and has also qualified for the fast track RN program. He will be able to complete the program in 50 weeks. He has qualified for assistance for school as well.

We were served today with papers calling for a debtors exam. The landlord thinks we hiding assets. Almost all of the information they say we must bring to court is in our storage so we can't even get it. We have NOTHING but our items in storage.

While we hate to try and live on a limited income and barely scrape by for the next 50 weeks, we also can't imagine an opportunity like this again...school I mean. RN's make good money and there is always a demand for male nurses. In a year or so we could finally be back on our feet.

We just don't know what to do especially with this latest court filing.

Can they take EVERYTHING we have in storage? Wouldn't the storage facility have the first right to that property?? Can they just wait until my husband starts his job and then garnish his wages? He has a college degree and is about to start a job that pays just over minimum wage because there is no work for him. If they garnish his wages, he will make near nothing.

Sorry this is so long. I just don't know what happens after a debtors exam or what to expect. Should we tell the judge we plan to file bankruptcy because we see no other way or just keep that to ourselves?? We will not have an attorney when we go to court. If we could afford one we would have already filed bankruptcy.

1 - How did the landlord get you for 10000? Did you just not show up?

2 - Telling the judge you PLAN to file bankruptcy will fall on deaf ears. Everybody says that. Actually filing bankruptcy and submitting a copy to the court will effectively get rid of the lawsuit and the bankruptcy will discharge the debt to the landlord. A bankruptcy will also get rid of any possibility of wage garnishment.

3 - OH has some exemptions from judgment. See this link for a summary:

http://www.toolkit.cch.com/pops/P98_12_assettables_OH.asp

The link is usually reliable but is just a summary. You can find the OH exemption statute at:

http://www.findlaw.com/11stategov/oh/laws.html

I'd suggest you consult a bankruptcy attorney right now. Until you do that your lives will slide deeper and deeper into the hole. Maybe your parents can help you out with the fees.

TO answer your questions, the exam will just identify assets. Answer the questions honestly. When all you have is some personal property, I would not expect the creditor to do anything. At this time for $10,000, I would wait for your husband to get a job and work out a payment plan then. $10,000 is not enough to damage your credit in the long term by filing. Finally, the storage place has a "warehouseman's lien" for its fees, which have priority at any auction.