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Hi, My question is, can my husbands bank account be frozen for a judgement against me.? I have a pending judgement against my own credit card, which he was a user, but the account was in my name. I was told to get my own account since they will probably freeze our joint account that I used to pay on this credit card. My husband has a savings account in his name only, can they freeze this account as well?
Thank You for any help you can offer.
Deb
Well, they cannot do anything to your husband if he is not a debtor to the account. Unless they have a judgement (not "pending") the bank will not do anything to your account. To be quite honest, I've never heard of an account's assets being frozen for a court judgement (only terrorists accounts that are frozen by the FBI or something).
Keep in mind, unless you tell them your bank's name, address, and account number, they don't even know you have the account, nor the balance. They'll have to start from scratch with their all mightly judgement and try to find assets they can grab from there. However, the only thing you really need to worry about (at least right away) is garnishment of wages.
If you work, they can cause your employer to take a portion of your check and send it directly to them. However, though laws very state to state, I don't know of any state that allows this from a judgement....
See, they'd have to pay their attorney AGAIN, to go to court, AGAIN and bring their judgement against you to get a "court order" that is the actual power document that would require the employer to garnish a portion of your wages to send to the creditor (or holder of the judgement against you).
If you have a judgement against you, that just means you failed to divert the plaintiff from proving you owe the disputed debt. That judgement doesn't give them access to run your life. ... good thing, ehh?
You're husband's ok as long as he's not on the account. I wouldn't worry too much about bank accounts or any assets that the collection agency doesn't already KNOW you have. Any accounts, cars, stocks, bonds, etc. They have to do their own private investigation work to "find" those little hidden treasures before they can attempt to use their impetent judgement to request a court order to grab your stuff.
As a precaution, YES, I would probably avoid dumping $50,000 in an account with just youru name on it (or maybe your name period), but seriously, that's quite a bit more paranoid than you need to be. I'm just a paranoid freak, so that's what I would probably do, but seriously, that is a little overboard.
If there is a judgment against you than they will garnishment a joint account even thought your husband is not party to the suit. As for his saving account, they cannot touch it.
Have your hasband File a MOtion to Quash the garnishment, this will delay them bank from releasing the funds frozen.
You can file Motion to Vacate the Judgment, for various reasons, lack of proper notice or service, lack of jurisdication, failure to validcate the alleged debt.
First, They can garnish or attach ANY bank accounts that you are a joint tenant of. They cannot attach any accounts that you are not a joint tenant on.
Second, While the onus is on them to find your assets, you indicated the joint account was the one used to pay them. Therefore, they already have that info. So it would make sense to close that account and open a new one.
Third, They can garnish your wages, but it does not always mean going back to a court hearing. They simply take the judgment to a the judge and he signs a court order which is then given to the employer (or bank).
Third, They can garnish your wages, but it does not always mean going back to a court hearing. They simply take the judgment to a the judge and he signs a court order which is then given to the employer (or bank).
Well, this is pretty much what I stated. When the creditor takes their judgment and goes BACK to the court to use the judgment to request a court order from the judge, in many jurisdictions, the proceeding that is held for this "request" by the judgment holding creditor is called a "hearing". The judge hears the creditors request (based on the fact that a judgement is held against the debtor) to have the judge issue a court order. My point was that a judgement does not "empower" the creditor to go to the debtor's bank and say, "Look here, I WON the lawsuit, now give me this person's money in 'said' account."
LOL, I wasn't suggesting that the whole case would go back to trial.
Sorry, but, from my knowledge and experience, that proceeding is NOT called a hearing. Generally a part of a judges day is spent signing such things. The creditor submits the form to the judge's clerk, the clerk puts it in with a bunch of similar requests and leaves it on the judge's desk for signature. After signing the clerk then distributes the requests to the originator.
I did not go to court. I went and talked to a lawyer who wanted $900 up front to file bankruptcy for me.
How much is this debt? You said a "pending judgement". Does that mean you received a summons? Have you answered it with your intention to defend? You asked some specific questions which we answered, but lets go back to the beginning, maybe we can help you avoid the judgement.
When i got the summons i went to the lawyer. Hence the $900. I have been looking for another one and trying to get the money together to pay one. It has been more than 30 days and I am assuming they will freeze my bank account. I live in PA and they cannot attach my wages.
Sorry, but, from my knowledge and experience, that proceeding is NOT called a hearing. Generally a part of a judges day is spent signing such things. The creditor submits the form to the judge's clerk, the clerk puts it in with a bunch of similar requests and leaves it on the judge's desk for signature. After signing the clerk then distributes the requests to the originator.
Actually, ScottGem, you're probably right. I don't know for sure that technically is a hearing (as a hearing usually involves both parties). I guess I was making the point that the judgement only shows that a judgement was won, but that there is additional court paperwork that must be filed for to garnish wages or cease assets and that the judgment, in and of itself, offers the creditor no direct power to do so.
... good thing, ehh?
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