i got a court ordered wage garnishment. what do i do?

Question

i got a garnighment order for 25% of my wages. i've never heard of the company who is garnishing me. i read up on them through the better business bureau and their reputation isn't good. the order came from the courts. wouldn't i have had a judgement or some sort of warning first? how do i go about disputing this? who can i turn to? i can't afford to live if they take a quarter of my pay. i can't afford an attorney. anny suggestions?

how long will it take them to find me once i get a new job?

if i lose my fight against the garnishment would bankrupcy be an option? would a chapter 7 stop the garnishment. i have no real property. i rent a room and drive an 86 honda i have no extravagant posessions. i have other debts that have gone bad and i'm afraid that will make it hard for me to dispute this one.

Answer 1

In order to get a Court Order to garnish your wages they need to file suit with the local court. Once they file you must be served with the notice. This is usually done by a process server and they will deliver them to you at your house or at work. Since they are garnishing your wages, they know where you work, and probably would have served you there.

In the off chance that they can not locate you they can "Serve" you in other ways, such as placing a notice in the local paper. But as I said if you have a garnishment, they know where you work so that probably would not have been allowed.

You need to get the entire suit from the court. Then find out about the "Proof of Service". This is the document that the Process Server files to show that you were notified. If you were served and did not show up in court they entered a default judgement. At this point there is really not much you would be able to do except to pay the debt. If by some chance you were not served then there is some recourse you may have.

However, you should consult an attorney to handle this for you. At least the first constulation is free and they may be able to at least point you to an exact process you should take if you can not afford them to do it for you.

If you do try to change jobs, they may take the time to find you. It could take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months. But if they can't find you, they will then attach your bank accounts and any money in them or that gets put in them will be frozen until the debt is paid.

Answer 2

Great answers.....but....

One of the many "hats" I wear is a process server. In my spare time I serve paperwork for some lawyers, and have had to oversee their delivery in cases I have filed.

Every state has different laws regarding how court papers are served. Some are extremely rigid.

Here in Michigan you have to:

1) Serve to the person by personal service
2) Mail by certified mail/return receipt.

In both of these methods you have "positive reporting" that the person was served, and you will have a very difficult time getting this overturned in court.

If the process server can not locate the person, or they are hiding from them, there is another method called "alternative service". You are allowed to post the paperwork to the door of their home or office, or even post a notice in an area newspaper...or post it on public bulletin boards (very rare).

But in order to do this, you first must go to the judge and demonstrate that if you are granted an "alternate service" there is a very good chance the person will get the notice. This can be done by showing proof they still live there on a daily basis.

Now in some states (Washington for example), the rules are extremely lax. You can actually deliver paperwork to anyone of reasonable age who lives that the home (whether it has been proven you live there or not). Most times the service address is simply the last known address.

So in your case, I will bet that you may have moved, and the creditor did not bother to investigate to find out where you live.

In other cases, the creditor/process server will simply lie about serving you the paperwork. This has happened in the past, and the FTC filed class action suites against several collection agencies. Several process servers got to see the inside of a jail.

OK, that said, what about it? How do you stop the garnishment?

You can, as the others recommend, fight the judgment itself based on an "improper service" defense. However, in order to win you need to show the judge that:

1) You were not properly served the court summons and had no way to know about the court case.

2) That if the case is retried there is a good chance that you will win the case.

It will be necessary for you to go to the court and ask the clerk to show you a copy of the "proof of service" that the process server filed. This form will state the time/date/location of when you were served, how it was served, and any other details. If you try to contest it, it's going to be your word against the process server, so you better have some good evidence .

It will be a big mistake if you just try to contest the service if you actually owe the debt. The judge will come down on you hard for wasting his time.

A better suggestion....once you are served with the notice of garnishment you have a certain amount of time to dispute it. File a "motion for installment payments", and request that the judge order a payment plan that will fit into your budget. If you show them that taking 25% of your earnings will cause an undue hardship they usually will grant a lessor amount. But be warned, if you default on this payment plan don't look for help from the court again.

Bankruptcy? Yes, that's an option. It will stop and discharge the judgment. But this is a "nuclear" option...it's gonna destroy your credit completely. You don't give enough information for me to give an educated opinion on doing it.

I hope this helps...contact me if you have further questions.

Answer 3

I agree with OC1999 (that guy is just getting to smart and not leaving anything for the rest of us lol)

Like he said, get your complete file from the county court clerk and carefully look over the service papers. Look for any errors in service. If the description of you that the process server wrote down actually looks like you (yes there has been cases where the process server wrote down a description that did not match the person), if there is a signature that is supposedly yours is not yours (though they rarely require someone to sign), if the rules of service for your state were not followed, etc.

Go to the following site and look up your states rules of service. It will tell you what kind of service is legal in your state - i.e. must actually serve you, or if leaving it on your doorstep or writing a newspaper ad, etc. after failing to be able to serve you is legal.
http://www.megalawserve.com/states/rules.php

If you can prove that the process server failed to properly serve you, you may be able to have the judgment vacated for improper service.

If that is the case, you might contact an attorney to help you.
Since you cannot afford an attorney, there is a couple things you might do. One is contacting Legal Aid. Another is finding an attorney that is well versed in consumer credit (knows the FDCPA, FCRA, etc) and ask if he/she will give you a free first consult and go from there.

If you go to an attorney, take "everything" with you.
A copy of the case file, a copy of your credit reports - anything and everything.

edit+++++

If you can prove to a judge that the garnishment would be a hardship, you may be able to request that the garnishment be halted/waived due to hardship. It won't get you off of the hook for good, eventually if you start earning more money, raises, new job with better pay, etc., the garnishment may then restart.

Bankruptcy "may" tie their hands from ever being able to collect on the judgment (it would depend on your states laws). But, before you do that you should try to have it vacated first, if you can't have it vacated for some reason, then try to plead hardship on the garnishment.
Bankruptcy is not cheap to file anymore.

Your other debts have no bearing on this judgment.

Landlady - the OP claims she never heard of the company before. If she had received a summons/notified of a court date then it would stand to reason that she would have heard of the company.
Nobody, from what I have read, has said anything about counter claims - maybe it's because counter claims are what a person would file when they are sued, not after a judgment was filed.
As far as my mentioning to take her credit reports with her, it was not for counter claims - every little bit of info that she can give a lawyer may help.

Answer 4

Call the company who originally issued the garnishment and ask for the details of the unpaid debt. They have to release this info to you.
You should have received something in the mail from an attorney's office or collections company concerning this, the only way a company can issue a garnishment is if any other attempts at resolving the issue with you were unsuccessful.
Really, once the garnishment is in force, there is not much you can do if it is legit unless you stop working for the company. You employer is under strict guidlines as to handling wage garnishments once it is active.
Make some phone calls, make sure it is really your debt - if it is not, call a lawyer for a free consultation to see what you should do next. If it is, try to put in extra hours if possible. I know it will be really rough, but once it starts - not much you can do until it's paid.

Good luck.

Answer 5

you may not. i don't think you probably did not get the letter to look in courtroom because of the fact there are 2 techniques the courtroom can make it easier to recognize of your courtroom date. qualified, limited mail which you would be able to sign for or a summons to look in courtroom that's hand dropped at you domicile by potential of a technique server. The choose does not render a judgment against you without information of provider. And no you may not supply up the garnishment.

Answer 6

They must have won a judgement against you in court.
Weren't you notified of the court date?
Perhaps a former landlord?
Pay your debts and keep your credit rating good.
It is too late to file a counterclaim now.