I co-signed for an auto loan in 1996. The person lost their job and could not continue to pay for the car so it was repossessed. The car was later sold for an amount that I am unsure of. The case was turned over to a collection agency in 2001. We were unfamiliar with the courts and we thought the papers were telling us that it was a judgement against us and we were not aware that we could go to court and disagree with the amount that was said owed. The collection agency received a default judgement. I accepted the judgement and paid 882.00 down and 100 a month for a year and a half until I was laid off from my job. That was in January 2003. I called the agency and let them know my circumstances and never heard from them again. In 2006 the person who took out the original loan filed bankruptcy. A month ago 2008 they decided to voluntarily dismiss their bankruptcy so they could try and get their house re-financed. In July 2008 they receive a letter from the collection agency and now the debt that started at 8800 with me paying 3000 on which should have reduced to 5500 is now 13000. The person called them when they received the letter and tried to work out a payment and dispute the amount owed. He asked why had they not contacted him sooner and they stated because he filed bankruptcy, but the bankruptcy was not filed until 2 years after the last contact. The person was very rude and now because the person is self-employed and they cannot garnish a check from him, they are trying to garnish my check on my job. I don't think that is fair because I am only a co-signor and I think that prior to garnishment after the bankruptcy case was dismissed they should have called me and tried to work out some arrangements. They have my information and I have been in the same place for over 5 years. Is their anything I can legally do to stop them from garnishing my check? I am afraid that I am going to lose my job because of th garnishment because I work in a financial environment and it does not look good.
