Paying three hundred thousand dollars of debt before being ordered out of the house
A quiet clerk with a silver cardigan pushed a cart of leather-bound books past my table.
She paused, sliding a small wintergreen candy onto my wooden workspace with a warm, wrinkled hand.
“For the dry air,” she whispered, her voice like dry leaves.
“Thank you,” I said, letting the sharp, clean taste of the candy clear the persistent fog in my head.
I turned back to the page, my finger tracing the legal definition of a fraudulent transfer.
Under the state statute, any transfer of real property made with the intent to delay, hinder, or defraud creditors was voidable by those same creditors.
But the law required clear proof of intent, or proof that the transfer was completed without valuable consideration while the debtor was insolvent.
I noted the specific case citations on a yellow legal pad, my pen scratch loud in the silent room.
If I could prove the transfer was a sham, the court could set it aside and restore the original deed.
But the process would take months, and the creditors were already demanding their money.
