Life Tips From The Guy At The Bar Last Night, Corrected By An Arizona Lawyer

Last night, a friend asked me to grab a drink and shoot some pool at our local dive, and I, of course, obliged. As I waited for Mike the bartender to grab me a black cherry seltzer, the man sitting next to my friend and me at the bar couldn’t help but listen in and occasionally provide input on our life updates. They had a career in common, or at least in this gentleman’s case, a former career. “I don’t work,” he bragged, “I just gamble for money.” I asked if he paid taxes on his gambling winnings. He told me he owned a shotgun and he dared the IRS to try to collect his taxes. At this point, I was wondering what was taking Mike so long to get my black cherry seltzer. I took a hefty sip when it arrived to help me listen to more of Rick’s exploits. 

Rick is so much more than a gambler and a firearm owner. He lit up when my friend asked how he got the money to place bets. “I max out all my credit cards, and I wait for them to be sold to debt collectors. Just read the UCC. No wet ink. They broke their contract by selling your debt, so I actually countersue them and get money. I don’t work.” “Rick, it sounds like you put so much time and effort into scamming that it basically is a job,” I said. Then he told us that he uses false identification when pulled over by the police for speeding and other forms of reckless driving so he doesn’t have to pay his tickets. “I don’t have a driver’s license. I don’t work. That’s my purple BMW out there,” he pointed out the window at a coupe small enough to make me wonder how he fit inside. “I have a BMW. I don’t work. Read the UCC. Just know the laws. I don’t work,” he repeated again and again until I asked my friend if we could go play pool. Rick stayed at the bar, hollering whenever he won a sports bet. 

Rick had just enough in common with my friend that I could see he was at least considering some of his tips. “Does all of this affect your credit?” he asked Rick as I emphatically nodded yes. “No. I don’t have credit. I don’t work,” Rick boasted. Before my friend could ruin his life based on Rick’s advice, I had to provide the corrections below. 

Gambling as Income

Even if you don’t feel like driving all the way to one of the nearby casinos, there are plenty of ways to gamble nowadays without even getting off of your couch. Draft Kings, Kalshi, and other apps make it fast and easy to make bets and lose money. Rick can pretend that he only wins all he wants, but he kept ignoring me every time I asked how much he spent to get a winning bet. No matter how much everyone knows that gambling is skewed for the dealer, people engage in it as a hobby and are hopeful that it will become a significant source of income. Getting rich from gambling is the exception, not the rule. Usually, gambling results in the opposite- crippling debt. Like any other vice, gambling can lead to addiction, which can cause a whole slew of other problems, but also lead to bankruptcy. What can be done about gambling debts in bankruptcy depends on how they were incurred. If the debtor placed bets using their credit cards, these are unsecured debts that can be cleared with just a few limitations in either chapter 7 bankruptcy or chapter 13 bankruptcy. But if that person has casino markers or the creditor has secured the debt in some other way, the debt becomes more pervasive. Here, filing for chapter 13 bankruptcy to pay off these debts may be the debtor’s only option. 

Responsible Firearm Ownership

Obviously, threatening to shoot a tax collector would be a serious crime, but Rick only implied that he would do so to avoid paying his taxes. He wouldn’t actually need to pull the trigger for it to be a crime, either. Brandishing a firearm to threaten someone qualifies as weapons misconduct in Arizona, which can result in felony charges. In Arizona, a person must be at least 18 years old to legally own a shotgun, and 21 years old to own a handgun and concealed carry. In Arizona, firearm owners can also concealed carry in their vehicles without a permit. However, they should alert a police officer to the weapon if pulled over and searched. Additionally, certain categories of people can’t own a firearm in Arizona. Most felons need to complete paperwork to have their firearm rights restored after conviction, but certain crimes will result in a permanent ban from owning a firearm. 

Driving without a License

The thought of sharing our roads with an unlicensed and likely uninsured driver can be terrifying. There is no loophole for this behavior- A.R.S. § 28-3151 makes it mandatory to have a driver’s license to operate on our state’s public roads. If a driver violates this law by not having their driver’s license on their person, they can be ticketed and fined. If that person doesn’t have a driver’s license at all, they can be charged with a class 2 misdemeanor. In Arizona, a class 2 misdemeanor is punishable by up to $750 in fines and four months in jail. It also gives the police a reason to search your vehicle, which could uncover other criminal charges, such as an unauthorized firearm, as described above. 

Credit Cards and the UCC

Perhaps Rick’s wet ink argument against paying his credit card debts worked in decades past, but laws have caught up to advancements in technology. Or, Rick’s creditors may not have put forth the effort to show a clear chain of evidence linking the original debt to the debt collection agency. Additionally, requirements vary by jurisdiction, so Rick’s wet ink lawsuits could have occurred in other states. Or, Rick could have been lying. He certainly didn’t make himself out to be an honest person. So if you max out your credit cards and wait for debt collection, be aware that it will wreak havoc on your credit. You can likely get the debt collection agency to accept payment at a fraction of the debt’s original balance, but this will hurt your credit more than paying the debt in full. 

Experienced Arizona Lawyers for All of Life’s Twists and Turns

“Wouldn’t you rather just have a job and not be stressed out all the time about scamming?” I asked my friend. Thankfully, he agreed. Being a professional degenerate is hard work, but if you don’t face some of the issues in your life head-on, it could become your only option. Whether you require criminal defense, family law, personal injury, or bankruptcy representation, My AZ Lawyers is staffed with dedicated attorneys to fit your needs. We will help you sort out your life issues by putting our legal experience to work for you. Sort out life’s issues and put yourself back on track for a positive future. To schedule your free consultation with My AZ Lawyers today, call 480-470-1504.