Rule 7 - Financial Disclosure Hearing(a) Availability.(1) A party who has recovered a judgment in a small claims action (the "judgment creditor") may file a motion for a financial disclosure hearing on a form obtained from the judiciary website or at the clerk's office, with a copy to the party against whom the judgment was awarded (the "judgment debtor"), if (A) the judgment has been personally served on the debtor or an acceptance of service has been filed, and it has been at least a year since the court has determined (at the time of judgment or at a later hearing) that the debtor has an inability to pay, unless the creditor presents good cause to waive the twelve-month limit, such as evidence that the debtor has experienced a material change in financial circumstances, and the judgment was awarded as a lump sum and remains unpaid for 30 days after service of the judgment on the debtor, or (B) an installment on the judgment is overdue for 30 days or longer.(2) The judgment creditor must pay the required fee for filing a motion, as specified in a current schedule published by the Court Administrator.(3) The judgment creditor must file a certificate of service with the clerk showing that the judgment debtor was served with the motion.(4) The judgment creditor may not file a motion for a financial disclosure hearing more often than once in three months.(b) Notice of hearing; service. (1) Upon receiving a motion for a financial disclosure hearing, the court clerk will set a date and time for hearing. If the debtor has given the court a mailing address within the last year, the clerk will send a notice of hearing to both parties, including the exemption form and a form for the debtor to list assets and liabilities. The clerk shall advise the debtor to fill in the forms and bring them to the hearing, or to appear by telephone or video and submit the forms to the court and creditor at least three days in advance. If the debtor has not provided the court with a mailing address within the last year, the clerk will provide notice to the creditor that the creditor must have the motion, hearing notice, exemption form, and assets/liabilities form served by sheriff or constable upon the debtor at least 14 days before the hearing.(2) The clerk will serve on the debtor and all other parties the notice of hearing, the list of exemptions appearing in the form approved by the Court Administrator and available on the Judiciary website, and the financial disclosure affidavit. (c) Hearing and order. (1) If, after hearing, the judge makes written findings, based on the evidence presented, that (A) the judgment has been unpaid for 30 or more days since the debtor's receipt of a judgment for full payment, or that an installment has been overdue for 30 or more days since the debtor's receipt of the installment judgment, and (B) that the debtor has not shown the right to any exemption on the exemption form, and (C) the debtor has the present ability to pay the overdue judgment or installment, the judge will order the debtor to make such payments as are deemed appropriate. (2) If the debtor fails to appear or fully disclose at the hearing, and the judge cannot determine from testimony or the forms submitted by the debtor what the debtor can afford to pay, the judge may continue the hearing or, if the judgment was an installment order, may order full payment at once.(d) Service of order. If the hearing results in an order to pay, and service is not accepted by the debtor after the hearing, the creditor must have a sheriff or constable serve the order on the debtor and file a return of service with the court clerk, before filing any further motions to collect upon the judgment. Vt. R. Small. Claims. P. 7
Adopted Mar. 6, 2002, eff. 9/1/2002; amended July 10, 2013, eff. 9/9/2013; 2/25/2015, eff. 3/30/2015; 4/28/2015, eff. 5/4/2015; amended on an emergency basis Jan. 11 and Mar. 7, 2016, eff. 4/15/2016; amended Feb. 10, 2020, eff. 4/13/2020; amended April 18, 2022, eff. 6/20/2022.Reporter's Notes--Second 2016 Amendment
Rule 7(a) ofthe Vermont Rules of Small Claims Procedure as amended by emergency rule on January 11,2016, effective April 15, 2016, is further amended to eliminate and clarify requirements of the January 11,2016 amendments that were unnecessary and imposed burdens oftime and expense on the clerks' offices. See simultaneous amendments to V.R.S.C.P. 3(d) and (g), 8(b), and 9(b).
Reporter's Notes-2020 Amendment
Rule 7(a)(1)(A) and (c)(1) are amended to conform to the simultaneous amendment of Rule 3(f) requiring service of a default judgment on the defendant before enforcement proceedings are commenced. See Reporter's Notes to that amendment.
Reporter's Notes-2022 Amendments
V.R.S.C.P. 7 is amended to address issues that have been plaguing the small claims docket. The amendments require personal service of judgments before financial disclosure hearings can be held and extend the time period between new financial disclosure hearings. The amendments also include some simple language changes to make the rules clearer. Simultaneously adopted amendments of V.R.S.C.P. 8 modernize and simplify the contempt process for failure to appear at a disclosure hearing. See Reporter's Notes to those amendments.