Debt question?
Wondering if a debt collection agency, or law firm dealing with a debt problem with me are allowed to garnish my wages, take me to court or take my posessions for collateral. I heard once that the only people who can do any of the above by law is the IRS and that no other agency can do it.
Only one of my debts is tied to a posession of mine, my truck which is in with a bank loan which Im currently paying on. But alot of my debt has gone to collection agencies (alot of them I have already worked out payment plans, some of them just dont want to deal with me), its those that Im paranoid about.
Any help with this issue I have would be greatly appreciated, and if there is a website that lists the laws that state any answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Also before anyone gives me crap about not paying what I owe, Im not trying to get out of debt by not paying or filing bankruptcy, Im just having a hard time getting people to work with me. Thanks again.
I do have a job, just cant afford to pay all my debt all at once. I cant afford to pay off debts, just pay on until they get paid off.
Also I live in Texas.
Also my truck is in with a bank loan I have, the loans not a problem. Just a bunch of other loans and credit cards. I am enrolled in credit solutions, they are helping alot, but the debts they couldnt take I am having to pay off myself, and those are the debts I am wondering about.
I just want to know if a debt collection agency or law firm have the right in the state of Texas to garnish my wages or take my property, I have nothing tied to these debts, just my signature.
October 1st, 2008 at 1:23 am
sounds like ure in deep debt
your “truck” may have to be handed back
I used to work for a debt collection agency, they have rules and laws they must follow.
Do you work ? can you offer to pay some of the bills off every week/fortnight.
If you do not want to pay or file for bankrupcty you may be forced into it… depending on how much you owe and for how long you havn’t been paying…. and so on and so forth
Get some financial help !
Talk to your parents/ partners/friends
you can’t spend the next 10-20-30 years in debt, it can run ure life.
Some times bankruptcy can b good for you.
Google bankrupcy and ure local laws on debt collection
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:56 am
well, my cousin in law had her wages garnished when she neglected to pay off her car loan…………then they took the car…….it depends wat state u live in
October 4th, 2008 at 6:03 am
this is the only credit counseling place that I would recommend
Other places will charge a high monthly fee for their services.
To answer your question – a debt collection agency can only garnish your wages after they take you to court and win a judgment against you.
As for your truck – if you get behind on your payments – they will repo and could sue you for the difference in the amount of your loan and what they sold it for.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:46 am
They will not be able to take your truck away. First off you still own on it so right there, there is no way they could take it. Second I am pretty sure they will not be able to take it from you because that is your transportation to and from work. Now the debt collectors can sue you however even this is unlikely. And if those DC agencies do take you to court and you can show that you attempted to make payment arangements the court will not garnish any of your wages. I suggest you do a debt verification letter to these companies to see even if they can verify that you owe them the debt. Many times they cannot. Then they will have to stop contacting you and stop trying to collect the debt. Go to creditboards.com to find more info on how to deal with DC and sample letter to send them. If they do properly verifiy the debt, then send them another letter(certified mail) offer to set up a payment plan. That way, if they take you to court, you can show the judge that u tried to resolve the matter and they refused to work with you. THe court will then probably just set up a payment plan.. Again dont worry too much. They usually wont bother to take you to court. They bought those debt for pennies on the dollar and they usually dont have any documents to verify that u actually owe them the debt. I had many collections ranging from 500 to 9000 dollars and they never bothered to come after me. Now they are past the statute of limitations and off my credit report.
October 8th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Read the terms and conditions of the various loans and credit agrrement in which you’ve entered. There’s quite a lot of information concerning default.
October 12th, 2008 at 5:17 am
First of all Texas has a law that exempts 100% of ones wages from being garnished. (this excludes child support, back taxes and student loans) and is one of the few states that have this law.
They can however get a writ to garnish any funds you might have in a savings or checking account. But only if the bank is in Texas, if it is an out of state bank, they can not touch it.
So the answer is NO, the collections agencies can not garnish your wages. Also the state statute of limitations limits the time a collection agency has to take one to court to 4 years, after that they have no legal recourse. So if the debts are past the four year SOL, all they can do is ask for payment!.
The truck is collateral on a loan, so they could re-posess it if you fall way behind on the payments, but it is too much trouble for them, they would have to pay a fee to have it reposessed, then more fees to have it sold at auction, and in the end, still have to sue you for the ballance owed. As long as you keep that debt current I wouldn’t worry about them taking the truck.
Here is a link to explain more about the laws of Texas.
Hope this answers your question
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The advice contained herein is for informational purposes only. It is not to be construed as Legal Counsel nor Legal Advice.