Nail In The Coffin

Lori lied to the court clerk yesterday.  We were not under oath at the time, so seemingly there was no harm done.  The woman asked us twice if we had tried to work this out among ourselves.  It was a reasonable question that will probably come up again.  I had the opportunity to say yes...I tried to work this out through the courts mediation program and Lori declined to come to the mediation session.  If need be I can prove that we had a mediation appointment scheduled prior to our hearing yesterday.  Her lie though was that the phone company wouldn't give her the information or work with her to resolve this which is a partial truth that I was not expecting.  Fortunately, I had obtained copies through the collection agency; the phone bills in question as well as two credit reports and could produce those.  I know they sent them to Lori's address because that address was on the bills.  I can't prove what Lori did with the phone bills or the collections letters.  A judge could subpoena that documentation from the phone company even though customers can not.  That won't stop and inquiring Judge from asking her though.  I can prove that Lori was responsible for the bill as she paid with her Fifth 3rd debit card.  I never once paid that phone bill and did not have a bank account.  I can prove it was her email attached to the phone bills not mine.  I can prove that this debt ended up on my credit report.  I can also prove that I had new phone service at my new address when this matter got turned over to collections November 2010.  I can prove that Lori didn't pay the bill from June through November and I moved in August.  I have documentation proving that I have always had lifeline service which is a discount offered to handicap and low income people.  It won't be that hard to convince a Judge that I put the bill in my name to cut the cost to her.

  This matter is slated for trial on February 7th.  It will be different next round as it won't be as easy convincing a Judge that she didn't know about either the phone bill or the collections letters.  I suppose she could blame the post office.  It won't matter in the long run as it was her bill and her responsibility and she knows about it now!  Had Lori opted for going to the mediation then I would have offered that all she needed to do was let the 3 credit reporting agencies know that even though the phone bill was put into my name it was her responsibility to pay it.  That would have cost her nothing and we could have avoided going to trial.  I could see that Lori was uncomfortable lying to the clerk.  It will be much harder for her to lie to an actual Judge in February.  She still has time to do the right thing and come clean about all this before trial.  That would be the Lori that knew and  fell in love with 8 plus years ago.

  I am relieved that I can now concentrate on my holiday projects and begin writing my summery for Nesley's small claim that will be coming up soon.  The above print is appropriately called Nail In The Coffin by Rob Dobi.