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Since when is there a debtor's jail?
Okay, so if you are being sued in small claims court, not criminal court and you don't go, since when do they issue a notice that says something like "Order to Appear. If you do not appear, a warrant may be issued for your arrest". This is about a debt owed. Not criminal activity. Very confusing to me because I remember years ago that when you were sued by a company for funds, if you did not appear to court, the judgement went to the plaintiff and your wages were garnished. Since when do they threaten people with a warrant for an unpaid bill? (its a $600.00 bill by the way)
**its a medical bill.
Ok, gotcha. Just have never been sued before and I don't know of anyone that has ever received this type of notice before.
Oh, I plan on going. I was just wondering about the warrant, I just had never heard of this before. Thank you all for your answers!
4 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
The phrase you quoted actually holds the answer to your question.
"Order to Appear. If you do not appear, a warrant may be issued for your arrest".
You're running two separate subjects together into one. The two subjects being; 1. The order to appear and 2. You owing a debt. You would go to jail for Failure To Appear (failure to obey a court order), not for the debt you owed.
If you planned on not showing up, but do not want to go to jail, then just show up and put on no defense. Judgement will go to the plantiff, but you will not be taken away in cuffs.
- StuartLv 71 decade ago
The court did not say that you would go to jail if you didn't pay the bill.
The court said you'd go to jail if you did not appear in court like they told you to.
- Stuart
- Anonymous1 decade ago
You're not being threatened over the bill, you are being threatened by the court to not ignore them.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
It's about accountability to the LAW, not the debt. Not showing up is contempt for law. THAT is criminal, and that is why you can go to jail.
