I have a joint account with my dad and our bank account savings and checking is frozen my dad is the debtor the only income my dad has is his pension check and ss check. The collector has put a lien on the account and is requesting his pay stub from ss and copy of his pension check, is it safe to do so ,I have other accounts with the same bank and I'm scared they my garnish my money.:confused: I have not faxed no information yet what should I do.

Read this post and file Notice with the court of exemption

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/bankru...ent-59091.html

Well, first of all, I am not an attorney but I would recommend you contact one immediately. You might search out "Legal Aid" from the local legal community, which is usually free, or contact an attorney's office from the phone book to see if they will refer you or if they do any "Pro Bono" work or will offer any "Pro Bono" advice due to your father's age and condition.

Secondly, do not send them anything. Certainly not until you talk to an attorney and my first reaction is to not send them anything unless ordered to do so by the courts.

Unless this "law firm" has been hired expressly by the creditor to contact you for this debt, and if they routinely, as a business, collect debt from multiple parties, they are a third party debt collector and are governed by the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. Get a copy and read it if you can.

It sounds like your situation might fall under a hardship condition and a competent attorney might get the lien removed due to the inability of your father to make payment due to his age and condition. In effect he pleads insolvency without bankruptcy.

I don't live in a state that allows wage garnishment (Texas), but it seems to me that unless you are a co-signer to this debt, I find hard, if not impossible, to believe your wages could be garnished to pay his debt.

Lastly, you might check to see if this "law firm" is licensed and bonded to conduct business in Indiana as a third party debt collector. Many if not all states have this requirement and the penalty for not conforming to this requirement varies widely. As I recall, Indiana only requires the third party debt collector to be licensed if they are located out of state and conduct collection activity within the state. However, look to see where these bottom feeders are located. If their office is in another state and they are not licensed and bonded (your Secretary of State for the State of Indiana will have this information and will share it with you), their activity is illegal and an attorney could cause them a lot of problems.

Good luck, I know this is a horrible problem and you are scared, stressed out, frustrated and angry. Hang in there, it will get better. Find out your legal options and know you do have rights.

Pat Hicks
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Don't fax them anything and read my entire reply.

Pat Hicks
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