Frequently Asked Questions

1. I have been served with a Complaint and a Summons, what should I do?

1. My husband is physically abusing me. What can I do?
2. Do I have to allow my children to visit with their father if he is not paying child support?
3. Child support is still being taken out of my paycheck even though all of my kids are now living with me. Am I still responsible for payment of the child support?

1. I have just received a writ of garnishment, will they be able to take my entire check?
2. What is the difference between a chapter 7 and a chapter 13 bankruptcy?
3. I just bought a used car and it broke down before it left the lot. Can I force the dealer to refund my money or to make repairs? Do I have to continue making the car payments?

1. I have just been served with a notice to vacate for failure to pay rent. It is true that I did not pay my rent but it was because I wanted my landlord to make some repairs. Can he really evict me?
2. My landlord gave me a notice to vacate and told me that if I did not move as requested, he would take the doors off of the house. Can he do this?

1. I believe that my employer has discriminated against me, what can I do?
2. My employer did not pay me the correct amount of money, what can I do?
3. I have just been fired for no reason at all, can my employer do this?

1. I have just received a notice that my SSI application has been denied, what should I do next?

First, you should note the importance of the summons. The summons informs you that you have been sued, it gives you information about the court in which the lawsuit is filed, it tells you the name and address of the opposing party and it notifies you of the time limit in which you have to respond to the lawsuit before a default judgement can be granted. The normal period for responding to a lawsuit is twenty (20) days from the date on which you received the summons and the complaint. If however, you were served with a lawsuit which was filed in another state, you usually have thirty (30) days to respond to the lawsuit.

You normally respond to a lawsuit by filing an answer. An answer is a written statement as to the truth of each of the allegations made in the complaint. Depending on the type of lawsuit and the amount of damages sought, you should strongly consider whether or not you should retain an attorney to assist you at this point. If you decide not to retain an attorney are unable to retain one, you may still proceed in the matter pro se, which means you would be proceeding without the assistance of an attorney.

The pro se answer must include the court designation, the name of the parties, and case number in the same manner as noted on the complaint. The pro se answer must also include your address, telephone number and signature. Please note, for convenience, many municipal courts may have a prepared "fill in the blanks" answer form which can be requested.

Once the pro se answer has been prepared, you are responsible for filing the answer by taking the original answer and a copy to the appropriate court clerk and presenting the documents to him or her for filing. She will file-stamp the documents and return the copy to you for your records. You then are responsible for mailing a copy of the answer to the opposing party or to his stated attorney.

The filing of a timely answer should prevent a default judgement only. Please note, however, that this is just the beginning of the lawsuit. Again, depending on the type of lawsuit and the damages sought you should strongly consider retaining an attorney to assist you in the matter, especially if the opposing party is represented by an attorney.

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First you are advised to immediately remove yourself and your children to a safe place. This could be the home of a friend, the home of a family member or a shelter. Click here for a list of Arkansas Domestic Violence Shelters and phone numbers. If you need assistance with finding a shelter in your area, you may want to call the Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence at (800) 269-4668.

Next, you are advised to immediately petition the court for an order of protection. You can do so by filing a petition with your county chancery court clerk. The petition is normally a "fill in the blank" type of form that upon filing will be presented to the judge. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FEE FOR FILING THIS PETITION IS NORMALLY WAIVED INITIALLY BY THE CLERK. The judge will review the petition and if the information presented evidences physical abuse on the part of the spouse, the judge will grant a temporary order of protection. This order usually addresses the issue of custody and possibly could order the removal of the husband from the marital home.

Once your husband is served with the temporary order a hearing will be scheduled for the court to determine whether a more permanent order should be issued. You must attend the hearing and present evidence that the threat of abuse is still present if you desire to extend the order of protection.

The order of protection should order your husband to stay away from your residence, school, place of business, and possibly your children's school. If your husband violates the order of protection, he can be arrested and possibly charged with a misdemeanor.

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It depends. If there is no valid court order granting the father visitation with the children, you are not required to allow visitations. However, if there is a valid court order granting the father visitation with the children, you must follow the court order unless you reasonably feel that your children are in danger of abuse or of parental kidnaping. The father's failure to pay court ordered child support is a matter to bring before the court in a contempt proceeding, it is not a matter for you to handle indirectly by other means.

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Yes. You are responsible for any court ordered child support until such time that the order has been modified. If you desire to modify the order, you will need to petition the court. Though such modifications of the child support order could be done pro se, without the assistance of an attorney, it is highly recommended that you retain an attorney as the matter may present many legal issues, including custody, which you may not be equipped to handle.

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No. Federal law limits how much of your disposable earnings can be garnished. The maximum amount of disposable earnings that may be garnished is the lesser of: 1) 25% of the disposable earnings for that workweek; or 2) the amount by which disposable earnings for that week exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage ($5.85 x 30 = $175.50).

Disposable earnings are that part of wages that remain after allowed deductions. Allowed deductions are the amounts withheld for federal, state an local taxes, social security and other governmental retirement programs required by law. Deductions for union dues, health and life insurance, assignment of wages, savings bonds and the like are not considered.

Arkansas also provides limited exemptions on wages from garnishment. An exemption means that certain amounts of money cannot be taken if you file an exception to the garnishment. The first exemption is the first $25 of wages. The second exemption is sixty days of wages if those wages plus the value of the personal property owned by the debtor does not exceed $500 for head of household or $200 for a single person.

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Bankruptcy is a legal proceeding in which people who cannot pay their debts can get a fresh financial start. The right to file for bankruptcy is provided by federal law and all bankruptcy cases are handled by in federal court. Filing bankruptcy immediately stops all of your creditors from seeking to collect debts from you, at least until your debts are sorted out according to the law. Most people filing bankruptcy will file under either chapter 7 or chapter 13. Either type of case may be filed individually or by a married couple filing jointly.

Chapter 7 is known as the "straight" bankruptcy or "liquidation" in which you file a petition asking the court to discharge your debts. The basic idea in a chapter 7 bankruptcy is to wipe out your debts in exchange for your giving up property, except for "exempt" property which the law allows you to keep. In most cases all of your property will be exempt. But property which is not exempt is sold, with the money distributed to the creditors. If you would like to keep property like a home or a car and are behind on the payments on a mortgage or a car loan, a chapter 7 case probably will not be the right choice for you. That is because the chapter 7 bankruptcy does not eliminate the right of the mortgage holders or car loan creditors to take your property to cover your debt.

Chapter 13 is called "debt adjustment." It requires the debtor to file a plan to pay debts (or parts of debts) from current income. The most important thing about a chapter 13 case is that it may allow you to keep valuable property, especially your home and car which might otherwise be lost, if you can make the payments which the bankruptcy law requires to be made to the creditors. In most cases, these payments will be at least as much as your regular monthly payments on your mortgage or car loan with some extra payment to get caught up on the amount you have fallen behind.

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Generally, unless you purchased an additional warranty on the vehicle, then you purchased the car "as is." This means that you are totally responsible for any necessary repairs of the vehicle. You cannot legally force the dealer to refund your money, terminate the purchase agreement or make the necessary repairs on the vehicle. You remain responsible for all payments toward the purchase of the vehicle under the purchase agreement and/or any additional financial agreements, even though the vehicle is now not operational.

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Yes. Arkansas does not require the private landlord to make any repairs on a leased dwelling unit unless the lease agreement specifically states that he has such a duty. Therefore, if there is not a lease agreement or if the lease agreement does not address the issue of unit repairs, the tenant cannot legally force the landlord to make the repairs.

If, based upon the lease agreement, the landlord is under a specific duty to make repairs and does not do so, the resident has the option of making the repairs and suing the landlord for money damages such as the cost associated with the repairs. The resident may also sue the landlord for breach of the agreement prior to making the repairs requesting that the court order that the repairs be made or that some other offset be made. However, regardless of which option you choose, you are still responsible for payment of the rent.

Please note that landlords who offer public housing or federally subsidized housing may be under a specific duty based upon their housing authority agreement to make repairs. If you are in a public housing or federally subsidized housing unit, you will need to contact your public housing authority representative as to the landlord's obligations and your responsibilities.

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No. This is referred to as a "self-help" eviction and is illegal. You can only be forced out of a leased residence by an order of the court. If the landlord proceeds to "lock" you out of your leased residence or to take any measures such as the above in efforts to forcefully evict you, you should retain an attorney immediately and file for injunctive relief. Injunctive relief in this case would prevent the landlord from taking further illegal actions and force the landlord to return the leased unit to its original condition.

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In regards to employment discrimination of any kind, please contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The Arkansas branch of this federal agency is located at 425 W. Capitol, Suite 625, Little Rock, AR 72201. The telephone number for this agency is (501) 324-5060 or (800) 669-4000.

Please note that a charge must be filed with the EEOC within 180 days from the date of the alleged violation. This 180-day deadline may be increased up to 300 days if the charge also is covered by certain state or local anti-discrimination laws.

Under all laws enforced by the EEOC except the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), a charge must be filed with the EEOC before going to court. After an appropriate investigation, EEOC may decide that discrimination occurred or may close the charge because the evidence does not show discrimination. If the discrimination is found, EEOC will seek a remedy for the charging party through conciliation or possibly through a lawsuit. If the charge is closed, the EEOC will give the charging party a "Notice of Right to Sue." This means that you may contact a private attorney to bring a lawsuit on your behalf.

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Please contact the Arkansas Department of Labor and request to speak to someone in the Wage and Hours Division. The general number for this agency is (501) 682-4500. You may also proceed against your employer in court by filing a complaint for breach of contract.

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Yes. Arkansas is an "employment at will" state which means that unless the employee has agreed in writing with the employer that the employee will only be fired for just cause, the employer can terminate employment with any employee so long as the employer has not violated any federal or state laws.

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If you disagree with the reason given for denial, you should immediately contact the District Social Security Office located in one of the following cities: Fayetteville, Ft. Smith, Hot Springs, El Dorado, Texarkana, Little Rock, Jonesboro, or Forrest City. One of these offices should be the office where you first made contact (interviewed) for your application. Request a reconsideration. A “reconsideration” request will require that someone else other than the person who made the original decision on your SSI case, review the entire case and decide if they agree with the first decision to deny your SSI Application. You should make sure that you present any and all new information that you have about your medical or mental condition, which may not have already been sent to the Social Security Administration. You have 60 days from the date you receive your denial letter to request reconsideration.

If your case is denied at the reconsideration level, your next appeal step is to “request a hearing before an administrative law judge”. You have 60 days from the date you receive your denial letter to request this appeal. You should consider having an attorney to assist you at this point, as your case may have to be appealed to federal court. Do the appeal paperwork first and foremost!! A worker may ask you for the Attorney’s name for their file, just say you will provide it later.

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