Never mind a leg. You need to be concerned about an entire statue (of limitations). (Okay, a sculpture of limitations).
I have nothing to add. You got good advice upthread.
Posted on 03/11/2019 3:00:23 PM PDT by terart
Hi all, I have been going through papers of my parents (they are 80). I found a contract that had been arbitrated where $60,000 was supposed to be paid to my parents over a period of 15 years starting in November 2003 and to be paid in full by November 2018. My parents are VERY non-confrontational and the monthly payments were only paid for maybe a year or two and then they stopped. Hard to explain the setup but a company arbitrated the agreement and they were to pay the check to my parents from profit money they would have paid monthly to the people who owed. If there was not enough profit then the people who owed would pay the difference. The company charged my parents $50/month to oversee and cut the check.
My question is do we have any rights at all to take this to court at this point? Even a lien against the property of the people who owed them would be something but because of the timeframe we didn't know if we even had a leg to stand on. Of course we will get a lawyer but wanted to know if the timeframes negate doing it. Thanks so much!!
No lawyer could give you competent advice without knowing a lot more information (to start with, what state you live in; the statute of limitations is different from state to state).
Get a lawyer, and do it quickly, since the passage of time is obviously an issue here.
state is Pennsylvania and I understand about getting a lawyer...just found the papers and figured someone would at least have an idea if it was even able to be pursued.
You need to talk to a lawyer qualified to practice contract litigation in the state where your parents lived. You also need to get your facts straight. According to your timeline the debt should be paid in full by now. You haven’t alleged otherwise. You are probably going to need 15 years of financial records, as well. Did you ever discuss this with your non-confrontational parents who apparently went after the debtor a decade and a half ago?
And, perhaps most importantly, are your parents dead or alive? If they are alive, have you had them declared incompetent and yourself appointed guardian by the court? If dead, are you the executor of the estate? All information the lawyer would likely need to know.
I don’t know the answer but I have observed that many companies and individuals violate the law because no one holds their feet to the fire.
Most contracts have a “Governing Law” clause, seek a lawyer in that state. Most states have a “Statute of Limitations” which partly took over from the common law principle of ‘Laches”. Talk to a lawyer and try to figure out the economics of pursuing an action.
I can only go by your description of the situation, which is a potentially fatal defect in my take.
If a schedule of payments was created by arbitration, (which means “binding” arbitration), then stopping those payments would generally and generically be be regarded as a default. But the payees (your folks) may have forfeited their right to collect based upon their failure to assert said default in a timely fashion. The contract should have defined what might constitute a default and what steps your folks ought to have taken; but nobody can say which way those things are without reading the contract.
I searched for “statute of limitations debt pennsylvania” and it seems like a SOL of 4 or 6 years exists. Of course, 90+% of all such listings will be written from the standpoint of the debtor. But there appears to be law written on your precise point in PA.
https://jbmartinlaw.com/dont-wait-too-long-to-collect-a-debt-in-pa/
Ergo: “SOL” could mean two quite different things in your case.
You need to start by pinging the attorney that settled the estate upon death.
the debt has not been paid...as I said maybe only a year or two of payments were ever made. They are still alive but I am handling everything at this point. They know I am going to go forward with this if w are able. They never pursued because they felt “bad” making an issue. I can’t explain the sheer ridiculousness. Don’t the debtors also have to prove on their end?
Never mind a leg. You need to be concerned about an entire statue (of limitations). (Okay, a sculpture of limitations).
I have nothing to add. You got good advice upthread.
Better call Saul in PA right away.
...familiar enough to say: "Go see a lawyer."
Try the firm Dewey, Cheatam & Howe.
I have no idea what the statutes of limitation are in Pennsylvania nor how they work. (Or if that is even the law that would be applied under the contract.) That’s going to be at least one key issue. (Or two key issues, what law would be applied would be another).
Lawyer. Not discussion boards.
Add to the concerns about statute of limitations there may be additional terms or conditions which may temper or stop payments for various reasons. Good luck in your attempts to help your parents.
Looks like something out of “Just For Laughs”.
Have a good atty look it over
Maybe. Go see a lawyer. They’ll give you the first half hour. They’ll look at contract and tell you if it’s worth the tome
Your fun-isms are always appreciated om any thread!
Carry on!
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