I received letters from attorneys advertising their services that court papers were filed for mediation with a creditor ($1,200 owed) - I am an the process trying to find an attorney to file bankruptcy - should I contact the mediator and tell him I am filing for bankruptcy and was never served a subpoena? I can't find anything on the county clerks website of what was filed.
Unless you have received something from a court telling you you must go to mediation, probably not.
Call the mediator - if they are truly just a 3rd party mediator they should be able to provide more
information about what is going on.
Take that information to your future bankruptcy attorney and they can better advise you once they have that information.
The best practice, in my opinion, is to tell someone you are filing bankruptcy when you have actually filed, have a case number, and a certificate of filing. Otherwise, you are wasting everyone's time because debtors regrettably will falsely claim that they are filing and no filing ever actually happens. Creditors and mediators are justifiably suspicious of these claims as a result. Hope this perspective helps!
If you have not received anything, how do you know who the mediator is? I think you are worried too much about this and should concentrate on finding that bankruptcy lawyer to get your case filed as soon as possible.
Since you live in Celebration, look up at the Osceola Clerk of Court for public access to court records and you can look up your name. I would NOT contact the law firm suing you if they have not served you. When you are referring to a mediator you may be talking about a solicitation you may have received from a guy that calls his company American Mediation. He is NOT affiliated with the court. He is a guy that tries to settle the debt for you and is NOT an attorney. Technically you do not have to show if they have not served you. Filing for bankruptcy may be the best option. Speak to a bankruptcy attorney such as myself to give you all the options whether bankruptcy is the way to go.
Just from what you've written, this sounds like a scam. Court's can't force you to participate in mediation, and they certainly can't subpoena you to appear at a mediation (they can subpoena you to appear in Court - but that is a different process). Typically, a mediation can't be set up without both parties agreement (i.e. the creditor AND you). If this didn't happen, then something sounds fishy. Be very wary of solicitations for mediation where you haven't been involved in choosing the mediator or agreeing on a date for the mediation. Again, mediation is typically something that's agreed to by both sides in a dispute, not set up by only one-side.
Mark Theodore TischhauserLitigation LawyerTampa, FL ·
Two things in the South that are completely useless. Fittintahs and Roundtuits."I am fittintah get a lawyer as soon as I ger roundtuit." Absently you actually having already filed the BK and the stay having been imposed, you need to defend the case as you would pretending no BK exists. If you don't, and find out later you don't like your BK options or costs, ex. you dont qualify for Chap. 7 and don't like the re-payment plan of a Chap. 13, you will be REALLY unhappy with the effect of a judgment garnishing wages and locking up your bank account because you opted not to hedge the bet and defend the lawsuit. You be the first unhappy person in that vein by the way.
