Avery v. Hughes

Filing 93

ORDER granting 90 Motion to Reopen Case. Hearing on defendants ability to pay the judgment and to set a schedule of periodic payments, if necessary, will be held on Wednesday, June 12, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. So Ordered by Judge Joseph A. DiClerico, Jr.(dae)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Jane C. Avery
v.

Civil No. 09-cv-265-JD

Robert W. Hughes
O R D E R
Judgment was entered in this case in October of 2010,
following partial summary judgment and a jury verdict in favor of
Jane C. Avery on her claims arising from a failed real estate
transaction with Robert W. Hughes.

Hughes appealed, and on

November 18, 2011, the judgment was affirmed.

Avery now

petitions to reopen the case, for a hearing to determine Hughes’s
ability to pay the judgment, which Avery represents now exceeds
$301,281.04, and to set a schedule for Hughes to make periodic
payments.
Hughes opposes Avery’s petition.

Hughes does not dispute

the amount of the outstanding judgment against him.

Instead, he

states, without a supporting affidavit or documentation, that he
is unable to make payments on the judgment.

He contends that

because of his financial condition, “a hearing on the Plaintiff’s
motion for periodic payments would be an inefficient use of
judicial resources.”

As Avery contends and Hughes does not dispute, a party may
enforce a judgment using the procedures provided by state law in
the state where the court is located.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 69(a)(1).

In addition, a judgment creditor may obtain discovery, including
from the judgment debtor, to help in executing on the judgment.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 69(a)(2).

Under New Hampshire law, the court “in

which the judgment is rendered shall . . . upon petition of the
plaintiff after judgment, order the defendant to appear in court
for [an] inquiry” into “the defendant’s ability to pay the
judgment in full.”

RSA 524:6-a.

The court may also “order the

defendant to make such periodic payments as the court in its
discretion deems appropriate.”

Id.

Therefore, it is necessary to schedule a hearing to
determine Hughes’s ability to pay the judgment against him in
this case.

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Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, the plaintiff’s petition
(document no. 90) is granted.

A hearing on the defendant’s

ability to pay the judgment and to set a schedule of periodic
payments, if necessary, will be held on Wednesday, June 12, 2013,
at 2:00 p.m.

SO ORDERED.

____________________________
Joseph A. DiClerico, Jr.
United States District Judge
May 9, 2013
cc:

Laurie R. Bishop, Esquire
Martin P. Honigberg, Esquire
Christopher James Pyles, Esquire
William C. Saturley, Esquire

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