Information present Felix D. Arroyo has filed for chapter amid a lawsuit over an $86,379 unpaid authorized invoice tied to his previous suspension as Suffolk register of probate, a course of that would enable him to wipe out the debt after years of constructing six figures.
In his Chapter 7 submitting with the U.S. Chapter Court docket, Arroyo claims that he owes roughly $86,576 in liabilities to 2 collectors — together with Prince Lobel Tye LLP, the legislation agency suing him for non-payment — whereas having simply $11,261 in property.
The identical court docket paperwork present that Arroyo gave greater than $16,000 to his grownup youngsters within the two years main as much as his chapter submitting, together with $2,000 for “legal advice” to his son and former Metropolis Councilor Ricardo Arroyo in 2023.
He additionally gave $2,500 to his son Felix G. Arroyo, the town’s former well being chief who additionally sat on the Metropolis Council, so he may take the bar examination in September 2022.
Felix D. Arroyo was making $174,532 when he retired as Suffolk register of probate in March 2023, in response to state payroll data. He was first elected to the six-figure probate place in 2014 and made $131,065 in his first 12 months.
Previous to that, he labored in numerous authorities positions together with as a former Boston metropolis councilor and Faculty Committee member, and on the state Division of Transitional Help, the place he was paid greater than $88,000 in 2011, his remaining 12 months there, payroll data present.
His chapter submitting exhibits that he’s now taking in a month-to-month revenue of roughly $7,328, between $5,060 for his state pension and $2,268 for social safety, which quantities to just about $88,000 per 12 months. Arroyo claims, nevertheless, that he’s left with a deficit of $18 every month after bills, and has lower than $2,000 within the financial institution.
Arroyo’s greater than $60,000 pension was preserved after he was allowed to return to his job as Suffolk register of probate following a February 2017 suspension, throughout which period he was paid whereas the court docket system probed “serious operational deficiencies” in his workplace, in response to reviews on the time.
Had he not been allowed to return to work, his pension would have been minimize in half, the Boston Globe reported on the time, prompting him to launch a authorized protection fund via the Workplace of Marketing campaign and Political Finance to protect his job.
The fund, listed as closed as of Jan. 7, 2021, raised roughly $60,915, together with a $1,000 contribution from “The Wu Committee,” OCPF data present.
Finally, Arroyo was allowed to return to work and end out his six-year time period, after an inside report commissioned by the state’s Trial Court docket discovered that Arroyo inherited an workplace the place resistant workers undermined him and “racial name-calling” turned an issue after he employed minority workers.
Prince Lobel, the legislation agency that defended him in connection together with his suspension, filed go well with in opposition to Arroyo in June 2023, claiming that he did not pay roughly $48,588 in authorized charges as of June 2018, a quantity that now stands at $86,379, in response to his chapter submitting.
A discover of Arroyo’s Chapter 7 declare within the U.S. Chapter Court docket was filed with the Suffolk Superior Court docket on Might 20, together with a suggestion of an “automatic stay of proceedings,” which might impose an injunction within the Prince Lobel case, briefly stopping additional motion of their pursuit of the authorized debt.
Whereas Arroyo’s submitting makes the case for him being broke after years of taking in a excessive wage, it additionally exhibits that he was beneficiant together with his grownup youngsters, paying them greater than $16,000 for birthday and marriage ceremony items, authorized recommendation, bar examination charges, and, within the case of his daughter, “family support” within the two years earlier than his declare.
Chapter permits individuals battling debt to wipe out sure obligations and “get a fresh start,” in response to a put up on NOLO, which describes itself because the chapter website, however typically leaves filers with a major hit to their credit score rating.
The Arroyo household’s authorized and political troubles continued with the patriarch’s sons, Felix G. Arroyo, who was fired as well being chief after a recently-dismissed sexual harassment declare, and Ricardo Arroyo, who misplaced his seat on the Metropolis Council after a string of scandals.
