Hi everyone,

We recently did a military move cross country from the east coast to Hawaii. I was in the process of closing our bank account there by letting it "settle" for a bit when I checked it to discover a zero balance. I got a letter in the mail a few days later saying it had been seized by a court order.

I knew about this court order and had been making payments on it, but missed my Dec payment due to our move. I just forgot about it. Now they've seized that bank account. Luckily there was only a few dollars in there since we moved our account to another bank when we moved. I've already had all my direct deposits changed to our new account. I have a new employer here in Hawaii. It was about $2000 that I owe.

I have a few questions for you experts:

Do they have to go through the whole "suing me" process again since I'm in a different state now?

Does the fact that I live in a different state now matter?

Do I need to worry about them coming after my new bank account?

If they can come after my new account, how long will it take?

What steps do I need to take at this point?

Can they garnish my wages with my new employer?

I know that I need to contact the creditor, and the reason I haven't is that the paperwork is on a boat somewhere in the Pacific and we are currently living out of suitcases until our stuff arrives.

Thank you for reading. I am anxious to read your answers!

Do they have to go through the whole "suing me" process again since I'm in a different state now?

No; the original judgement can be 'domesticated' and enforceable where you now live.

Does the fact that I live in a different state now matter?No

Do I need to worry about them coming after my new bank account? Yes

If they can come after my new account, how long will it take? No one knows

What steps do I need to take at this point? Start saving $100 to $500 per month until you have the full amount and pay it off. Actually, you could offer to 'settle' for less than the full amount, so start out at 50%.

Can they garnish my wages with my new employer? Yes, if allowed by state law.

excon: I would like to join your next mentoring class as long as you are comfortable with hearing contrarian ideas; I didn't eat the wolf cookies.

George gave you the correct answers. The first thing I would do is contact the creditor and explain why you missed the December payment. Offer to bring the payments up to date immediately if they will reinstate the agreement. DO NOT pay by check, only by money order.

You have to remember, you forced them to get a judgement against you by defaulting on the debt. So they are not going to give you any leeway. That's why they attached your account as soon as you missed one payment.

Thank you for you reply. I'm confused about this part:

"Start saving $100 to $500 per month until you have the full amount and pay it off. Actually, you could offer to 'settle' for less than the full amount, so start out at 50%."

If they will try to seize my new current bank account, I don't see how I would have time to save that much before they seized it. Are you assuming it will take them a while to find it and get things in order to take the money?

I guess what I'm really getting at is should I move that money into an account with only my husband's name... is it in jeopardy of being taken at any moment or will it take a few weeks or so for them to track it down?

No way for us to tell how vigilant the creditor is.

Thank you for you reply. I'm confused about this part:

"Start saving $100 to $500 per month until you have the full amount and pay it off. Actually, you could offer to 'settle' for less than the full amount, so start out at 50%."

If they will try to seize my new current bank account, I don't see how I would have time to save that much before they seized it. Are you assuming it will take them a while to find it and get things in order to take the money?

I guess what I'm really getting at is should I move that money into an account with only my husband's name.... is it in jeopardy of being taken at any moment or will it take a few weeks or so for them to track it down?
Many folks will enter into an agreement to pay a judgment with monthly payments until paid in full; start saving now by paying a weekly or monthly amount into a bank account or brokerage account; the creditor will not know about it, right? So they can't garnish or attach it.

I thought they would find any account that I own. They might not know about it now, but would find it eventually. I took my name off our joint checking account so they can't get to that. My lawyer we had prior to our move is going to dig the file up and get the contact info for me so hopefully I can get this straightened out soon.

Thank you all for your answers. You've been very helpful. If you have any additional comments please post them!

Thanks,
J