I'll try to make a long story short. Back in January, I listed my MINI Cooper on Craigslist and a guy came by to test drive it - he was thinking of buying it for his son. He liked it enough that he wanted to have his mechanic check it out the next day; we let him take the car. Lo and behold, he had an accident on the way to his mechanic that caused $1000 of damage to my car. The other driver's insurance ponied up 50% but we eventually had to sue our guy to recover the remaining 50% ($500) in damages.
The good news is that we won our case. The bad news? As of yesterday he still hadn't paid up, so we returned to court to find out why and, if necessary, issue a civil warrant for his arrest. (I was kind of hoping it would go that direction, because that would be kind of badass, plus I would feel *very* vindicated.)
In my head I had prepared my rebuttal to whatever lame excuses he was going to offer for his non-payment. First of all, he drove a huge Cadillac SUV to our house. Secondly, he is gainfully employed (as a lawyer, it turns out!). Thirdly, he was prepared to drop $4500 on our car a few months ago. How can he not afford to pay a $500 claim?
Here's how: he applied for bankruptcy last month! He had to provide his bankruptcy filing to prove it, so I have a copy in hand. Get this: we are one of FORTY-NINE creditors that he owes money to, and the total amount he owes is almost $265,000. Over a quarter million dollars, you guys!!!! And there's no mortgage in there. Here's a sampling of whom he and his wife owe: Macy's, Home Depot, TJMaxx, Kohl's, Lowes, Best Buy, J Crew, Bank of America, Sallie Mae, TMobile, Staples, Planet Fitness, Victoria's Secret, plus he owes over $20k in back taxes, and it looks like there are two outstanding car loans.
I am completely flabbergasted that anyone could dig themselves into such a deep hole. If ever there was a poster child for anti-mustachianism, this guy is it. It's unreal.
So, yeah. We're never gonna get that $500 back. Oh well, though - we won the moral victory, plus I'm going to keep his bankruptcy filing and show it to my son when he's older, as a cautionary tale.