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trmpldonagn · Jul 9, 2008, 08:18 PM

Hello all. I am asking a question for an elderly neighbor. Her bank account was frozen due to a judgment posted/recorded on June 16th of this year. From my own experience, I was able to have a judgment lifted because I filed an motion to vacate that judgment. I filed the motion within 30 days. Mine was for a voluntary repo which I found out I do owe but the judgment had to be lifted anyway because I was not properly served. (I am paying it though). I was hoping she had 30 days but she says her bank account was frozen already. The only thing I can think of is that ANOTHER collector may have frozen her account.

For a credit card, is the time frame different? Maybe 20 days? Also, her pension and social security is direct deposited into her bank. I thought they could not collect on either of those.?

Thanks very much for your time and help if you can. Have a great one!

TheCleaner · Jul 10, 2008, 05:12 AM

Do the same thing, if the judgment gets vacated you can lift the bank levy right after.

If the only deposit in that account is her SSI they can not touch the account, if you can prove that they took her SSI check file a lawsuit.

Also check the statute of limitations for open accounts in your state and the rules of service.

Review the original lawsuit and use any deffects -like lack of validation- to file a motion to vacate

Carl.-

trmpldonagn · Jul 10, 2008, 09:34 AM

TheCleaner
Thank you so much! I appreciate it. I was pretty sure they couldn't touch her S.S. retirement benefits (she doesn't get S.S. disability-just in case)

Do you know if they can touch her pension?

Thank you very much again!

ScottGem · Jul 10, 2008, 10:40 AM

Ok, first, If the reason for requesting to vacate is improper service, then there really isn't a time frame since she never knew about the suit.

But getting a judgement vacated is just a delaying tactic. The plaintiff will refile the suit immediately.

She can file for a lifitng of the writ of attachment on the grounds that the source of deposit to the account is protected income. She should alkso inform her bank that forthcoming deposits are protected and should not be included.

Whether private pensions are exempt varies from area to area. Sop you need to check local laws.

TheCleaner · Jul 10, 2008, 01:22 PM

SSI stands for Suplemental Security Income, is a monthly government check for a maximun of 637 dollars, they can't touch that. Any other pension like 401K or retirement plans can be garnish in some cases, as Scothgem said deppends on the amounts and in your state laws you need to check that, a search in Google like ---- YourState garnishment exceptions ---- should do the trick for you.

Carl.-

trmpldonagn · Jul 10, 2008, 03:15 PM

Hi Scott, you've been very helpful before. You're a world of knowledge.
Carl, Thank you, thank you again and again! It's people like yous' that make this site/forum so helpful and it's good to learn as well just by reading all of your other answers and so forth.

Long story short, so far the lawyer felt pretty uncomfortable when he realized that they took her SS. Mistake on their part and I was surprised. I told her to still go for vacating the judgment but she doesn't quite understand that yet. The lawyer and/or collectors can't really do that even when it's paid. (I think). I was told that they will just send her something in writing once it's paid. She didn't even ask what it was for which means she could find out down the road that it wasn't even a valid debt. They got her good and scared so she won't really listen to me. She just agreed to pay it so that they would immediately release SOME of her funds. It's still kind of crazy because they should release ALL of her SS that they have frozen. Supposedly by next week she'll be OK. Either way, thanks a whole bunch you guys! So much for making a long story short. I will read on more of this later. Have a great one!

Terri