One Letter Saves Client $50,000
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a letter from a LegalShield® attorney is worth over $50,000. Recently, Fiffik Law Group Attorney Adie Kurtanich was able to remove a $50,000+ improperly filed lien against her client’s home through a well-crafted letter.
The unsatisfied need for civil legal services is immense. Americans experience millions of civil legal problems every year. The average is three problems every 18 months. It's not a question of “if”, but rather “when” Pennsylvanians will have a legal problem.
Attorney Kurtanich’s client was not aware of the lien filed against her until she applied for a senior citizens home improvement program. One of the program’s requirements was that there could be no judgments or liens impacting the home. Through a title search, the Montgomery County woman found out that there was a lien against her property that she was never notified about. If a lien is going to be filed, 30 days of notice of intent to lien must be provided. In this case, it was not.
A lien is a claim against assets that are used as collateral to satisfy a debt or to repay a loan.
“If they were going to make a claim against the estate, she should have been notified,” Attorney Kurtanich said. “She should have also been served with the complaint prior to the lawsuit, which she never received.”
It was soon discovered that the lien was filed by the woman’s deceased husband’s former employer. They had obtained a judgment related to an alleged pension overpayment, which are very uncommon. The judgment was obtained after her husband died, and no notice of any proceedings was provided to her or her husband’s estate even though the employer knew her husband had passed away.
A judgment is the final decision of the court.
Thankfully, the woman reached out to Fiffik Law Group for help. Attorney Kurtanich sent a letter to her husband’s former employer explaining why the judgment and lien were improper. After receiving this letter, the former employer immediately released the lien from the woman’s home.
“Resolving this matter with a letter and a discussion rather than her having to go through a formal legal proceeding saved my client approximately $3,000-$5,000, but possibly even more since this would have been an appeal,” Attorney Kurtanich says.
Without a LegalShield® membership and an attorney like Adie Kurtanich on her side, this woman would not have realized that she even had grounds to have the lien released. She also wouldn’t have known that writing a letter was a plausible, and much more affordable, alternative to going to court. And even if she had known these things, she simply would not have had the money to hire someone to initiate legal proceedings.
“Sometimes you need a lawyer’s perspective to evaluate all potential legal options in order to find a path forward,” Attorney Kurtanich said. “There may be an easily available solution, but without the knowledge of a tenacious lawyer, you may never know. For those times, we are here for you.”
Fiffik Law Group's mission is to provide access to justice for all. If you are interested in becoming a LegalShield® member, learn more here.