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Have issue with property purchased, more was deeded than we were purchasing. Eventually sued by seller concerning issue, partial judgment was signed by both Lawyers and Judge. We were to deed just the section that was not suppose to be originally transferred, ( Completed this in Feb 2011, almost one year after the judgment date.) The defendants were suppose to pay back taxes plus interest to us that we paid on the excess property since 2005 to present. Have not received anything and attorney not returning calls. Do we fire the attorney and can I proceed with the courts to inforce the partial judgment? Or is it just money lost?
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: Mississippi Already Tried: Attempted to put cost of past taxes plus interest allowed together with help of state tax assessor's office. Communicate with attorney, but not taking calls or returning same since April 2011.
Hello,If there was a settlement reached between the parties concerning the land, then it would be enforceable by either party if one side does not perform. So if the defendants haven't paid what they were supposed to, you can file a motion for contempt of court for them not abiding by the judge's order in the case. They will have to appear in front of the judge who signed off on the order and explain why they have not complied. If the judge finds that the noncompliance was willful, he can impose penalties from fines up to jailtime (although jailtime is typically reserved for extreme cases)..While the attorney should be returning your calls, as it is unprofessional not to communicate with a client, he may consider the representation ended. Once a person gets a judgment or settles a case, it is then that person's job to collect on it and enforce any judgment or order. If you don't want to take on the task of filing your own motion for contempt, you can just retain another attorney for that limited job to file it on your behalf. But depending on what the taxes and interest add up to, it might not be worth the money to pay an attorney to file as there is no guarantee that you would be awarded your legal costs even if a contempt action is successful..
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Thanks.
Barrister
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Experience: 13 years real estate, Realtor. Landlord 24+ years