PHILADELPHIA – Drexel University is pursuing the recovery of judgment comprised of outstanding fees from an alumnus student in a breach of contract lawsuit.
Hawthorne, N.Y., resident Alexandra Ortiz owed the university an outstanding balance of $42,652.42, comprised of undergraduate tuition and late fees. After graduation, Ortiz allegedly agreed to a monthly payment plan of $400, but did not fulfill the agreement despite repeated requests from Drexel to do so. Thus, the school pursued charges of breach of contract against Ortiz.
On March 19, 2009, the parties appeared to resolve the action – as Ortiz pledged to make monthly payments of $100 towards the total judgment amount. The suit states Ortiz made some, but not all, of the monthly payments amounts leading up to Jan. 8, 2014, when the payments stopped completely.
On March 3, Drexel filed a writ of execution against Ortiz and TD Bank as a garnishee.
On March 30, defense attorney Predrag Filipovic filed to stay the writ of execution, a move Judge Nina Padilla Wright denied on May 5.
TD Bank subsequently answered interrogatory questions regarding Ortiz’s accounts and located two of the defendant’s accounts in their bank; one a personal account containing $360.04 and the other a joint account containing $1,206.53.
Plaintiff counsel J. Scott Watson filed a motion to dispense funds on Oct. 8, seeking the monies from these accounts be applied to the judgment from Drexel – though in the case of the joint account, a court order would be necessary.
A hearing in this matter was set for last month in court chambers at Philadelphia City Hall.
The plaintiff is seeking $42,625.42, plus attorney’s fees of $17,050.17, interest from the date of judgment and anticipated court costs of $313.698 in this case.
The plaintiffs are represented by Watson in Glen Mills.
The defendants are represented by Filipovic in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 090103133
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com.