Affidavit
A written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by the deponent under oath, administered and attested by any person authorized by law to administer oaths.
Agreement (see also Attorney Response Agreement)
A signed document between a client and Corinthos & Morgan clearly defining the terms, conditions, fees and charges for providing a negotiated settlement of debt acceptable to all parties.
Arbitration
An alternative to litigation; before a lawsuit is ready to go to trial held in an attempt to avoid a court trial and conducted by a person or a panel of people who are not judges. The arbitration may be agreed to by the parties, may be required by a provision in a contract for settling disputes, or may be provided for under statute.
Attorney
A person legally appointed or empowered to act for another. A lawyer qualified to represent clients in legal proceedings who has passed state specific testing and is recognized by a state bar association.
Attorney Demand Letter
A formal letter an attorney sends to the client for payment or action.
Attorney Fees
Compensation for legal services performed by an attorney (lawyer or law firm) for a client, in or out of court. It may be an hourly, flat-rate or contingent fee.
Attorney Response Agreement
A signed document between a client & Corinthos & Morgan that outlines the necessary purpose for an attorney to represent the client's case.
Bank Levy (also Bank Uen, see also Lien)
Collection efforts by the plaintiff by order of a judgment on the defendant's bank account, can be their business or personal bank account depending on the type of lawsuit, previous contract provisions or personal guarantees
Bankruptcy
It is a legal status of a person or other entity that cannot repay the debts it owes to creditors. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor.
Breach of Agreement (Canadian/USA)
The failure to do what one promised to do under an agreement.
Breach of Contract (Canadian/USA)
Liability arises where, knowing of the contract and with intent to prevent or hinder its performance, the defendant induces one party not to perform his part of the contract or the defendant commits a wrongful act to prevent the performance of the contract.
Case Set-up Fee
A requested amount to bring a new case into a firm to work on it for a settlement.
Client
A person that has signed the agreement and power of attorney to allow Corinthos & Morgan, LLC. to work on their behalf. For a client to be recognized by Corinthos & Morgan and begin to work on their case the case rep must also have a DSP and all necessary hardship turned into Operations before they are officially considered a client
Closed Business Letter
A formal letter stating that a company has ceased its operations. This letter must contain the date the business closed, be signed by the previous business owner and have this person's current contact information.
Collections
Process of recovering amounts owed to a firm by its customers. This can be handled internally within a company, or they may a hire collection firm to handle it for them. When they use an outside source, that company will be compensated on the amount that they collect.
Commercial Debt Settlement
A business to business approach to debt reduction in which the debtor and creditor agree on a reduced balance that will be regarded as payment in full, or a payment plan that is agreeable to both parties. Either way also is designed to stop legal action from escalating and halt any judgment efforts.
Court Documents
Legal summons outlining specific cases. Any lawsuit documents or judgment documents recorded or to be recorded at the courthouse. This may include but is not limited to summons sent to the defendant, recorded lawsuits, recorded judgments, any financial discovery papers, all dockets, etc
Court Ordered Settlement
A court-ordered payment action placing legal obligation on the debtor to pay and authorizing specific collection methods that include, but are not limited to voluntary payment, garnishment of bank accounts, seizure of assets and seizure of receivables. In a settlement, the debtor is likely charged with interest, court costs and attorney's fees. Once a settlement is ordered, the debtor has the least amount of control or leverage over the situation.
Creditor (see also Plaintiff)
The individual or business entity which is legally recognized as being owed money by a debtor.
Debtor (see also Defendant)
Individual or business entity which is legally responsible for a debt.
Delinquent Tax Notices
Letters from the IRS that demand that the amount that is owed to the IRS be paid so further penalties and interest are not incurred. This can be used as part of the hardship documents for a discounted settlement offer.
Default Judgment
When a debtor/defendant does not show up to defend her/himself in response to the lawsuit, the judge may award a default judgment and grant the plaintiffs demands for settlement of the legal matter.
Defendant
The party sued in a civil lawsuit or judgment by the plaintiff. Corinthos & Morgan only calls business and a list of non acceptable defendants is on a do not call list on the bottom of the Process Steps to Get the Client sheet in the training manual
Defendant 2 (or 3)
Additional party members sued in a civil lawsuit or judgment
Deposition
The taking and recording of testimony of a witness under oath before a court reporter in a place away from the courtroom before trial. A deposition is part of permitted pre-trial discovery (investigation), set up by an attorney for one of the parties to a lawsuit demanding the sworn testimony of the opposing party (defendant or plaintiff), a witness to an event, or an expert intended to be called at trial by the opposition.
Disbursement
Once money is received by Corinthos & Morgan by the defendant toward payment of the settlement, a disbursement is sent out which details a confirmation of what the initial payment was set for, the amount received and when, and when the next amount is due if there is any, and where to send that next payment.
Execution Order (Canadian/USA)
The direction of a court or judge which commands a party to carry out a judgment..
Financial Statements
A document showing credits and debits.
Garnishment
A court authorized action where a creditor accesses a bank account and seizes a lump sum or regular installments for the repayment of a debt. This action can be extended to taking money from paychecks and other such income, even having a law enforcement person standing at a debtors register to take money as it comes in
Guarantee
Corinthos & Morgan's pledge to either produce and execute an acceptable debt settlement program on behalf of the client, or charge nothing for the effort and refund any retainer collected.
Hardship
A client that is attempting to settle their debt at a discount will need to prove financial hardship. This means that they have other lawsuits and/or judgments or past due accounts, or they have Profit and Loss (P&L) statements that show the company has not made a profit.
Hardship Request
An email or fax sent to the prospect that details the best type of financial documents that can be used to build a strong case for a discounted settlement. This email/fax has one document with a cover letter. The request document is found in the Rep Docs folder, then go to the Sales Docs, and last in the Docs Sent to Client folder.
Judgment
Findings by a judge giving a creditor legal standing in the collection of an unpaid debt. Often, a judgment is the precursor to a court-ordered settlement. When a deal settles after Ft has become a judgment, the judgment is then filed for a release or release of judgment.
Lawsuit
The first court recorded step a creditor will take after other collection efforts have failed. If a defendant does not answer the lawsuit within the response time given, an automatic judgment will be issued by the courts. When a deal settles when it is still in the lawsuit stage and not yet a judgment, it is filed for a dismissal or is dismissed.
Legal Action
Any lawsuit petition or prosecution.
Lien
There are many types of liens, tax liens, mechanic's liens, judgment liens, etc. This is imposed by court order to secure payment of that particular type with real money or property
Litigation
The legal process in a civil case. The process of taking a case through court; the plaintiff calls for a summons, it that is not answered then it becomes a lawsuit, if that is not answered by the defendant or is not in favor of the defendant then it becomes a judgment.
Mediation
The attempt to settle a legal dispute through active participation of a third party (mediator) who works to find points of agreement and make those in conflict agree on a fair result.
Negligence
Conduct that falls below the standards of behavior established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risk of harm. A person has acted negligently if he or she has departed from the conduct expected of a reasonably prudent person acting under similar circumstances.
Negotiated Settlement
A Corinthos & Morgan negotiated agreement with a creditor to guarantee repayment of a debt within an agreed time frame at a substantially reduced amount.
Non-Disclosure Agreement
A legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict access to or by third parties. It's a contract through which the parties agree not to reveal information covered by the agreement Legal action can be enforced if the agreement is broken.
P & L (Profit and Loss Statement)
An income financial statement that gives operating results for a specific period. When included as a hardship document as part of the settlement negotiations, this P & L should show a loss as the end result of the statement.
Past Due (P/D)
A client may have other issues that have not gone on to become a lawsuit yet and Corinthos & Morgan can also help settle their other accounts that might just be past due to a vendor of 90 days, 120 days, etc. The client will usually provide these past due documents as part of their financial hardship for another case. It is always required of the case rep to ask their client if they would like us to handle any of their other issues and with these past due documents, we can be specific in questioning the client on the cases they may want additional assistance
Payment Processing Fee
Companies may charge a fee for each payment received when they set up a settlement that resulted in a monthly payment schedule instead of a discount.
Plaintiff
The creditor which is the party that sued in a civil action; listed a complaint in the courts against the defendant. The plaintiff initiates the lawsuit by filing a complaint with the clerk of the courts against the defendant with a demand for repayment
POA
A power of attorney that is executed between the client and Corinthos & Morgan is used as a written authorization for Corinthos & Morgan to represent the client while negotiating with the creditor's attorney.
Response Date
The date given by the courts to have an answer to a proposed issue. Usually this is the label given to a date on a lawsuit when it would need to have an answer from the defendant before it is given an automatic judgment.
Response Fee
A charge of $400 to client to have an attorney response with Corinthos & Morgan negotiation to the plaintiffs attorney for either a Florida or Ohio case. This entire amount is given over the attorney and $0 is kept for Corinthos & Morgan.
Retainer
An up-front fee or deposit charged by a service to initiate effort on behalf of the client. To initiate an Agreement with a client, Corinthos & Morgan collects a modest retainer to demonstrate a level of commitment to settle outstanding debt. In turn, Corinthos & Morgan applies 100% of the retainer towards settling the debt with the client's creditor(s).
Secured Debt
Money owed to an individual or a business entity that is "collateralized" or tied to an asset that can be seized in the event of default.
Settled
Once all monies have been collected on the agreement struck between all parties for the discount settlement or the payment schedule for the full amount.
Settlement
A court-ordered payment action placing legal obligation on the debtor to pay and authorizing specific collection methods that include, but are not limited to voluntary payment, garnishment of bank accounts, seizure of assets and seizure of receivables. In a settlement, the debtor is likely charged with interest, court costs and attorney's fees. Once a settlement is ordered, the debtor has the least amount of control or leverage over the situation.
Summons
A citation, a warning to appear in court.
Tax Return
A form on which a taxpayer makes an annual statement of income and personal circumstances, used by the tax authorities to assess liability for tax. When used as hardship for a discounted settlement, this should reflect that the company did not make money that year but that they were listing a loss of income for the company.
Till Tap
A legal action, typically carried out by the Sheriff's Office, where a deputy mans the cash register and collects receipts for goods and services sold to store customers. The action continues until the debt is paid in full, usually with added an administrative fee.
Unsecured Debts
Money owed to an individual or a business entity that isn't tied to an asset.
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