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I wanted to put a smiley on this thread title but I honestly don't know which one to use.
So, long story short, my ex has owed me money for several years, and has been telling me what I want to hear, occasionally throwing some money my way (last in 2008), and otherwise avoiding the matter as much as possible. Last year I asked him again if he really intended to repay the money, and he said he would do his best, he was broke, he was transferring to a different store closer to home which would put him in a better financial position, please bear with him and he wants to do the right thing. Blah, blah, blah. A month later I found out by accident via Facebook that he got engaged and was moving to Florida. So I filed suit before he could leave the state. So today we finally went to court and it went…
Well, not quite how I wanted but I’m kinda laughing, and it’s done. They called the case list, then sent all the cases which had everyone present to mediation down the hall; had to wait about 10-15 minutes for a mediator to become available. We each told our side and then the mediator met with him privately, and then me.
I ended up taking his offer which was less than I wanted but I would get it today; it's the same amount he offered me last weekend in an email, and I declined, after which he made a little threat to “seek restitution” for his travel expenses and hoped I would reconsider. I chose to ignore that; I wasn’t inclined to make it easy for him after that. I wanted more, but after talking to the mediator (who said it was like pulling teeth to get him to put that back on the table) and my parents, I decided to be realistic and take it. (A better negotiator would probably have pushed for more; then again, if I did I might not have gotten it today.) If we went to trial and I won (or if he defaulted on the agreement), as the mediator put it, I’d have a nice little paper to put on my wall, because collecting in Florida is nigh on impossible (which the mediator mentioned but I already knew). And he felt that it was a long shot and he also didn’t know the judge that well to have an idea of how he might rule. Plus there was no guarantee they'd actually get to us today, either, and I don't want to have to go back to court another day.
The karma part: when I got to court my parents mentioned that there was an accident on the road right outside the parking lot. When we got into court and they were calling the case list to see who was and wasn’t there, the clerk said they had a note that he was running late (not realizing he was already there). When we got into the mediation room, I found out that accident was him. His car (and he drove up here, so it is his car, not a rental) is apparently totaled. So one more reason he won’t have money to pay a judgment. His sister was there (I’m assuming he called her after the accident because I didn’t see her in the courtroom with him but she was outside in the hall when we were waiting for a mediator) and I guess took him to the hospital afterward to get checked out (he said the EMT wanted to take him but he said no cuz he needed to be at court).
So he went to get his checkbook from his pocket and realized he had the wrong one; the right one was in the car, which had been towed, so his sister had to take him to the body shop to get it, and come back. He wrote the check and while the mediation office clerk was making photocopies of the paperwork she said something about the snow banks making it dangerous, and he said the cop said the snow probably saved his life because his car would have flipped otherwise. I almost said “well, I’m glad you’re not dead” but I left it at “have a nice life, Ex” (the only thing I said directly to him, other than, “you wanna put the date on this please?” cuz he left the date off the check) and walked out. Apparently he came out behind me, saw my parents, hesitated a second and went back into the office. I guess he waited for us to leave; we passed his sister waiting in her car in the parking lot on the way out.
Stopped at the bank on my way to work; gonna watch my account for the next several days and make sure the check clears.
He’s still a lying $@*#(! though. He claimed he gave me what money he did and told me what he felt he had to because he was afraid I would make trouble for him at work (because when we dated, he was a manager and I wasn't). Is that why he asked me to take care of his dog, too? Because I'm such a vindictive bitch? He also claimed that I basically presented him with my list of loans after we broke up and said “this is what you owe me” which is such fucking bullshit I really can only shake my head.
Somehow I'm having trouble mustering any sympathy for his car plight.
I do wonder what he had in his folders...
I told my friend about the car, and she said "gotta love karma, it's a fantastic thing sometimes"
So, long story short, my ex has owed me money for several years, and has been telling me what I want to hear, occasionally throwing some money my way (last in 2008), and otherwise avoiding the matter as much as possible. Last year I asked him again if he really intended to repay the money, and he said he would do his best, he was broke, he was transferring to a different store closer to home which would put him in a better financial position, please bear with him and he wants to do the right thing. Blah, blah, blah. A month later I found out by accident via Facebook that he got engaged and was moving to Florida. So I filed suit before he could leave the state. So today we finally went to court and it went…
Well, not quite how I wanted but I’m kinda laughing, and it’s done. They called the case list, then sent all the cases which had everyone present to mediation down the hall; had to wait about 10-15 minutes for a mediator to become available. We each told our side and then the mediator met with him privately, and then me.
I ended up taking his offer which was less than I wanted but I would get it today; it's the same amount he offered me last weekend in an email, and I declined, after which he made a little threat to “seek restitution” for his travel expenses and hoped I would reconsider. I chose to ignore that; I wasn’t inclined to make it easy for him after that. I wanted more, but after talking to the mediator (who said it was like pulling teeth to get him to put that back on the table) and my parents, I decided to be realistic and take it. (A better negotiator would probably have pushed for more; then again, if I did I might not have gotten it today.) If we went to trial and I won (or if he defaulted on the agreement), as the mediator put it, I’d have a nice little paper to put on my wall, because collecting in Florida is nigh on impossible (which the mediator mentioned but I already knew). And he felt that it was a long shot and he also didn’t know the judge that well to have an idea of how he might rule. Plus there was no guarantee they'd actually get to us today, either, and I don't want to have to go back to court another day.
The karma part: when I got to court my parents mentioned that there was an accident on the road right outside the parking lot. When we got into court and they were calling the case list to see who was and wasn’t there, the clerk said they had a note that he was running late (not realizing he was already there). When we got into the mediation room, I found out that accident was him. His car (and he drove up here, so it is his car, not a rental) is apparently totaled. So one more reason he won’t have money to pay a judgment. His sister was there (I’m assuming he called her after the accident because I didn’t see her in the courtroom with him but she was outside in the hall when we were waiting for a mediator) and I guess took him to the hospital afterward to get checked out (he said the EMT wanted to take him but he said no cuz he needed to be at court).
So he went to get his checkbook from his pocket and realized he had the wrong one; the right one was in the car, which had been towed, so his sister had to take him to the body shop to get it, and come back. He wrote the check and while the mediation office clerk was making photocopies of the paperwork she said something about the snow banks making it dangerous, and he said the cop said the snow probably saved his life because his car would have flipped otherwise. I almost said “well, I’m glad you’re not dead” but I left it at “have a nice life, Ex” (the only thing I said directly to him, other than, “you wanna put the date on this please?” cuz he left the date off the check) and walked out. Apparently he came out behind me, saw my parents, hesitated a second and went back into the office. I guess he waited for us to leave; we passed his sister waiting in her car in the parking lot on the way out.
Stopped at the bank on my way to work; gonna watch my account for the next several days and make sure the check clears.
He’s still a lying $@*#(! though. He claimed he gave me what money he did and told me what he felt he had to because he was afraid I would make trouble for him at work (because when we dated, he was a manager and I wasn't). Is that why he asked me to take care of his dog, too? Because I'm such a vindictive bitch? He also claimed that I basically presented him with my list of loans after we broke up and said “this is what you owe me” which is such fucking bullshit I really can only shake my head.
Somehow I'm having trouble mustering any sympathy for his car plight.
I do wonder what he had in his folders...
I told my friend about the car, and she said "gotta love karma, it's a fantastic thing sometimes"
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