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Zadowoleni są z kluczowych słów, czyli wysokich odsetek od dochodu. Pożyczkobiorcy zazwyczaj wystawiają czek na spłatę pożyczki i nową opłatę, a także udzielają bankowi zgody na złożenie wniosku i rozpoczęcie wypłaty walidacji w kolejnym dniu wypłaty.
Tysiące pożyczkobiorców tkwi w ciągłym kryzysie związanym z chwilówkami, ponieważ kredyty często ulegają przedłużeniu lub są wielokrotnie przedłużane. Read more
Большое количество онлайн -казино не требует требований к приеме, кроме нового кода покрытия или новой карты Mit Minite Get. Тем не менее, A будет иметь области, которые могут быть ограничены существенными колесами или даже пользователями, которые вам не могут быть предложены.
Человек, как правило, чувствует, что локальные слоты, дверной проем, более свободны и начинают увеличение оплаты. Read more
https://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-208x300.webp00Ken Giberthttps://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-208x300.webpKen Gibert2024-09-21 05:49:392025-09-19 05:49:40Чего ожидать в интернет-казино Рамен бет зеркало casino рабочее онлайн-доступ
Otherwise, there will be a misstatement in the calculation of the cost of goods sold at the end of the period. The company can also review and verify the inventory on October 12, 2020, by comparing the inventory in the account record with the physical inventory count. This is a big advantage of the perpetual inventory system as the company can investigate immediately if there is any variance between the physical count and the account record. Overall, ABC Co. presented its net purchases in its financial statements as follows. All the above reasons can give rise to a purchases return for companies. Sometimes, however, companies may not return goods to suppliers.
Why are Normal Balances Important?
He is the sole author of all the materials on AccountingCoach.com.
This is where the concept of “normal balance” comes into play.
This could be due to one company uses the periodic inventory system while another uses the perpetual inventory system.
By following the expected normal balances, accountants can ensure that the financial statements accurately represent the financial position, performance, and cash flows of the business.
Expenses, which represent the costs incurred in generating revenue, also have a normal debit balance.
This knowledge is instrumental in the initial step of recording financial transactions, specifically when preparing journal entries. For example, a sale on credit requires a debit to Accounts Receivable (an asset, normal debit balance) and a credit to Sales Revenue (a revenue, normal credit balance). Understanding the normal balance of an account is fundamental for making sense of financial records. This core accounting principle dictates the side, either debit or credit, where an account’s balance is typically found and where increases to that account are recorded. Grasping this concept is important for classifying financial transactions accurately and maintaining the integrity of a company’s financial statements.
Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract (QLAC): Definition, Taxes, And Example
Double entry accounting – every transaction affects at least two accounts – one account gets debited and another credited.
Equity accounts represent the owner’s interest in the business and have a normal credit balance.
To maintain the balance sheet equation, which states that the assets must equal liabilities plus equity, every transaction must be recorded with proper debits and credits.
For example, on October 21, 2020, the company ABC Ltd. returns the goods that it purchased on credit with the amount of $1,500 back to its supplier for the reason of inferior quality.
If you’re crediting a liability, equity, or revenue account, you’re also increasing its balance.
In accounting, understanding how transactions affect different accounts is essential for accurate financial records.
We must show the accounts payable fully paid off, so we must debit Accounts Payable for $5,000.
Examples include accounts payable, salaries payable, and loans. For example, on October 28, 2020, AI in Accounting the company ABC Ltd. receives a discount of 2% on the $3,000 amount due when it makes a cash payment to its supplier on the last day of the discount period. The money you spend on purchases has a major role in cash flow.
Normal account balance definition
The normal balance of any account is the balance (debit or purchases normal balance credit) which you would expect the account have, and is governed by the accounting equation. Understanding the concept of normal balances is essential for anyone involved in accounting or financial analysis. By correctly identifying the normal balance of each account, you can ensure accurate financial reporting, maintain the accounting equation, and effectively analyze financial performance.
The income statement accounts are temporary because their balances are not carried forward to the next accounting year. Instead, the balances in the income statement accounts will be transferred to a permanent owner’s equity account or stockholders’ equity account. After the transfer, the temporary accounts are said to have “been closed” and will then have zero balances. Double-entry means an accounting system in which every transaction is recorded with amounts entered in two or more accounts. Further, the amounts entered as debits must be equal to the amounts entered as credits.
It should be noted that if an account is normally a debit balance it is increased by a debit entry, and if an account is normally a credit balance it is increased by a credit entry. So for example a debit entry to an asset account will increase the https://whitestoness.com/how-to-increase-your-profit-margin-for-better/ asset balance, and a credit entry to a liability account will increase the liability. Normal balance refers to the expected side or category where an account balance should appear. It is a fundamental concept in accounting that helps ensure accuracy and consistency in financial reporting. Understanding the normal balance of accounts is essential for recording transactions and preparing financial statements. In this case, the inventory account (an asset) increases, so we debit it.
Since liabilities, equity (such as common stock), and revenues increase with a credit, their “normal” balance is a credit.
Firstly, there is a need to debit account payables and credit purchase returns.
The normal balance concept ensures accounts are presented correctly, reflecting a business’s true financial position and performance.
Instead of focusing on the fear and anger, she started her accounting and consulting firm.
Concurrently, the Accounts Payable (liability) account is credited to increase the amount owed, aligning with its normal credit balance.
Equity represents the residual interest in the assets after deducting liabilities, reflecting the owners’ claims on the business’s resources.
Since 2014, she has helped over one million students succeed in their accounting classes.
Explore how it affects financial statements and reporting accuracy. However, in accounting, we have to differentiate between purchases as explained above and other purchases such as those involving the procurement of a fixed assets (e.g. factory machine or building). Such purchases are capitalized in the statement of financial position of the entity (i.e. recognized as assets of the entity) rather than being expensed in the income statement. Firstly, there is a need to debit account payables and credit purchase returns.
How do asset and liability accounts differ in terms of normal balances?
Expense accounts normally have debit balances, while income accounts have credit balances. Thus, if you want to increase Accounts Payable, you credit it. As we can see from this expanded accounting equation, Assets accounts increase on the debit side and decrease on the credit side. Liabilities increase on the credit side and decrease on the debit side. This becomes easier to understand as you become familiar with the normal balance of an account. Some suppliers offer discounts of 1% or 2% from the sales invoice amount, if the invoice is paid in 10 days instead of the usual 30 days.
https://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-208x300.webp00Ken Giberthttps://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-208x300.webpKen Gibert2024-05-17 08:43:452025-10-08 09:29:07How to Record Purchase Returns and Allowances? Explanation and Journal Entries
This might indicate that the corporate is investing in its future progress, paying off its money owed, or rewarding its shareholders. Financing activities embody the cash flows related to the corporate’s capital construction. This contains actions corresponding to issuing or repurchasing shares, obtaining or repaying loans, and paying dividends.
Most firms operate with accrual accounting practices, which means that the direct technique is not as generally utilized. On the opposite hand, a money outflow, like paying suppliers, is just recorded once the business makes the payment, not when the bill is received or the companies are rendered beforehand. Put differently, this methodology is predicated on all the transactions that instantly impacted the business’s money balance. Hello, I am questioning why taxes of $8 were not deducted from the money move by way of the operating cashflows to get to $40 from the $48.
When using the direct technique, company managers are capable of closely scrutinize money outflows and inflow classes. This can result in improved cash management methods and doubtlessly strengthen the company’s total financial place. It simplifies how cash move is managed, especially when it comes to real-time change and diversifications. Nevertheless, the direct methodology for constructing the operating cash flow section might offer extra detail and insights right into a company’s operations. Because of this, it’s more common for small companies with fewer transactions to parse through. However, these completely different strategies are solely utilized to the operating https://www.business-accounting.net/ activities section of the money circulate assertion.
This fact shows how complex the direct methodology in money circulate accounting is. You will proceed to the money outflows after you have totaled your whole money inflows for the time period. Nonetheless, the direct strategy to creating the operating money flow part could provide higher details and understanding of a corporation’s activities. Nonetheless, producing it might be a bit extra time-consuming and labor-intensive. Small businesses with fewer transactions often discover it tough to kind by way of.
Benefits Of The Direct Method Cash Circulate
Investing activities include money paid to amass long-lived belongings and money proceeds from the sale of such assets. Financing actions include borrowings, repayments of debt, dividend funds, and fairness transactions. These classes are extra easy to assemble because financial institution transactions often clearly determine loan proceeds and capital investments. For stakeholders who wish to see the timing and magnitude of actual money movements, lenders, homeowners, and managers, the direct methodology reduces the need to convert accrual results into cash realities mentally. It is particularly useful when evaluating short-term liquidity and when advising purchasers on quick cash management actions. Stakeholders, like investors and creditors, can leverage these insights in making their decisions.
The reconciliation itself is similar to the oblique methodology of reporting working actions. It stars with net revenue and adjusts non-cash transaction like depreciation and modifications in stability sheet accounts. Since creating this reconciliation is about as a lot work as just preparing an indirect assertion, most corporations simply choose not to use the direct method. Netting these inflows and outflows will result in the operating money move produced or used by the company throughout a selected period beneath the direct methodology.
The indirect technique is the more in style methodology of getting ready a cash flow statement. In the direct method, as we’ve defined, the focus is to determine the precise operating cash receipts and cash funds during a financial period. As such, you will record the earnings and gross sales of the corporate (inflows) and subtract the bills (outflows). Take this as a really literal strategy to itemizing the precise cash that went out and in of the corporate for any transactions which may be immediately related to the core operations. Regardless Of the IAS 7 favoring the direct method over its counterpart, the oblique method, it does not mandate its use.
Financial Close Solution
Suppose we are supplied with the three monetary statements of an organization, including two years of financial information for the steadiness sheet. Because it focuses solely on money inflows and outflows, it can give a more correct representation of a company’s capacity to generate money and meet short-term obligations. By seeing how cash flows out and in of the enterprise, management can make extra informed decisions regarding liquidity, operations, and investments.
Credit Threat Management
But, the direct methodology is still useful for businesses wanting detailed cash flow info. Under accrual accounting, the data out there is extra conducive to utilizing the oblique method to arrange the cash flow assertion as it’s simpler and it takes much less time. The web balance, after including all inflows and subtracting all outflows, is the actual cash circulate of the agency underneath the direct method at the finish of the financial year. The Clear Path To Cash video course and the Pathfinder advisory build-out provide a mixture of self-paced learning and group coaching tailored for financial professionals. These applications embody tools such as spreadsheets and the Clear Path app, which streamline the conversion of accrual information into money receipts and funds, key to producing correct direct-method statements shortly.
Nonetheless, companies record thousands of transactions yearly and plenty of of them do not involve money.
The alternative between the direct and oblique cash flow methods is dependent upon the supposed use and viewers.
Since creating this reconciliation is about as much work as just getting ready an indirect statement, most corporations simply select not to use the direct method.
In either methodology, the other two sections–cash flows from investing actions and cash flows from financing activities–are produced in the identical method.
The direct method is among the two strategies used whereas making ready a cash circulate assertion.
The direct method uses actual cash transactions to calculate cash move. The oblique methodology begins with internet income and adjusts for non-cash objects cash flow statement direct method and working capital adjustments. Both methods follow GAAP however the direct technique provides extra detailed cash move data.
Главной в учении Лютера стала идея спасения только личной верой. Это означала, что спасение души зависит лишь от веры в Бога, и для этого не нужны посредники–папство и церковь. Вера приходит к человеку только через милость Божью, а не вследствие каких-то заслуг. Лютер утверждал, что христианские таинства и ритуалы не имеют того значения, которое им приписывает церковь. Источником христианской веры он считал только Библию и стремился как можно быстрее перевести ее на немецкий язык.
“Делай добро и бросай его в воду – оно вернется к тебе волнами” (народная пословица).
Нет ничего более ценного, чем человеческая жизнь.
Дружба да братство дороже всякого богатства.
Вера приходит к человеку только через милость Божью, а не вследствие каких-то заслуг.
Лютер утверждал, что христианские таинства и ритуалы не имеют того значения, которое им приписывает церковь.
Используя текст параграфа и документы изложите основные идеи учения мартина лютера
“Делай добро и бросай его в воду – оно вернется к тебе волнами” (народная пословица). “Человек человеку друг, товарищ и брат” (народная мудрость). “Сердце человека – книга, в которой каждый может прочитать свою судьбу” (народное изречение). “Благо – не убудешь, а зло – не приумножишь” (народная мудрость).
Используя текст параграфа и документы изложите основные идеи учения мартина лютера
10. “Доброта – это язык, который глухие слышат и слепые видят” (народная мудрость). Нет ничего более ценного, чем человеческая жизнь.
пословиц разных народов России которые отражают идеи гуманнизма
“Добро всегда побеждает зло” (народная пословица). “Будь добрым, и добро к тебе вернется” (народное изречение). “Доброта – это явление, способное обогатить любое сердце” (народная мудрость). “Лучше быть добрым, чем правым” (народное изречение). “В добром идеи для пассивного дохода слове – половина дела” (народная пословица).
пословиц разных народов России которые отражают идеи гуманнизма
“Будь добрым, и добро к тебе вернется” (народное изречение).
Лучше не иметь сердца, чем не иметь любви к народу.
Вера приходит к человеку только через милость Божью, а не вследствие каких-то заслуг.
Сам себя губит, но других любит.
Дружба да братство дороже всякого богатства. Кто слишком любит себя, того не слишком любят другие. В миру жить – добрым быть. Лучше не иметь сердца, чем не иметь любви к народу. Сам себя губит, но других любит.
https://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-208x300.webp00Ken Giberthttps://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-208x300.webpKen Gibert2023-06-13 19:51:112025-10-07 10:51:41Используя текст параграфа и документы изложите основные идеи учения мартина лютера user_18931950 Ответы Mail
I know I’ve discussed whether you should seek a jury trial before, but I want to give it a new look for this set of videos. In my view, debt defendants should always ask for jury trials if they have the right to them, and most of them do have that right. These days that’s more important than ever.
Your Right under the Constitution
By constitutional law, you have a right to jury trial under the 7th amendment for most “legal” claims. “Legal” in this sense is a term of art referring to the historical development of the English courts. Suffice it to say that most claims “sounding in” breach of contract are “legal” claims. Account stated, on the other hand, is not, so if the credit card company is suing you ONLY for account stated, you probably don’t have a right to jury trial, but for almost all other credit card or loan based claims you do. And if the plaintiff is suing you for breach of contract and account stated, you will have a right to jury trial that will, in all likelihood, control the whole case.
So most of the people watching this video or reading this article will have a right to jury trial. Should you take it?
Yes. You should.
Judges and Lawyers Take Jury Trials More Seriously
The primary reason is that judges and the other side will take jury trials more seriously. This means that the judge will be much more careful about what kinds of evidence to allow the jury to see, and since that is the heart of much of our defense, this is a very good thing. It isn’t that a judge should allow hearsay to affect his or her decision, it’s that the judge will pay much closer attention to your argument that something IS hearsay if he or she is worried about a jury hearing it. It’s just a more serious kind of case.
And the second reason is that a jury trial is a more serious kind of case. A judge-held trial could last half an hour or even less, but a jury trial will be measured in hours or possibly days if there are any complications. That’s because the jury has to be selected for starters, and that takes time. Then, every evidentiary objection will be taken more seriously and the judge will care more about getting it right in order to make sure the trial doesn’t have to be redone. And finally, there will be jury instructions, which also take time to set up. The difference in cost of attorney time could easily be five thousand dollars, and debt collectors don’t like to put that kind of money into cases like this. It’s just the way they do business, not that they fear them or anything.
Juries are More Likely to Believe you
You probably don’t have much money if you’re being sued by a debt collector, and if you’re representing yourself you are certainly not a trial judge. Judges, debt collectors, and the lawyers who represent debt collectors all have money, and most of them were born into privilege. They’re not usually the people you want making decisions that affect your life because, to be frank, most of them don’t care about you at all. You know who might care about your situation, though? The jury. Nothing’s guaranteed, of course, but I’ve found that a jury is more likely to see things your way. Especially when combined with the chances of getting better evidentiary rulings from the court in jury cases, I think this can make all the difference.
Jury Trials are NOT Scary
It might sound like a jury trial is a bigger deal for a shy or intimidated person, and it is true that they are somewhat more complicated, and you’re playing to people in the jury rather than just the judge. But although that’s true, you will probably find, in real life, that it doesn’t matter. Juries are just as easy to talk to as judges, and if you’re caught up in your case it’s probably even easier to talk to the jury. They’re much more like you than the judge is. I used to think you had to be more “entertaining” for juries than judges, but I don’t think that anymore. If you can stick to your script, that should be good enough: juries will listen as well as judges in my opinion.
There are factors you’ll need to consider as you prepare for the case, but in making your decision on whether or not to demand a jury that’s probably all you need to know. The judge will be more serious, the defendant will like the case less, and the jury will be easier to talk to than the judge and may be fairer. In general. So we suggest you ask for a jury trial. Find out your court’s rules on asking for one before you file your answer if that is possible.
This article updated 3/25/25
https://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/jury.jpg404776Ken Giberthttps://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-208x300.webpKen Gibert2023-03-23 15:56:212025-03-25 19:16:10Your Right to a Jury – Should you Demand One
DO I Respond, HOW do I Respond, and WHAT do I Respond when Sued for Debt?
We talk elsewhere about what constitutes valid service of a lawsuit, and you should check out that video and article if you have any questions about whether you’ve been served. That makes a large difference in what you should do, and if you have been improperly served, you likely will not want to “answer” the suit at all and may instead want to “move to quash” the suit.
We also discuss elsewhere whether you should respond to a debt collection lawsuit you find out about if you have not been served the complaint. To boil that down to its most essential point, if you have not been served at all – you hear about the suit from a neighbor or look your name up in court files, or a lawyer sends you a letter saying you’re being sued – we usually suggest that you take no action if you don’t have a lawyer. If you do have a lawyer, and the lawyer thinks it’s best to get on with it, that might be a good idea, but as a pro se defendant you won’t be able to shut the case down the way a lawyer might.
Let them serve you if they can, but you have no obligation to help with that process. You don’t have to go down to the sheriff’s office or call the firm suing you or its process server. See if they can get you, and if they can’t the case will be dismissed against you. It actually happens a lot, although not a statistically huge percentage of cases.
If you go this route, you will want to keep an eye on the court files to see if, whether or not they HAVE served you, they claim to have served you, and that brings up a special issue that we discuss elsewhere, too.
If you are Served the Suit
If you get served, your next question will be HOW to respond. If you fail to respond at all, the other side will get a default judgment and start trying to get your stuff, so this is probably not a good idea for you. You’ll need to Answer or file what’s called a motion (in some jurisdictions, like California, you could file what’s called a “demurrer,” which is just another kind of motion). To answer this question, you should first consider what kind of court you’re in. Are you in a small claims court, sometimes called a “magistrate” court? Or are you in a “real” court?
Assuming you’re in a real court, you’ll need to do two things right off the bat. First, find your state’s Rules of Civil Procedure and look up the part about service of process and motions to dismiss. Some motions to dismiss have to be filed before you answer the petition. Find out if you have one of those – the petition is vague, names the wrong person, or violates certain procedural requirements some states have for debt collectors. If you have one of these, you might be (and almost certainly are) waiving your right to bring the motion if you answer first.
If they claim you were served, but you have some reason to dispute that, you probably need to bring what’s called a “motion to quash” service before you answer (as mentioned above), since answering will be regarded as your consent to the court’s jurisdiction.
If none of those concerns apply to you, you will need to answer the suit. In some states, they have what’s called a “verified petition,” which means that someone swore to the truth of the allegations. If you have that sort of petition, you will need to swear to your answer, and this means getting a notary public to witness the document. But this is rare. In most instances, the petition is an ordinary one signed by the lawyer for the debt collector. If that’s what you’ve got, you will simply want to deny almost all of the paragraphs, one by one, in the petition. Don’t go to absurd lengths and deny your name or address, if those are correct, but you should generally deny all of the other substantive allegations. The legal effect of your denial is to say, “prove it.”
In some states you can file what’s called a “general denial,” which does in one sentence what I just suggested.
If you think you have a counterclaim against the person suing you, you will want to add that to your answer.
We discuss “affirmative defenses” elsewhere, but in general they are facts that, even if what the debt collector says in its petition is true, would mean you don’t owe them money. Most typical of these sorts of defenses are some sort of agreement to settle or address the claim, or the passage of too much time before they brought the suit, called the statute of limitations.
The essence of an affirmative defense is that you bear the burden of proof in showing that these factors exist, and you also must plead them in your answer.
Finally, let’s talk about demanding a jury. Our position is, generally, that debt defendants should ask for a jury. We discuss this in greater length in our article and video on juries, but if you think you want a jury (as we recommend), you need to find out how your court and state require that you demand one. In federal court and some states, it’s enough to say it as part of your answer. In some states, you have to make a separate request by separate pleading. Find out what you are required to do and do that.
If by chance you’re just finding out about this after already starting to defend your case, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily too late. If you have a right to jury trial, the right is absolute when you raise it in the proper way and time, but even if you don’t do it when you should, the court should normally grant your request anyway absent some sort of misbehavior or the passage of too much time, and they are required to be “liberal” in their interpretation of what’s too late. That is, they are supposed to lean towards granting your request for a jury, so even if you’re late, you should go for it if you want one.
This article updated 3/25/25
https://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/road-sign-63983__340.jpg340453Ken Giberthttps://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-208x300.webpKen Gibert2023-03-06 21:56:292025-03-25 20:30:27Do I Respond, How do I Respond, What do I Respond
Receiving Summons: What is “Valid” Service of Process
This question comes up a lot, and I have addressed it before. But for this set of videos I want to give a shorter, sweeter answer. Bear in mind that service of process is the way a court asserts jurisdiction over you – “process” is not the lawsuit, it’s the summons, the sheet of paper from the court, and “service” is the way it’s given to you. If it isn’t done correctly, the court lacks power to control your fate. As you’ll see, the rule isn’t some sort of absolute constitutional requirement – it is constitutionally required, but it can vary under circumstances of practicality. We’ll discuss some of those here.
If you’re in small claims court, there may be special rules regarding service of process. There often are. For example, service by certified mail, or even just first class mail, may be sufficient. If you receive a summons by mail, you should look up the court’s rules on service. Sometimes, even if service by mail is good, there may need to be some proof that you actually received it. Check your rules and see if what you got was good enough. Obviously you don’t want to call them, identify yourself, and ask if receiving service by mail was good enough, since that would be admitting you got it.
If you’re being sued in something other than small claims court, it’s probably going to take more than just the mail. They’re probably going to have to hand you the suit or offer to do so.
Here again, the rule is not absolute. If they offer you the summons, and you refuse it or run away, you will have been served. It isn’t necessary for you to take it for service to have happened, just for it to be offered.
But what if they tack it on your door? Or put it between the screen door and your front door? That’s normally not going to be enough, since there’s no certainty you will be the one getting it, but if that happens, you’ll want to research the question before deciding it wasn’t good enough. Incidentally, if we’re talking about a foreclosure or rent eviction, tacking the suit to the door might be enough to get jurisdiction over the property even if not over you, personally. That would mean that they could evict you if you don’t answer, but not hold you liable if there’s anything else owed.
What about if they give the summons to a neighbor? Probably not enough (check your state’s rules) and possibly a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, too.
How about giving it to you child at the door? This, too, is going to be determined by state rule. Most states have rules that allow service upon residents at a place who are a certain age or above. So ordinarily that would not give a visitor a right to accept service on you, or a child under a certain age.
If you haven’t been served adequately, you may wish to oppose the court’s jurisdiction over you. I actually usually suggest you hire a lawyer to do that for you, since it’s just a more powerful statement and can be done without being tremendously expensive. You would file what’s called a “motion to quash service,” to have it deemed ineffective by the court.
What if they can’t find you or reach you at home? There are other ways you can be served, but usually the plaintiff has to ask for permission to do that. They could serve you “by publication,” which means posting notice in some legal publication. Since no one ever reads those publications, you won’t see that, but if you’re aware they’re trying to reach you, you should follow the case docket and see if they ask for permission to serve you that way. If so and the court gives them permission to do so, you’re probably going to want to go ahead and waive service and ask them to mail you the summons and complaint. But it’s quite rare for debt collectors to take all the trouble to serve by publication for a very good reason: if they can’t find you to serve you, they’re not likely to be able to find your assets to collect on them. Everybody in the debt collection business likes to get paid, and if they don’t think they will be, they usually won’t put in the effort.
As you can see, I generally think the debt collectors should have to put in the effort to serve you. If they can’t, there isn’t much reason for you to make that easier for them. They might drop the suit on you completely. That’s a winner.
[updated 3/26/25]
https://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/serve-process.jpg317371Ken Giberthttps://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-208x300.webpKen Gibert2023-03-06 18:59:422025-03-26 15:15:06Receiving Summons: What is “Valid” Service of Process
I’ve discussed some of the background realities of talking with the judge and the attorney for the other side when you’re representing yourself as a defendant in a suit for debt in “Real Words about Talking to Judges and Lawyers.” I mentioned that neither judges nor the lawyers will start off respecting you if you’re pro se. That means you’re going to need to do certain things.
When speaking as a pro se defendant in a debt case, your first rule, always, is to speak normally. That means, use plain English – don’t try to impress anybody with you or what you know. Impress them with the facts. Speak in a normal tone of voice and with respect but not fear. Don’t kiss up to them, but treat them the way you’d treat somebody you like or can work with. Keep your cool. You’re in a situation where disagreements always come up – they’re not personal, or at least you should never make your words personal.
With those things in mind, there are some specifics to remember with judges and the lawyer for the other side.
Talking with the Judge
You’re going to have to be better than the lawyer for the other side. There are reasons this is possible, but it’s primarily because of the business model of the debt collectors. They take a factory approach, and their lawyer won’t work on your case much at all. It just isn’t profitable for them to do that. Nor is it profitable for them to hire the smartest lawyers in the business. Their whole approach is to bug you into paying without suing you and then to file huge numbers of suits knowing most people won’t defend themselves at all and will allow a default judgment. This isn’t to say their lawyers aren’t any good and can’t win, but it gives you a good chance if you’re willing to work.
Defending yourself takes you way out of the “ordinary” kinds of cases the deal with, and it’s a start, but you also still have to put in enough work to be better than the other side, and that’s what we discuss here.
Because of the general lack of respect for pro se defendants, when you say something, you will be more likely to need to cite controlling authority than a lawyer would. They can make references to “black letter law” (which is just legalese for “generally obvious”), but you will do better, if the issue is important at all, by citing a case that supports it. That means research is going to be important to you. (We have a product that can help with this.)
One thing non-lawyers seem to have trouble with is keeping things “relevant.” If you’re arguing about whether the debt collector has proof they own the debt, some things will shine a light on the issue, but the fact that the company has been sued by the federal government for collection abuses will not be, for example. Because of the way the court sees you, it will have very little tolerance for any straying off topic – the judge will think you’re wasting time and often tune out. Therefore, make sure everything you say relates to exactly the issue you’re discussing.
A related issue is keeping things brief. Again, the court will quickly sense that you’re wasting time if you veer away from the most important things at all. The judge doesn’t need to know why you thought something or planned something, it needs to know what the law requires. Pro se defendants seem to have a tremendous difficulty with this – you want to tell your story, but let me tell you that the court could not give one damn about your story. Legal talk is very different in this respect than regular human talk. Do NOT waste the court’s time.
Don’t whine. This is probably self-explanatory, but it’s part of the other things I’ve mentioned. Because the court does not care about your feelings, it will regard anything you say or insinuate about your feelings as a waste of time.
Know when to hold and when to fold. This is part of maintaining self-discipline and paying attention to the judge. When the judge says they’ve ruled, you are on extremely borrowed time. Ordinarily you should shut up and sit down. As I point out in “Real Talk,” you do that by saying, “Thank you, your honor.” But sometimes you don’t think you’ve had a chance to raise a crucial point. In that situation, you say something like, “I hear that, your honor, but I wanted to make sure you knew that they caught the defendant red-handed holding the knife with blood all over him…”
What I’m saying here is that if you want to say something after the judge has already ruled, it had better be damn good, and even then you’re on thin ice, but sometimes you have to say something to preserve the record. Judges can be hasty, and specially so with pro se debt defendants, so sometimes you may feel you have to point something out, but make sure it’s good – otherwise you’re just going to make the judge mad.
And speaking of anger, you must ALWAYS keep your feelings in check when you’re talking to the judge. If you raise your voice you could get thrown in jail for contempt of court, but of course it’s much more likely that the judge will just stop listening to you for the rest of the case. Baseball coaches seem to think it helps sometimes to get kicked out of a game, but this is never going to be a good strategy for you. Shut up, collect your thoughts, and be ready for the next thing.
Talking with the Lawyer
And now just a few words about the lawyers. First, keeping your cool is just as important with them as it is with judges. They can’t throw you in jail, but they can certainly tune you out in lots of ways. It won’t be good for you if they do.
Because you’ll be negotiating in various ways with the other lawyer, you need to remember one thing: threats are cheap. Because they don’t have a lot of respect for you, if you tell them “we should settle this thing now, or I’m going to file a motion for summary judgment next week…” they’re just going to ignore that. They don’t think you’ll do it. Any similar threats are pointless and more harmful than good. Instead, do the work first and let your actions speak for you.
In other words, don’t tell them you’re going to file a motion – file it and then talk. That would be more work, no doubt, if they ever would listen to threats and save you the trouble, but they never do. Threatening will lose ground for you. Doing without threatening (or warning, or negotiating to try not to have to file something) will gain ground for you.
Incidentally, a lot of lawyers try the same trick with the same results (nothing), but whereas I could probably draft a motion for summary judgment and send it to the other side saying that if they don’t settle I’m going to file the motion, you probably couldn’t even do that. There’s a chance they’d read it if a lawyer wrote it, but they probably won’t read anything you send until you file it. So go ahead and file what you’re going to file. Let your actions do your talking.
Don’t be afraid of the work. As long as the case continues, nothing you do will be wasted – everything you do will teach things you’re going to need to know.
On Being Nasty or Difficult
I hesitate to address this topic, but think I must. The lawyer for the other side does not take you seriously most of the time, and getting personal will normally not do any good. However, he or she is a person, and in a rare case, especially where there are complicated legal issues or where you’ve already done some winning, being personally difficult or unpleasant can work to your advantage. They already don’t want to work on your case, and if you can make them feel worse about that you might hasten their willingness to settle. This is rarelya good strategy, however. If you’re good at it (and you will know if you are), and the situation develops correctly, you might consider it. This is obviously only relating to the other side’s lawyer, never the judge.
[This article updated 3/26/25]
https://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/fax-1889056__340.jpg340340Ken Giberthttps://yourlegallegup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/logo-208x300.webpKen Gibert2023-03-02 17:27:482025-03-26 16:10:51Talking with the Judge and the other Lawyer
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How to Record Purchase Returns and Allowances? Explanation and Journal Entries
Otherwise, there will be a misstatement in the calculation of the cost of goods sold at the end of the period. The company can also review and verify the inventory on October 12, 2020, by comparing the inventory in the account record with the physical inventory count. This is a big advantage of the perpetual inventory system as the company can investigate immediately if there is any variance between the physical count and the account record. Overall, ABC Co. presented its net purchases in its financial statements as follows. All the above reasons can give rise to a purchases return for companies. Sometimes, however, companies may not return goods to suppliers.
Why are Normal Balances Important?
This knowledge is instrumental in the initial step of recording financial transactions, specifically when preparing journal entries. For example, a sale on credit requires a debit to Accounts Receivable (an asset, normal debit balance) and a credit to Sales Revenue (a revenue, normal credit balance). Understanding the normal balance of an account is fundamental for making sense of financial records. This core accounting principle dictates the side, either debit or credit, where an account’s balance is typically found and where increases to that account are recorded. Grasping this concept is important for classifying financial transactions accurately and maintaining the integrity of a company’s financial statements.
Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract (QLAC): Definition, Taxes, And Example
Examples include accounts payable, salaries payable, and loans. For example, on October 28, 2020, AI in Accounting the company ABC Ltd. receives a discount of 2% on the $3,000 amount due when it makes a cash payment to its supplier on the last day of the discount period. The money you spend on purchases has a major role in cash flow.
Normal account balance definition
The normal balance of any account is the balance (debit or purchases normal balance credit) which you would expect the account have, and is governed by the accounting equation. Understanding the concept of normal balances is essential for anyone involved in accounting or financial analysis. By correctly identifying the normal balance of each account, you can ensure accurate financial reporting, maintain the accounting equation, and effectively analyze financial performance.
The income statement accounts are temporary because their balances are not carried forward to the next accounting year. Instead, the balances in the income statement accounts will be transferred to a permanent owner’s equity account or stockholders’ equity account. After the transfer, the temporary accounts are said to have “been closed” and will then have zero balances. Double-entry means an accounting system in which every transaction is recorded with amounts entered in two or more accounts. Further, the amounts entered as debits must be equal to the amounts entered as credits.
It should be noted that if an account is normally a debit balance it is increased by a debit entry, and if an account is normally a credit balance it is increased by a credit entry. So for example a debit entry to an asset account will increase the https://whitestoness.com/how-to-increase-your-profit-margin-for-better/ asset balance, and a credit entry to a liability account will increase the liability. Normal balance refers to the expected side or category where an account balance should appear. It is a fundamental concept in accounting that helps ensure accuracy and consistency in financial reporting. Understanding the normal balance of accounts is essential for recording transactions and preparing financial statements. In this case, the inventory account (an asset) increases, so we debit it.
Explore how it affects financial statements and reporting accuracy. However, in accounting, we have to differentiate between purchases as explained above and other purchases such as those involving the procurement of a fixed assets (e.g. factory machine or building). Such purchases are capitalized in the statement of financial position of the entity (i.e. recognized as assets of the entity) rather than being expensed in the income statement. Firstly, there is a need to debit account payables and credit purchase returns.
How do asset and liability accounts differ in terms of normal balances?
Expense accounts normally have debit balances, while income accounts have credit balances. Thus, if you want to increase Accounts Payable, you credit it. As we can see from this expanded accounting equation, Assets accounts increase on the debit side and decrease on the credit side. Liabilities increase on the credit side and decrease on the debit side. This becomes easier to understand as you become familiar with the normal balance of an account. Some suppliers offer discounts of 1% or 2% from the sales invoice amount, if the invoice is paid in 10 days instead of the usual 30 days.
Direct Accounting Method For Cash Circulate Statements
This might indicate that the corporate is investing in its future progress, paying off its money owed, or rewarding its shareholders. Financing activities embody the cash flows related to the corporate’s capital construction. This contains actions corresponding to issuing or repurchasing shares, obtaining or repaying loans, and paying dividends.
Most firms operate with accrual accounting practices, which means that the direct technique is not as generally utilized. On the opposite hand, a money outflow, like paying suppliers, is just recorded once the business makes the payment, not when the bill is received or the companies are rendered beforehand. Put differently, this methodology is predicated on all the transactions that instantly impacted the business’s money balance. Hello, I am questioning why taxes of $8 were not deducted from the money move by way of the operating cashflows to get to $40 from the $48.
When using the direct technique, company managers are capable of closely scrutinize money outflows and inflow classes. This can result in improved cash management methods and doubtlessly strengthen the company’s total financial place. It simplifies how cash move is managed, especially when it comes to real-time change and diversifications. Nevertheless, the direct methodology for constructing the operating cash flow section might offer extra detail and insights right into a company’s operations. Because of this, it’s more common for small companies with fewer transactions to parse through. However, these completely different strategies are solely utilized to the operating https://www.business-accounting.net/ activities section of the money circulate assertion.
This fact shows how complex the direct methodology in money circulate accounting is. You will proceed to the money outflows after you have totaled your whole money inflows for the time period. Nonetheless, the direct strategy to creating the operating money flow part could provide higher details and understanding of a corporation’s activities. Nonetheless, producing it might be a bit extra time-consuming and labor-intensive. Small businesses with fewer transactions often discover it tough to kind by way of.
Benefits Of The Direct Method Cash Circulate
Investing activities include money paid to amass long-lived belongings and money proceeds from the sale of such assets. Financing actions include borrowings, repayments of debt, dividend funds, and fairness transactions. These classes are extra easy to assemble because financial institution transactions often clearly determine loan proceeds and capital investments. For stakeholders who wish to see the timing and magnitude of actual money movements, lenders, homeowners, and managers, the direct methodology reduces the need to convert accrual results into cash realities mentally. It is particularly useful when evaluating short-term liquidity and when advising purchasers on quick cash management actions. Stakeholders, like investors and creditors, can leverage these insights in making their decisions.
The reconciliation itself is similar to the oblique methodology of reporting working actions. It stars with net revenue and adjusts non-cash transaction like depreciation and modifications in stability sheet accounts. Since creating this reconciliation is about as a lot work as just preparing an indirect assertion, most corporations simply choose not to use the direct method. Netting these inflows and outflows will result in the operating money move produced or used by the company throughout a selected period beneath the direct methodology.
The indirect technique is the more in style methodology of getting ready a cash flow statement. In the direct method, as we’ve defined, the focus is to determine the precise operating cash receipts and cash funds during a financial period. As such, you will record the earnings and gross sales of the corporate (inflows) and subtract the bills (outflows). Take this as a really literal strategy to itemizing the precise cash that went out and in of the corporate for any transactions which may be immediately related to the core operations. Regardless Of the IAS 7 favoring the direct method over its counterpart, the oblique method, it does not mandate its use.
Financial Close Solution
Suppose we are supplied with the three monetary statements of an organization, including two years of financial information for the steadiness sheet. Because it focuses solely on money inflows and outflows, it can give a more correct representation of a company’s capacity to generate money and meet short-term obligations. By seeing how cash flows out and in of the enterprise, management can make extra informed decisions regarding liquidity, operations, and investments.
Credit Threat Management
But, the direct methodology is still useful for businesses wanting detailed cash flow info. Under accrual accounting, the data out there is extra conducive to utilizing the oblique method to arrange the cash flow assertion as it’s simpler and it takes much less time. The web balance, after including all inflows and subtracting all outflows, is the actual cash circulate of the agency underneath the direct method at the finish of the financial year. The Clear Path To Cash video course and the Pathfinder advisory build-out provide a mixture of self-paced learning and group coaching tailored for financial professionals. These applications embody tools such as spreadsheets and the Clear Path app, which streamline the conversion of accrual information into money receipts and funds, key to producing correct direct-method statements shortly.
The direct method uses actual cash transactions to calculate cash move. The oblique methodology begins with internet income and adjusts for non-cash objects cash flow statement direct method and working capital adjustments. Both methods follow GAAP however the direct technique provides extra detailed cash move data.
Используя текст параграфа и документы изложите основные идеи учения мартина лютера user_18931950 Ответы Mail
Главной в учении Лютера стала идея спасения только личной верой. Это означала, что спасение души зависит лишь от веры в Бога, и для этого не нужны посредники–папство и церковь. Вера приходит к человеку только через милость Божью, а не вследствие каких-то заслуг. Лютер утверждал, что христианские таинства и ритуалы не имеют того значения, которое им приписывает церковь. Источником христианской веры он считал только Библию и стремился как можно быстрее перевести ее на немецкий язык.
Используя текст параграфа и документы изложите основные идеи учения мартина лютера
“Делай добро и бросай его в воду – оно вернется к тебе волнами” (народная пословица). “Человек человеку друг, товарищ и брат” (народная мудрость). “Сердце человека – книга, в которой каждый может прочитать свою судьбу” (народное изречение). “Благо – не убудешь, а зло – не приумножишь” (народная мудрость).
Используя текст параграфа и документы изложите основные идеи учения мартина лютера
10. “Доброта – это язык, который глухие слышат и слепые видят” (народная мудрость). Нет ничего более ценного, чем человеческая жизнь.
пословиц разных народов России которые отражают идеи гуманнизма
“Добро всегда побеждает зло” (народная пословица). “Будь добрым, и добро к тебе вернется” (народное изречение). “Доброта – это явление, способное обогатить любое сердце” (народная мудрость). “Лучше быть добрым, чем правым” (народное изречение). “В добром идеи для пассивного дохода слове – половина дела” (народная пословица).
пословиц разных народов России которые отражают идеи гуманнизма
Дружба да братство дороже всякого богатства. Кто слишком любит себя, того не слишком любят другие. В миру жить – добрым быть. Лучше не иметь сердца, чем не иметь любви к народу. Сам себя губит, но других любит.
Your Right to a Jury – Should you Demand One
Jury Trial
I know I’ve discussed whether you should seek a jury trial before, but I want to give it a new look for this set of videos. In my view, debt defendants should always ask for jury trials if they have the right to them, and most of them do have that right. These days that’s more important than ever.
Your Right under the Constitution
By constitutional law, you have a right to jury trial under the 7th amendment for most “legal” claims. “Legal” in this sense is a term of art referring to the historical development of the English courts. Suffice it to say that most claims “sounding in” breach of contract are “legal” claims. Account stated, on the other hand, is not, so if the credit card company is suing you ONLY for account stated, you probably don’t have a right to jury trial, but for almost all other credit card or loan based claims you do. And if the plaintiff is suing you for breach of contract and account stated, you will have a right to jury trial that will, in all likelihood, control the whole case.
So most of the people watching this video or reading this article will have a right to jury trial. Should you take it?
Yes. You should.
Judges and Lawyers Take Jury Trials More Seriously
The primary reason is that judges and the other side will take jury trials more seriously. This means that the judge will be much more careful about what kinds of evidence to allow the jury to see, and since that is the heart of much of our defense, this is a very good thing. It isn’t that a judge should allow hearsay to affect his or her decision, it’s that the judge will pay much closer attention to your argument that something IS hearsay if he or she is worried about a jury hearing it. It’s just a more serious kind of case.
And the second reason is that a jury trial is a more serious kind of case. A judge-held trial could last half an hour or even less, but a jury trial will be measured in hours or possibly days if there are any complications. That’s because the jury has to be selected for starters, and that takes time. Then, every evidentiary objection will be taken more seriously and the judge will care more about getting it right in order to make sure the trial doesn’t have to be redone. And finally, there will be jury instructions, which also take time to set up. The difference in cost of attorney time could easily be five thousand dollars, and debt collectors don’t like to put that kind of money into cases like this. It’s just the way they do business, not that they fear them or anything.
Juries are More Likely to Believe you
You probably don’t have much money if you’re being sued by a debt collector, and if you’re representing yourself you are certainly not a trial judge. Judges, debt collectors, and the lawyers who represent debt collectors all have money, and most of them were born into privilege. They’re not usually the people you want making decisions that affect your life because, to be frank, most of them don’t care about you at all. You know who might care about your situation, though? The jury. Nothing’s guaranteed, of course, but I’ve found that a jury is more likely to see things your way. Especially when combined with the chances of getting better evidentiary rulings from the court in jury cases, I think this can make all the difference.
Jury Trials are NOT Scary
It might sound like a jury trial is a bigger deal for a shy or intimidated person, and it is true that they are somewhat more complicated, and you’re playing to people in the jury rather than just the judge. But although that’s true, you will probably find, in real life, that it doesn’t matter. Juries are just as easy to talk to as judges, and if you’re caught up in your case it’s probably even easier to talk to the jury. They’re much more like you than the judge is. I used to think you had to be more “entertaining” for juries than judges, but I don’t think that anymore. If you can stick to your script, that should be good enough: juries will listen as well as judges in my opinion.
There are factors you’ll need to consider as you prepare for the case, but in making your decision on whether or not to demand a jury that’s probably all you need to know. The judge will be more serious, the defendant will like the case less, and the jury will be easier to talk to than the judge and may be fairer. In general. So we suggest you ask for a jury trial. Find out your court’s rules on asking for one before you file your answer if that is possible.
This article updated 3/25/25
Do I Respond, How do I Respond, What do I Respond
DO I Respond, HOW do I Respond, and WHAT do I Respond when Sued for Debt?
We talk elsewhere about what constitutes valid service of a lawsuit, and you should check out that video and article if you have any questions about whether you’ve been served. That makes a large difference in what you should do, and if you have been improperly served, you likely will not want to “answer” the suit at all and may instead want to “move to quash” the suit.
We also discuss elsewhere whether you should respond to a debt collection lawsuit you find out about if you have not been served the complaint. To boil that down to its most essential point, if you have not been served at all – you hear about the suit from a neighbor or look your name up in court files, or a lawyer sends you a letter saying you’re being sued – we usually suggest that you take no action if you don’t have a lawyer. If you do have a lawyer, and the lawyer thinks it’s best to get on with it, that might be a good idea, but as a pro se defendant you won’t be able to shut the case down the way a lawyer might.
Let them serve you if they can, but you have no obligation to help with that process. You don’t have to go down to the sheriff’s office or call the firm suing you or its process server. See if they can get you, and if they can’t the case will be dismissed against you. It actually happens a lot, although not a statistically huge percentage of cases.
If you go this route, you will want to keep an eye on the court files to see if, whether or not they HAVE served you, they claim to have served you, and that brings up a special issue that we discuss elsewhere, too.
If you are Served the Suit
If you get served, your next question will be HOW to respond. If you fail to respond at all, the other side will get a default judgment and start trying to get your stuff, so this is probably not a good idea for you. You’ll need to Answer or file what’s called a motion (in some jurisdictions, like California, you could file what’s called a “demurrer,” which is just another kind of motion). To answer this question, you should first consider what kind of court you’re in. Are you in a small claims court, sometimes called a “magistrate” court? Or are you in a “real” court?
If you’re in a small claims or magistrate court, see our video and article on that.
Assuming you’re in a real court, you’ll need to do two things right off the bat. First, find your state’s Rules of Civil Procedure and look up the part about service of process and motions to dismiss. Some motions to dismiss have to be filed before you answer the petition. Find out if you have one of those – the petition is vague, names the wrong person, or violates certain procedural requirements some states have for debt collectors. If you have one of these, you might be (and almost certainly are) waiving your right to bring the motion if you answer first.
If they claim you were served, but you have some reason to dispute that, you probably need to bring what’s called a “motion to quash” service before you answer (as mentioned above), since answering will be regarded as your consent to the court’s jurisdiction.
If none of those concerns apply to you, you will need to answer the suit. In some states, they have what’s called a “verified petition,” which means that someone swore to the truth of the allegations. If you have that sort of petition, you will need to swear to your answer, and this means getting a notary public to witness the document. But this is rare. In most instances, the petition is an ordinary one signed by the lawyer for the debt collector. If that’s what you’ve got, you will simply want to deny almost all of the paragraphs, one by one, in the petition. Don’t go to absurd lengths and deny your name or address, if those are correct, but you should generally deny all of the other substantive allegations. The legal effect of your denial is to say, “prove it.”
In some states you can file what’s called a “general denial,” which does in one sentence what I just suggested.
If you think you have a counterclaim against the person suing you, you will want to add that to your answer.
We discuss “affirmative defenses” elsewhere, but in general they are facts that, even if what the debt collector says in its petition is true, would mean you don’t owe them money. Most typical of these sorts of defenses are some sort of agreement to settle or address the claim, or the passage of too much time before they brought the suit, called the statute of limitations.
The essence of an affirmative defense is that you bear the burden of proof in showing that these factors exist, and you also must plead them in your answer.
Finally, let’s talk about demanding a jury. Our position is, generally, that debt defendants should ask for a jury. We discuss this in greater length in our article and video on juries, but if you think you want a jury (as we recommend), you need to find out how your court and state require that you demand one. In federal court and some states, it’s enough to say it as part of your answer. In some states, you have to make a separate request by separate pleading. Find out what you are required to do and do that.
If by chance you’re just finding out about this after already starting to defend your case, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily too late. If you have a right to jury trial, the right is absolute when you raise it in the proper way and time, but even if you don’t do it when you should, the court should normally grant your request anyway absent some sort of misbehavior or the passage of too much time, and they are required to be “liberal” in their interpretation of what’s too late. That is, they are supposed to lean towards granting your request for a jury, so even if you’re late, you should go for it if you want one.
This article updated 3/25/25
Receiving Summons: What is “Valid” Service of Process
Receiving Summons: What is “Valid” Service of Process
This question comes up a lot, and I have addressed it before. But for this set of videos I want to give a shorter, sweeter answer. Bear in mind that service of process is the way a court asserts jurisdiction over you – “process” is not the lawsuit, it’s the summons, the sheet of paper from the court, and “service” is the way it’s given to you. If it isn’t done correctly, the court lacks power to control your fate. As you’ll see, the rule isn’t some sort of absolute constitutional requirement – it is constitutionally required, but it can vary under circumstances of practicality. We’ll discuss some of those here.
If you’re in small claims court, there may be special rules regarding service of process. There often are. For example, service by certified mail, or even just first class mail, may be sufficient. If you receive a summons by mail, you should look up the court’s rules on service. Sometimes, even if service by mail is good, there may need to be some proof that you actually received it. Check your rules and see if what you got was good enough. Obviously you don’t want to call them, identify yourself, and ask if receiving service by mail was good enough, since that would be admitting you got it.
If you’re being sued in something other than small claims court, it’s probably going to take more than just the mail. They’re probably going to have to hand you the suit or offer to do so.
Here again, the rule is not absolute. If they offer you the summons, and you refuse it or run away, you will have been served. It isn’t necessary for you to take it for service to have happened, just for it to be offered.
But what if they tack it on your door? Or put it between the screen door and your front door? That’s normally not going to be enough, since there’s no certainty you will be the one getting it, but if that happens, you’ll want to research the question before deciding it wasn’t good enough. Incidentally, if we’re talking about a foreclosure or rent eviction, tacking the suit to the door might be enough to get jurisdiction over the property even if not over you, personally. That would mean that they could evict you if you don’t answer, but not hold you liable if there’s anything else owed.
What about if they give the summons to a neighbor? Probably not enough (check your state’s rules) and possibly a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, too.
How about giving it to you child at the door? This, too, is going to be determined by state rule. Most states have rules that allow service upon residents at a place who are a certain age or above. So ordinarily that would not give a visitor a right to accept service on you, or a child under a certain age.
If you haven’t been served adequately, you may wish to oppose the court’s jurisdiction over you. I actually usually suggest you hire a lawyer to do that for you, since it’s just a more powerful statement and can be done without being tremendously expensive. You would file what’s called a “motion to quash service,” to have it deemed ineffective by the court.
What if they can’t find you or reach you at home? There are other ways you can be served, but usually the plaintiff has to ask for permission to do that. They could serve you “by publication,” which means posting notice in some legal publication. Since no one ever reads those publications, you won’t see that, but if you’re aware they’re trying to reach you, you should follow the case docket and see if they ask for permission to serve you that way. If so and the court gives them permission to do so, you’re probably going to want to go ahead and waive service and ask them to mail you the summons and complaint. But it’s quite rare for debt collectors to take all the trouble to serve by publication for a very good reason: if they can’t find you to serve you, they’re not likely to be able to find your assets to collect on them. Everybody in the debt collection business likes to get paid, and if they don’t think they will be, they usually won’t put in the effort.
As you can see, I generally think the debt collectors should have to put in the effort to serve you. If they can’t, there isn’t much reason for you to make that easier for them. They might drop the suit on you completely. That’s a winner.
[updated 3/26/25]
Talking with the Judge and the other Lawyer
Talking with the Judge and other lawyer
I’ve discussed some of the background realities of talking with the judge and the attorney for the other side when you’re representing yourself as a defendant in a suit for debt in “Real Words about Talking to Judges and Lawyers.” I mentioned that neither judges nor the lawyers will start off respecting you if you’re pro se. That means you’re going to need to do certain things.
When speaking as a pro se defendant in a debt case, your first rule, always, is to speak normally. That means, use plain English – don’t try to impress anybody with you or what you know. Impress them with the facts. Speak in a normal tone of voice and with respect but not fear. Don’t kiss up to them, but treat them the way you’d treat somebody you like or can work with. Keep your cool. You’re in a situation where disagreements always come up – they’re not personal, or at least you should never make your words personal.
With those things in mind, there are some specifics to remember with judges and the lawyer for the other side.
Talking with the Judge
You’re going to have to be better than the lawyer for the other side. There are reasons this is possible, but it’s primarily because of the business model of the debt collectors. They take a factory approach, and their lawyer won’t work on your case much at all. It just isn’t profitable for them to do that. Nor is it profitable for them to hire the smartest lawyers in the business. Their whole approach is to bug you into paying without suing you and then to file huge numbers of suits knowing most people won’t defend themselves at all and will allow a default judgment. This isn’t to say their lawyers aren’t any good and can’t win, but it gives you a good chance if you’re willing to work.
Defending yourself takes you way out of the “ordinary” kinds of cases the deal with, and it’s a start, but you also still have to put in enough work to be better than the other side, and that’s what we discuss here.
Because of the general lack of respect for pro se defendants, when you say something, you will be more likely to need to cite controlling authority than a lawyer would. They can make references to “black letter law” (which is just legalese for “generally obvious”), but you will do better, if the issue is important at all, by citing a case that supports it. That means research is going to be important to you. (We have a product that can help with this.)
One thing non-lawyers seem to have trouble with is keeping things “relevant.” If you’re arguing about whether the debt collector has proof they own the debt, some things will shine a light on the issue, but the fact that the company has been sued by the federal government for collection abuses will not be, for example. Because of the way the court sees you, it will have very little tolerance for any straying off topic – the judge will think you’re wasting time and often tune out. Therefore, make sure everything you say relates to exactly the issue you’re discussing.
A related issue is keeping things brief. Again, the court will quickly sense that you’re wasting time if you veer away from the most important things at all. The judge doesn’t need to know why you thought something or planned something, it needs to know what the law requires. Pro se defendants seem to have a tremendous difficulty with this – you want to tell your story, but let me tell you that the court could not give one damn about your story. Legal talk is very different in this respect than regular human talk. Do NOT waste the court’s time.
Don’t whine. This is probably self-explanatory, but it’s part of the other things I’ve mentioned. Because the court does not care about your feelings, it will regard anything you say or insinuate about your feelings as a waste of time.
Know when to hold and when to fold. This is part of maintaining self-discipline and paying attention to the judge. When the judge says they’ve ruled, you are on extremely borrowed time. Ordinarily you should shut up and sit down. As I point out in “Real Talk,” you do that by saying, “Thank you, your honor.” But sometimes you don’t think you’ve had a chance to raise a crucial point. In that situation, you say something like, “I hear that, your honor, but I wanted to make sure you knew that they caught the defendant red-handed holding the knife with blood all over him…”
What I’m saying here is that if you want to say something after the judge has already ruled, it had better be damn good, and even then you’re on thin ice, but sometimes you have to say something to preserve the record. Judges can be hasty, and specially so with pro se debt defendants, so sometimes you may feel you have to point something out, but make sure it’s good – otherwise you’re just going to make the judge mad.
And speaking of anger, you must ALWAYS keep your feelings in check when you’re talking to the judge. If you raise your voice you could get thrown in jail for contempt of court, but of course it’s much more likely that the judge will just stop listening to you for the rest of the case. Baseball coaches seem to think it helps sometimes to get kicked out of a game, but this is never going to be a good strategy for you. Shut up, collect your thoughts, and be ready for the next thing.
Talking with the Lawyer
And now just a few words about the lawyers. First, keeping your cool is just as important with them as it is with judges. They can’t throw you in jail, but they can certainly tune you out in lots of ways. It won’t be good for you if they do.
Because you’ll be negotiating in various ways with the other lawyer, you need to remember one thing: threats are cheap. Because they don’t have a lot of respect for you, if you tell them “we should settle this thing now, or I’m going to file a motion for summary judgment next week…” they’re just going to ignore that. They don’t think you’ll do it. Any similar threats are pointless and more harmful than good. Instead, do the work first and let your actions speak for you.
In other words, don’t tell them you’re going to file a motion – file it and then talk. That would be more work, no doubt, if they ever would listen to threats and save you the trouble, but they never do. Threatening will lose ground for you. Doing without threatening (or warning, or negotiating to try not to have to file something) will gain ground for you.
Incidentally, a lot of lawyers try the same trick with the same results (nothing), but whereas I could probably draft a motion for summary judgment and send it to the other side saying that if they don’t settle I’m going to file the motion, you probably couldn’t even do that. There’s a chance they’d read it if a lawyer wrote it, but they probably won’t read anything you send until you file it. So go ahead and file what you’re going to file. Let your actions do your talking.
Don’t be afraid of the work. As long as the case continues, nothing you do will be wasted – everything you do will teach things you’re going to need to know.
On Being Nasty or Difficult
I hesitate to address this topic, but think I must. The lawyer for the other side does not take you seriously most of the time, and getting personal will normally not do any good. However, he or she is a person, and in a rare case, especially where there are complicated legal issues or where you’ve already done some winning, being personally difficult or unpleasant can work to your advantage. They already don’t want to work on your case, and if you can make them feel worse about that you might hasten their willingness to settle. This is rarely a good strategy, however. If you’re good at it (and you will know if you are), and the situation develops correctly, you might consider it. This is obviously only relating to the other side’s lawyer, never the judge.
[This article updated 3/26/25]