Is there any way to fight a garnishment without filing for bankruptcy?
Purchased a car in 11/2007. Engined failed next day/repair est. at about $3,000. Warranty refused to cover it/dealer refused to fix. State Attorney General said no lemon law protection for used cars in my state (Missouri). Auto shop then wanted $1500 for checking out the car (taking apart engine/reassembling). MO law allowed them to take ownership of car for non-payment. So we had car for less than a week and now owe $16,000 for car…and the garnishment has begun. PLEASE HELP!!!
July 29th, 2009 at 3:49 am
Each state has different laws governing garnishment. So if you are facing such a situation, read your state law and find out how much of your pay check can be garnished. Most states limit the amount garnished to leave you what they consider enough to live on. Don’t ignore the court action. It is your only chance to fight the garnishment or make the payments something you can survive.
With out knowing your specific situation that is a hard question. Normally, I would recommend bankruptcy only when other efforts have failed. By other effort I mean a real budget, trying to work with your creditors, and selling of unneeded assets such as boats or a second property. If these have failed or are not an option, I would then recommend using a debt counselor or debt consolidation agency. If the counselor can find no new ways that you haven’t already tried, then a debt consolidation agency should be able to lower your payments to something you can afford. If your situation is truly critical, monstrous medical bills, loss of work with no employment in sight, then and only then, consider bankruptcy.
When a creditor obtains a judgment against you, he has several options to choose from to try and satisfy the judgment:
(1) The creditor will try to attach a lien against any property you own, such as your home. This does not mean you will be thrown out of your home, but rather, that you will not have clear title to your property after the creditor files a lien against it. The interest on the judgment lien will continue to accumulate over time, and if and when you sell your home, the creditor will receive the value of the judgment with interest from the sell of your home before you see any money, provided that the statute of limitations on collecting the judgment hasn’t run.
(2) The creditor can locate any monies you have in bank accounts and seize them. Don’t think that the creditor can’t locate the $5,000 you have in savings at your local bank. There are businesses who specialize in helping creditors and debt collection agencies locate all of your assets, including all of your bank accounts. If the creditor finds any money you have that is not exempt from seizure by your state’s laws, he will use his judgment to levy levy your bank account.
(3) A creditor might try to garnish your wages, particularly if you don’t own any property or have any money in savings. The federal government and many states have enacted legislation that limits the amount a creditor can garnish from your wages. The only way to avoid the wage garnishment is to resign from your job, find another, and hope that the creditor doesn’t locate you again, at least for a year or two. The creditor could force you into becoming a job hopper for the rest of your life in order to stay one step ahead of a wage garnishment.
July 31st, 2009 at 8:39 pm
That sucks @$$.
You can only fight a judgment if it was obtained in bad faith (like the plaintiff’s attorney not having you served with the summons properly).
You can try to duck the garnishments, but your credit report will be trashed as long as you have an unsatisfied judgment. They stay on your credit report for at least ten years. Employers may not want to hire you, since it will look like you can’t handle your own money.
You can make it harder on the creditor to collect, by moving to another state…they’d have to go to court in your new state to get a sister-state judgment. Then they’d be limited to that state’s garnishment laws. Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina prohibit wage garnishments.