I get calls every month from people who say they are surprised that they have received a summons!

Let’s see….

• You took our loans or charged up credit cards.
• Due to circumstances beyond your control, you have not been able to make the minimum required payments due each month.
• You received several calls, letters or emails from the creditors, but ignored them.
• Someone knocks on your door and hands you a SUMMONS!

SURPRISED?   Now what?

First…DON’T PANIC!

• You are not going to jail!
• You will not have to go to court!
• They are not going to garnish your next paycheck (UNLESS YOU IGNORE THE SUMMONS)
• They are not going to garnish your bank account. (UNLESS YOU IGNORE THE SUMMONS)
• They are not going to come take all of your belongings!
• At least….NOT YET!

If you have secured loans…where there is collateral (home, car, boat, RV, motorcycle, etc.), the situation is different!

If you default on a loan where there is collateral, the creditor or collector may decide to repossess the item! Be AWARE!

OK, but in this article, I’m taking about UNSECURED DEBT:

• Credit cards
• Personal loans
• Medical bills
• Personal line of credit
• Store cards, etc.
• Auto Repo

To prevent a summons and the start of the “legal” process, you need to understand the basic process and/or option a creditor or collector has.

The Summons Process

• After attempting to contact you (remember all those calls, letters and emails?)

• The creditor or collector may retain an attorney to

• You will receive a SUMMONS. This is usually hand delivered, but can be left with someone at your residence. Sometimes the server will deliver to your place of employment.
• The summons will state something to the effect that you have 20 or 30 days after receipt of the summons to ” ANSWER THE CLAIM.”
• An answer is your side of the story that you would file ONLY if you can PROVE WITH DOCUMENTATION, that you do not owe the amount of the claim
• If you owe the debt, there is no reason to spend the time or money for an answer. YOU DO NOT NEED TO GO TO COURT.
• Contact the attorney for the plaintiff (the creditor). If you are employed and receive normal W-2 wages, you need to try and work out a repayment plan so they do not proceed with the legal action.

So, what can you do or could you have done to

PREVENT THE SUMMONS?

FIRST OPTION:

Contact the creditor/collector and try to work our a “catch up” plan to start repaying the debt you owe.

The problem with this option is that you most likely cannot afford the payments.

The same is true with a Debt Management or Credit Counseling Program.

Not a bad idea IF YOU CAN AFFORD THE PAYMENTS!

SECOND OPTION:

Once your account has been charged off (the creditor has kind of “given up” on collecting the debt on their own), the account is usually placed with a DEBT COLLECTOR.

Now you can try to SETTLE the account for LESS THAN THE FULL BALANCE.

The process is time consuming and stressful, but usually (not all the time), the collector will agree to a SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.

This agreement is usually for 40%-70% (in some cases even lower) of the balance due.

Of course, the collector wants the amount of the settlement in a LUMP SUM, but I doubt you have that kind of money. If you did, you probably would not have gotten behind in the first place! RIGHT!

Yes, you can also negotiate TERMS/MONTHLY PAYMENT PLAN on the settlement.

Again, they want the monthly amount as large as possible and the length of the plan to be as little as possible. You have to negotiate strongly to get a plan that fits your budget. Not easy!

 IF ALL ELSE FAILS….BANKRUTPCY MAY BE YOUR ONLY OPTION

If you failed in trying to work out a reasonable repayment plan.

If you failed in trying to negotiate a reasonable settlement.

Then you may the assistance of a Bankruptcy Attorney to protect you from:

• Bank Levies
• Wage Garnishment

Bankruptcy is a “scarry” word to most people, but bankruptcy laws are to help us protect ourselves from creditors and/or collectors devastating our lives.

Contact several attorneys in the area where you live.

The initial appointment (may be by telephone only) should be FREE. If not, keep looking!

To wrap up…

When you find yourself in a financially stressful situation whereby you are falling behind or simply cannot make the required monthly payments due, DO NOT IGNORE THE OPTIONS YOU HAVE FOR REPAYMENT OR SETTLEMENT!

Be pro-active…don’t “hide you head in the sand” so to speak.

For more information…click below:

Photo credit

Being unable to keep up with your debt payments is very stressful. 

Now you get served with a SUMMONS and you are really stressed out!

 For the sake of this article, I'm talking about credit accounts that are     UNSECURED:

   Credit Cards

   Store Cards

   Medical Bills

   Personal Loans

   Pay Day Loans

When you apply for a credit card, store card or any other unsecured account, you are agreeing to the terms to repay this debt.

If you fail to make at least your minimum payments when due, your account will become subject to all collection efforts by the creditor.

These include:

• Phone calls (lots of phone calls)
• Emails
• Mail
  

If these methods do not get you to start making payments again, then the creditor may elect to retain the services of an attorney to file a CLAIM.

Once the CLAIM is filed with your county's courthouse, a SUMMONS is prepared and sent out.

The SUMMONS is usually hand delivered by a courier who is paid to delivery it.   

The idea of the claim/summons is to get your attention...and it works!

Over the years, most of our clients who received a summons call us almost in a panic!

It is because they do not really understand the language of the summons and think all kinds of incorrect thoughts.  

For example...

The summons will state something like:

"You have 30 days to APPEAR and give an ANSWER".

Sounds like you have 30 days to show up in court, but it doesn't.

This language means that if you have undeniable proof that you do not owe what the Plaintiff (creditor) is CLAIMING, you have 30 days to submit to the court your legal ANSWER.

Most of the time you (the defendant) in the claim owes the amount claimed and so giving an ANSWER would be useless.

SO WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DO NOT GIVE AN ANSWER?

If you continue to read the summons, it says something to the effect that if you do not give an ANSWER, then the Plaintiff may petition the court for a DEFAULT JUDGMENT.

Once a judgment has been awarded to the PLAINTIFF/CREDITOR then they have the legal right to pursue all legal methods to collect on the debt, such as:

               Wage Garnishment

               Bank Levy

               Lien on your home 

Before I continue, let's address those basic 3 options above.

If you are employed and receive W-2 income (income reported by law to the IRS), then a wage garnishment could be sent to your employer.

Your employer has not choice but to comply with the garnishment order or face severe fines!

The employer must send 25% of your NET, AFTER TAX paycheck to the Plaintiff/Creditor until the debt is 100% repaid.

This can be devastating  to someone already have a tough time making ends meet!

Let's say you earn a gross monthly income of $5,000 and after tax, you are bringing home $3,500.

25% of the $3,500 would be $875, leaving you with only $2,625 to pay bills!

That's almost 50% of you gross income!

I'm going to tell you how to prevent that in a minute..

But what about a BANK LEVY?

Sometimes the Plaintiff's Attorney/Debt Collector with send out several bank levy notices to banks in your area.  They use your Social Security number and in most case, will locate your bank.

Now, you go to the store and pull out you debit card to pay, but it is declined.

Calling the bank, you learn that your account has been frozen by the Levy!

Again, devastating!

Yes, the attorney for the Plaintiff/Creditor may choose to file for a lien on your home.

However, this is not used as much as options 1 and 2.

Even if there is a lien placed on your home, it DOES NOT mean that you have to sell your home right now to pay the debt!

It means that if you do not take care of this judgment debt before you sell your home in the future, the title company is forced to repay the lien in order to release the title.

So here is the big question...

HOW CAN YOU PREVENT ALL OF THIS?

DO NOT IGNORE THE SUMMONS!

The creditor wants some kind of repayment plan rather than have to deal with the expense of paying the attorney for the other options.

You should be able to negotiate either a SETTLEMENT, REPAYMENT PLAN, or a STIPULATED AGREEMENT.

While negotiating with debt collectors or attorneys for the creditor can be intimidating, it can be done.

Photo Credit

It's bad enough to be under the stress and pressure of having too much debt and not being in a position to make adequate payments, but now, you get a SUMMONS!

I'm going to explain not only why it happened, but also what you can do to take care of it.

I think it was Tony Robbins who either used an acronym about FEAR:

WHAT IS FEAR?

• False
• Evidence that
• Appears
• Real

When you get a knock on the door and someone (sometimes a sheriff or police officer) hands you a summons and says, "You've been served", it can be a very fearful experience!

FIRST, DON'T PANIC!

Take a deep breath, sit down and slowly....I said slowly (I know how you feel) the summons.

Most of the time, a summons will read something like this:

"You are hereby required to appear and defend the complaint filed against you in the above-entitled cause within thirty (30) days from the date of service of this summons on you.  If you fail to appear and defend, the plaintiff will apply to the court for the relief demanded in the complaint."

It usually goes on to read:

"You must "appear" in this case or the other side will win automatically.  To "appear" your must file with the court a legal paper called a "motion" or "answer".  The "motion" or "answer" must be given to the court clerk or administrator within 30 days along with the required filing fee.  It must be in proper form and have proof of service on the plaintiff's lawyer or, if the plaintiff does not have a lawyer, proof of service on the plaintiff."

OK...now they have your attention! But, before you "get carried away", let's examine the SUMMONS carefully:

"You are hereby required to APPEAR and DEFEND the COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST YOU...

"APPEAR AND DEFEND"

I know it sounds like you must appear in court, but that's not what it means.  The phrase, "appear and defend" is further explained in the second paragraph. 

The second paragraph (above) also says that you must file an LEGAL PAPER called a MOTION or ANSWER.

This MOTION or ANSWER is, in fact a LEGAL PAPER that you would file with the court if you don't believe you owe or are responsible for the debt they are claiming you owe. 

Yes, it will cost you a fee  just to file your ANSWER, and it must be filed in the appropriate legal fashion.  This usually requires an ATTORNEY to be retained, which also costs you more money!

But, in most cases, the client or DEFENDANT in the claim actually owes the debt, it is not necessary to file an ANSWER.

So, the 30 days to appear and defend doesn't mean you have to go to court!

OK, so what should you do?

Here's what has happened so far:

When you have debts that you are unable to pay, the creditor will send nasty sounding letters and call and call and call (you probably have experience this already). 

If you cannot or do not respond by making some form of repayment, then the original creditor may decide to hand over to a COLLECTION AGENCCY or hire an ATTORNEY to file a CLAIM or  "COMPLAINT". 

Most of the time, the original creditor will use a DEBT COLLECTOR or DEBT COLLECTION AGENCY to attempt to get you to repay the debt. They will start by sending you letters that may sound threatening in an attempt to scare you into paying the debt.

And as you probably know, they will call constantly.  Even though we have laws that protect us from harassing phone calls from debt collectors, most people are not aware or do not know how to put a stop to these calls. 

The FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT clearly spells out what a debt collector CAN and CANNOT DO!

The good news is now, you can put a stop to those calls! 

As long as the account is still with the original creditor, they have the right to call you.  Now, they must do it according to the FDCPA (above), but you can't put a stop to the calls until the account is turned over to third party collection agency.

You must send a letter and they must stop calling (even though they can continue to send letters).

This will help:

But, even though you can and have put a stop to the calls, in most cases, they are not going to give up trying to collect on the debt.

See my blog on HOW TO DEAL WITH DEBT COLLECTORS for some good tips.

• OK, you've receive the summons.
• You understand that you don't have to appear in court in 30 days

Now what?

You should contact the attorney who filed the claim and attempt to SETTLE THE DEBT by making a lump sum payment for less than the balance due. 

This is not always an easy thing to do at this point because the PLAINTIFF (the creditor or debt collector) has had to pay a pretty hefty FEE TO THE ATTORNEY to file the claim, prepare the summons and have it delivered to you.

Yes, many times you can still negotiate a settlement or other reduced repayment plan even though a judgment has been awarded!

Here's an actual example of a settlement we were able to negotiate even though a judgment had been awarded.  Click on the link below:

Actual example of a judgment that was settled.

But, if you are unsuccessful in negotiating a settlement, then you might have to attempt to negotiate what is called a STIPULATED AGREEMENT.

In a Stipulated Agreement, you and the plaintiff/attorney for the plaintiff have a legal document  written up ( the collector's attorney does this and you will not pay a fee). 

The agreement will basically state that if you make a certain dollar amount payment each month until the balance is paid in full, then they will not go forward with any more LEGAL OPTIONS.

WHAT...LEGAL OPTIONS?

When a Plaintiff (the creditor) is awarded a judgment (and they will be in most cases), then they now can choose to do several things...legally, to collect on the debt:

They can get a WRIT OF GARNISHMENT, giving them the ability to take 25% of your take-home pay until the debt is paid in full!

They can get a WRIT OF LEVY, giving them the right to levy one or more of your BANK ACCOUNTS! 

Again, before you go into PANIC MODE!!!!

The following sources of income are 100% exempt from any bank or account levy:

• Social Security
• Disability Income
• Unemployment Income
• Retirement Income
• And several other sources

However, if you receive normal income (called W-2 Income) from your employer, and you deposit those funds into your checking or savings account, they can be garnished/levied.

The bank has now option but to obey the Writ of Garnishment delivered!

There is nothing more devastating to someone to deposit their check (from W-2 or other "earned income") and have their check or debit card declined at the grocery store because their account was liquidated over the weekend!

To make sure this doesn't happen, DON'T IGNORE THE SUMMONS!

Hopefully, I have made my point...

Let me summarize (if your still not clear, please re-read this article!):

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT, Ignore a SUMMONS!

If you take the appropriate action (as I've spelled out), you should be able to work out a mutually agreeable option.

If all of this sounds a little intimidating, I understand. If you need more guidance:

Photo Credit

If you have decided to enroll in a Debt Settlement Program, no doubt you have several questions and concerns.  Here's how a Debt Settlement Program works:

Faced with just too much debt (basically unsecured debt) and have decided to enroll in a Debt Management Program through a reputable, professional Debt Management Program.

Now what?

Most likely, you have provided the agent with the latest copies of your bill statements, collection letters, or your Free Annual Credit Report.

From time-to-time, you will need to provide the most recent information about the debts you have enrolled, so save the latest (NOT ALL!) statemenst and/or letters that you receive.

It's a good habit to fax or email (much quicker than snail-mail) these to your negotiator  every couple of months or so.  Your Debt Settlement Company may also ask you for a specific update once in a while.

As you learned during your interview/counseling session, rather than making payments to your creditors or debt collectors, you will have authorized an amount that you can afford each month to be deposited into a Client Reserve account with an FDIC insured bank.

As these funds begin to accumulate, your negotiator will be contacting some, but not possibly all of your creditors at once.

"Timing" is very crucial to a successful debt settlement program.

By "timing", I mean that each creditor and/or debt collection agency will accept or decline an offer to settle depending on several factors, such as:

• How old is this account.
• Your circumstances (working, unemployed, retired, disabled, etc.)
• The current balance of the account.

Again, depending on the creditor or debt collector, more favorable settlements may be negotiated a certain times of the month/quarter/year.  An experienced Debt Settlement Company's negotiator will have years of experience and will have worked with most, if not all creditors and debt collectors over the years and will know when and how to get the best settlements possible.

Once a settlement has been negotiated, a SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT will be faxed or mailed to the debt settlement company.

Payment or payments (depending on the agreement) will be set up from the Client Reserve Fund per the agreement.

Once the agreement is completed, a statement or letter of satisfaction will be mailed to you and/or the debt settlement company. 

They (the creditor or debt collector) should report the settlement to all three of the major credit reporting bureaus that your account has been "settled-as-agreed" or in some cases, "settled-in-full". 

But, not all creditors or debt collectors do this, so again, a reputable, professional debt settlement company will assist you to make sure that your Credit Report is accurate.

Depending on the amount of debt your enrolled and the amount of your monthly deposit into the client reserve account will determine how much time your program will take.  This can only be estimated as circumstances and other events may shorten or lengthen the program.

Once all of your accounts have been settled you will receive an accounting summary.

So, that is the basics of a Debt Settlement Program, but, there are other things that you need to be aware of:

What happens if a creditor or debt collector decides to file a legal claim against me, ie., start a lawsuit?

Any creditor or debt collector has the right to file a claim against you for the unpaid balance or your account.

Usually, before they do that, they will have tried to get you to pay by:

• Making many phone calls
• Sending many collection letters

Once your account has been charged off, assigned or sold to a debt collection company, you legally have the right to demand that they stop calling you at home or at work. (Unfortunately, as long as it is with the original creditor, you can't prevent the calls.)

You will need to write a letter (sometimes a fax will do) and demand, according to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) that they cease and desist all calls immediately.

To receive a Sample Letter, click below:

The calls should stop rather quickly, but if they do not, then you can file a complaint with your state's Attorney General's Office.  Just go online to get the link for your state's attorney general's office/department.

If you live in Oregon, here is the link.

Again, depending on your particular circumstances and the particular debt collection company that has you account, they may or may not decide to pursue a lawsuit.

But, if they do, here's what will happen:

(1)   A Claim will be filed.

"They" (referring to the creditor or debt collector) will retain an attorney to FILE A CLAIM with the county court you reside in claiming that you failed to repay the debt you agreed to repay and now they demand legal action.

(2)  You will receive a SUMMONS.

Receiving a summons is kind of scary!  Usually, someone knocks on you door and asks if you are so-n-so and that you've been "served"!

Most of the time this claim is delivered by an agent of a company that does this, but in some cases, your local sheriff's office may send it via an officer! 

Regardless of how you get the summons, the first thing you do is send a copy to your debt settlement company.  TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!  DO NOT DELAY!

The summons will state something to the effect that you have 20-30 days from the time of delivery of the summons to give an ANSWER.

This "answer" is a legal term that you would do if you can prove that you do not owe this debt!  If you have proof....I mean written, easy to see proof that you paid this debt or that you do not owe this debt for whatever reason, then you would pay the cost (you'll need an attorney and there is usually a court filing fee) of filing the ANSWER.

But, if you know that you owe the debt, then you will not file the ANSWER.

(3)  Your negotiator will contact the attorney who filed the claim for the plaintiff (creditor/debt collector) and in most cases work out either a settlement for less than the balance due, or some kind of repayment plan.

This will ONLY BE POSSIBLE if you get your negotiator a copy of the summons RIGHT AWAY!

I've been negotiating with attorneys and collectors for my clients for about 15 years.  In all of that time, as long as my client got me a copy of the summons quickly, I was able to stop the summons, prevent either a judgment, wage garnishment or bank levy in about 99% of the cases! 

Again....TIME IS CRITICAL!

Although most creditors/debt collectors will do their homework to determine if a client could be garnished or a bank account levied after a judgment has been awarded, in some cases, they do not.

Here's what I mean....

You cannot be garnished if you are:

• Retired and receiving Social Security or Retirement Benefits
• Disabled and receiving Disability Income Benefits
• or, if your income is below the exemption level (usually around $218 per week or less, but varies by state)
• Receiving unemployment benefits, workers compensation, spousal support, child support
• And many others (click here for complete list of exemptions in Oregon)
• .

HOWEVER!!!!

If you own your home (or have a mortgage), a LIEN can be placed against it.  This means that if and when you sell (or transfer ownership), the judgment amount (plus interest) must be paid before the sell or transfer can be completed.

Can a LIEN be removed/satisfied before selling or transferring property?

Yes.  Depending on several factors, a creditor will most likely be willing to accept either a slight reduction of the balance or will accept payments on the entire amount in order to release the judgment.

FINALLY:

If you qualify for a debt settlement program, most likely you will be able to become DEBT FREE and start to rebuild your credit score again as long as you work with your Debt Settlement Company and Negotiator.

For an idea of what an actual settlement looks like, click below:

Photo Credit

Wage garnishment or a bank levy is a terrible situation to be in.  If you've been garnished, here are some things you can do to stop the garnishment:

We get calls each week from someone (we are in the Portland, Oregon area) that has been garnished or has been notified by their payroll office that they are going to be garnished.

As if things were not bad enough all ready, WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW?

Just to lay some groundwork...

A WAGE GARNISHMENT can only occur AFTER A JUDGMENT has been awarded to the plaintiff.

A lot of people are mistaken in thinking that just because one of your credit accounts has been charged off and assigned or sold to a collection agency, that they can come after your property.

THAT IS JUST NOT TRUE!

FIRST....

When you get behind on paying your credit accounts on time, there is a sequence of events or a time line that must take place.

You will get calls and/or letters from the original creditor trying to find out what's going on.  By-the-way, as long as your account is still with the original creditor, you can't do anything to stop them from calling.

But, once that account is charged off and transferred or sold to a debt collector, you can.  I show you how later.

NEXT...

Once the account is placed with a debt collector, you will start getting calls and/or letters from them.

If you have some funds and/or a little money left over to make a reasonable monthly payment, you may want to discuss this with the debt collector rather than just ignoring the calls.

You may be able to work out a SETTLEMENT, which is a reduction of the balance.

This settlement may have to be in a LUMP SUM or possibly in SEVERAL PAYMENTS.

To get an idea of what a SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT  looks like, click on the button:

But, if you do not have any additional funds and are sick and tired of the relentless calls, you can put a stop to it now:

If you cannot afford anything to put towards the debt you owe, and you are not taking their calls or responding to their letters, the debt collector may decide to FILE A CLAIM.

An attorney is retained to file the claim in your county's courthouse.

Once the claim is filed, you will receive a SUMMONS.  Although this can be a frightening experience, DON'T PANIC!

The summons will state that you the claim against you (you are the defendant) by the creditor or debt collector (this is the PLAINTIFF).

It will also state that if you want to contest the claim, ( called give an ANSWER), you must do so within a short time period (usually 20-30 days after receiving the summons).

If you can prove that you do not owe the debt, then you should give an answer to the court within the time specified. 

This costs a hundred dollars or more and must be in the correct legal documentation, so you may need an attorney also. 

RECAP.....

• You could not keep up with the payments due on some or all of your accounts. This may be due to a number of circumstances, but here you are.
• You can not work out a reasonable repayment plan or settlement with the original creditor, so you account is assigned or sold to a debt collector.
• You cannot afford a settlement with the debt collector and the debt collector files a claim and you receive a summons.

NOW WHAT??????

Most of the time the plaintiff will be awarded a DEFAULT JUDGMENT by the court.

Once the JUDGMENT has been entered, the plaintiff has the option of seeking a WRIT OF GARNISHMENT to get back what is now owed.

Additional interest, fees and court costs have now been awarded to the plaintiff as well!

If you are employed and receive a check (W-2 wages), then the writ of garnishment is presented to your employer and/or payroll department.

You may be notified, but you may just be shocked to see that your payroll check has been reduced by 25%!

(I'll give you some advice on what you may be able to do about this in a minute.)

If you receive income from commission or what is reported for tax purposes as 1099 INCOME, then the plaintiff may seek to get a bank levy on ONE OR ALL OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS!

This can really be DEVASTATING!

We have had people call us after their bank account(s) were depleted and they could not by groceries, pay rent, etc.!

The laws of your state (I am in Oregon and most of my clients reside here) will allow numerous EXEMPTIONS to wage garnishment and/or a bank levy.

Here are some of the "basic" exemptions (I give you a link to a more detailed list below):

• Exempt wages....If you earn less than $1,000 a month, most likely this is exempt.
• All Social Security Income
• Retirement Income (very important information below)
• VA benefits
• Any Public Assistance (welfare)
• Unemployment benefits
• Disability benefits
• Worker's compensation benefits
• Spousal or child support or any other support you receive for you or your dependents.
• Many "property" exemptions.

If you live in Oregon, you can get detailed information here:

Basic Exemptions from Wage Garnishments or Bank Levies

If you are retired and receive income from your 401(K), IRA, Pension, etc. as well as Social Security, those incomes are exempt from garnishment or levy, BUT BE AWARE!!!!!

Most people who are retired have their Social Security checks and any other retirement Income checks automatically deposited in their bank.

In May of 2011, a law was passed that protected Social Security and Retirement Funds from creditors, via garnishment/levy.

HOWEVER.... (THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT!)

As long as your Social Security and/or "Retirement" income is deposited in a bank account that has NO OTHER FUNDS CO-MINGLED, then your bank will not "FREEZE" your account if they receive a writ of levy.

For example:

Let's say you are retired, receiving a modest Social Security check and a small Retirement check. Together, they are automatically deposited in you bank account.

The problem is that you just don't have enough money each month, so you take a part-time job earning $500 or so extra each month.

You deposited that extra $500 together with the other Retirement funds and not that account has CO-MINGLED FUNDS and if a writ of levy were presented to the bank, the banker would have no recourse but to freeze the account (you cannot withdraw ANY FUNDS) and would have to send the amount of the levy to the creditor!

Or.....

Let's say you took some of your retirement funds that are automatically deposited in you checking account and transferred them to a savings account.  Those funds in the savings account are now SUBJECT TO LEVY!

LESSON HERE....

If you are retired, and receive a summons and/or judgment, you need to sit down with your banker and make sure that you funds are protected from any future/possible levy.

FINALLY....

If you have been garnished, it may not be too late to put a stop to the garnishment.

Contact the attorney for the creditor/plaintiff to see if they would be willing to accept a reasonable repayment plan rather than continuing with the garnishment.

For most people, losing another 25% of their income when things were financially tough anyway, would cause them to seek BANKRUPTCY protection.

So, the creditor/plaintiff might be open to another option rather than wage garnishment.

We have been able to help many people, just like you to stop a garnishment, but time is critical.

If you would like help or advice, just let us know:

Photo credit

You're already having a very hard time paying your bills and keeping up the rent!  Now you get the bad news that your wages are going to be garnished!  Now what?

I"ve been helping people deal with the stress of managing debt for a long time. 

It's one thing to be so tight in your budget that you are barely making ends meet and only able to pay the minimum payments on your credit cards and/or other debts you owe.

Today happens to be a Friday and for a lot of normal, hard working people, they are looking forward to getting their pay check and having a couple of days off from work!

But, when you open your payroll envelope, you get a shock!

After all of the taxes and other deductions are withheld from your check, the net/take home amount was going to barely cover the bills that are due (or over-due)!

Now, 25% (average amount that can be garnished) more is deducted.

OMG!!!

What can you do?

OK....take a breath...and let's go back a little while and see what happened.

We get calls almost every week from someone who has either been garnished or has just received a notice that they are going to be garnished.

We often hear,

"I had no idea this could happen!" or....

"I never received anything about this!"  or....

"I thought this bill was paid a long time ago because I haven't received anything in the mail or had any calls for over a year or so."

Well, I realize that is some rare cases, some of the above comments may be true, but most often, it is basically that the person had their 'head-in-the-sand" type of an belief as things were just so bad they didn't want to think about it!

I understand....been there...done that.

Here's what happened and why this garnishment happened:

When an account (just talking about normal, unsecured credit card type accounts) becomes delinquent, a process begins by the original creditor:

STATEMENTS

The next statement you get will show the PAST DUE amount and the "late fee charges" that have now been added to your balance.

Somewhere on the statement it will tell you that you need to get caught up and to call the customer service number if you need help.....or something like that.

Let's say you just cannot make any payment and don't want to talk to them about it.

CALLS AND LETTERS

Now you will start getting letters saying something like:

"Your account is SERIOUSLY past due and you need to do...... "

The letter may state that if you don't do "this or that", they may close and send your account to a debt collector or attorney for collection.

Now, 4 or 5 months have gone by and although you get a call and letter from the original creditor now and then, nothing really has happened.

DEBT COLLECTOR

When the original creditor is unable to get you to pay on the account, they will usually either "charge off" the account and transfer or sell to a debt collector.

I'm not going to get into how difficult it is to work with some debt collectors in this blog.  I've written numerous articles and blogs about "Dealing with Debt Collectors" that may be very helpful for you. 

The debt collectors job is simple....Get you to pay them money!

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is to protect consumers from illegal debt collection tactics.

Everyone should have a general knowledge about your rights, so take some time to check out a very good article:

The Fair Trade Commission, Debt Collectors and your Rights

Now that your account has been turned over to a debt collector, you can put a stop to the annoying and often harassing phone calls:

But, just because you get them to stop calling doesn't mean that your debt problem has gone away!

If the debt collector cannot get you to pay up, they may decide to file a claim in your local county court.

If this happens, you are going to receive a....

SUMMONS

The summons will state that a "claim" has been filed against you for the debt you owe with "so-in-so" creditor and that you have 20 (or 30) days in which to give an "ANSWER" in court......

NO, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO TO COURT!  (unless you want to)

An "answer" is a legal response from you stating and explaining why you do not owe that debt and therefore are not subject to this claim/summons.

It is a legal document and not only will you need to hire an attorney, there is also a fee for filing the "answer", so make sure you can prove that you don't owe the debt first!

Most of the time an "answer" is not necessary, so now the "PLAINTIFF" (the debt collector or the party filing the claim) will wait a while (varies) before taking the next step.

DEFAULT JUDGMENT

If you don't respond to the summons, the plaintiff/debt collector may decide to send one of their legal representatives to court in order to awarded a judgment.

This is usually called a "default judgment" since you didn't contest the "claim", the debt collector/plaintiff wins by default.

Now what?

WAGE GARNISHMENT, BANK LEVY OR PROPERTY LIEN

OK, now things are serious....

With the default judgment, the plaintiff can now apply for of several options for getting something from you:

• a writ of wage garnishment
• a writ of garnishment/levy on your bank account(s)
• Lien placed on your property (usually your home)

Writ of wage garnishment

A legal document is sent to your employer.  The employer (by law) must withhold an average of 25% of your "after-tax" payroll check until the entire judgment awarded is paid!  There are exemptions, but unless you are making very little income, your in trouble!

Writ of garnishment/bank levy

Yes, with that default judgment, the plaintiff can find your bank or bank accounts and send the writ of garnishment/levy to the bank.

The bank is supposed to go back a couple of months and make sure that your account does not have funds that are from "exempt" sources like:

• Social Security
• Retirement income
• Disability income

Again, I'm not going to get into all of the exemptions in this blog, but you might want to check out:

Are Social Security benefits Protected From a Bank Levy?

But for this blog, you are employed (W-2 Income) and so they have the legal right to go after your income, bank account or other property (not exempt).

PROPERTY LIEN

Although a plaintiff can apply for a lien against certain property (not exempt), most often they will apply for a lien against your home, paid for or not.

This DOES NOT mean that you have to sell your house to pay the debt/judgment.

It means that when you sell or transfer the property (death or gift), this judgment must be paid!

Sure, this may make the plaintiff many years to collect, but that is an option for them.

FINALLY....

I think you can start to see that the best way to put a stop to a wage garnishment is to make every attempt at not letting your delinquent account become a judgment!

There are many OPTIONS that you can take advantage of to stop your account from every becoming a "judgment"!

But, since you have the wage garnishment happening (or about to happen), here's what you (or with help) need to do:

Contact the attorney who filed the writ of garnishment

In most cases, they are usually willing to set up some kind of repayment plan and stop the garnishment.

You will need to be able to show your financial hardship and make a "reasonable" payment each month!

They may want you to sign a "Stipulated Agreement" that will be filed with the court.

It basically says that as long as you make the payments agreed upon, they will not pursue further legal action.

If you have a very large amount of funds available, you may be able to make a SETTLEMENT OFFER to have the judgment satisfied and the writ of garnishment removed.

This offer will most likely need to be much larger than the normal settlements we negotiate for our clients, because they have leverage on you!

BANKRUPTCY

If you are unsuccessful at putting a stop to your garnishment (wage or bank), you may be forced to seek protection through bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is a legal "tool", so to speak, that allows a person an avenue to get their lives back on track.

Make sure to contact an attorney whose practice deals with all aspects of bankruptcy!

It should be obvious that the way to stop a wage garnishment is to not let your accounts/debts ever get to that point!

We can show you various options of how to deal with your specific debt situation.

Photo Credit