[slew123molt225]

I received a writ of garnishment on my joint bank account with my boyfriend. It is from an old credit card debt now handled by attorneys. They did this once before, March 2009 and took our entire income tax return an paychecks after "freezing" the funds. This makes it difficult to even keep a job as the paychecks in the bank were providing gas money, groceries, etc. I am not head of household and this is in the state of Florida. I have 20 days to reply. Thank you for any help or direction.

[ms305]

Did they serve you? The same thing has happened to me. If they didn't serve you you can fight it. Did you ever dispute the charges. Do you have any paper trail? I don't know your whole case but if you have a joint account and he wasn't on the credit card they have to return half. Tell all your friends and family!! Good Luck...

[slew123molt225]

What do you mean "serve"? Not in person, like a subpeona. I got something by mail, called the attorneys to make payments arrangements. This was March 2009. I did not know they were not interested in dealing and just trying to buy time for my "response period" to run out. I responded to the attorneys rather than the court.

[ms305]

I have an Attorney (family friend) helping with the case and it seems if they didn't serve you with judgement papers from the court, you may have a chance to get the case dropped or at the least your monies "un"frozen. One of the questions he asked at our initial meeting if I had a joint account; because if it was they could only take half. So that might help you.

[DisabledinMD]

Who's debt was this? Yours or BF's? I am assuming yours. They can only garnish the money from the debtor. Did they win a judgment against you? Were you ever notified by a court with a summons that you were being sued? Or did they manage to get an Affidavit or Default Judgment because you never filed a 'Notice to Defend' or were a no-show at the trial, and they had sufficient documentation to prove it satisfactorily to the court?

Was there a follow-up hearing to determine income and assets? How old is the debt, last payment? If it was past the statute of limitations, before the case was filed in court, you might be able to get the jugdment reversed if you can prove it. What are the attorneys doing about the situation, what did they do? Perhaps you should consider separate bank accounts, to keep his money from being seized, as they really have no legal right to his.

Whatever you got in the mail, should list a trial # and say that they are collecting on a judgment. Call or visit courthouse and look up the case. Depending on state, you may be able to search online, MD allows this, for trial summaries. Look for your state Civil Court website. Full transcripts must be obtained directly for a fee. Trial summaries cost nothing, you do the looking. If you have no trial case #, search using your name, and the county/parish you live in.


PS I don't know the particulars, but from what I have read, ignoring the court and responding to Plaintiff's attorneys instead, is usually a bad idea.

[slew123molt225]

I filed a "Motion to Quash" and a letter with the court. I got a notice of deposition in aid of execution and request to produce... I guess this helps. This paper work says I owe $17,000, the last paper work said 15,000. They originally said 15,000 in April of this year when they took the 2,000 from my joint bank account. I do not have access a printer to print out all the crap they want, i.e. bank statements and pay stubs for the last 12 months. These days everything is online. I did provide bank statements in April by email. I realize now that when I was trying to cooperate with these people in April (who represent Chase) they were actually just buying time, the 20 days response period. As soon as that was up, they refused anymore communication and took all of the funds in my joint bank account. Since I have filed paperwork with the court they have called and left me a message. I am afraid to respond because they have proven to be dishonest. What should I do? Contact these people, attend the deposition and explain I cannot print this out without a printer? I am not allowed to do personal business at work. I tried in April because I was desperate and scared... they said I had until 5pm and it was 4:45pm so I let them send me an email attachment at work to sign... my job has all kin of firewalls, which I didn't realize at the time, and when I printed it it came out with $error. When I called to explain, they said too bad, too late...

[DisabledinMD]

So, there was a trial/hearing in which a judgment was obtained. Did you not attend it? Now they are doing the follow-up, to determine what income and assets you have in order to satisfy the judgment. Unfortunately, lack of a printer and inability to use work office equipment is not their's, or the court's, problem.

Surely you have a public library you can access, or an office supply chain such as Staples, Office Depot, Office Max, etc. You are just going to have to pay for printed copies of what they request for the deposition. If this involves a large amount of paperwork, the cost per printout can add up. Might be better to pick up a cheap printer with starter ink, might be enough to get you what you need to print.

You might even be able to get a free or nearly free printer, try freecycle.org to see if someone near you is giving one away, might even come with a bit of ink. Thrift shops like Goodwill might have really cheap ones, and remanufactured cartridges are fairly inexpensive. a) You only need a black ink cartridge and b) you don't care about print quality, you just need to provide the printouts requested. Most manufacturers have the hardware drivers and software programs available online for you to download and install the printer.

You are just going to have to be resourceful, and find a way to provide what the collection agency and court request, as part of the judgment collection process. "I don't have a printer" just won't go over well. They will keep seizing your bank account funds. Providing them with the pay stubs and bank statements will limit how much they can garnish, so it is actually in your best interest to provide them. That way they will only take out a percentage of your pay, to satisfy the judgment, rather than freezing your account and seizing the funds. You also have to prove what money in the bank account belongs to the boyfriend, in order to prevent that from being seized, and to have any monies of his returned to him.

PS Your bank may also provide you with printouts for a small fee, possibly free, depends on their terms and policy. Same with work paystubs.

[ScottGem]

It appears they already have a judgment against you, otherwise they couldn't attach your bank accounts. If that's the case, Did you know of the judgment?

The only grounds for quashing the writ of execution is if you were unaware of the suit and did not get your day in court. But that's just a delaying tactic. They will properly serve you before you leave the courthouse. Plus the fact they they already got a writ of execution and used it makes it harder for you to know try to deny service.

Do not be afraid to respond to them, but do NOT take any action until its backed up in writing.

As for printing, you have access to a computer, you can download all your statements and burn them to a CD and give that to them. You don't have to print them out on your own.

[slew123molt225]

They responded by scheduling me for a deposition 10/21/09. I have to bring 36 months of bank statements, 3 years of income tax returns, a copy of my car registration, 12 months of pay stubs, and my phone bill for a year. What can I expect?

[Fr_Chuck]

First if they already had a judgement, most likely you can expect to get your pay garnished ( if your state allows that) and even the car attached *taken and sold in some states)

But it appears you knew there was a judgement when they took the income tax money. So it is not possible to claim you were not aware of the judgement.

[slew123molt225]

Why would they want to take my only transportation, preventing me from being able to earn any more income to pay them or live on? I am just trying to make payment arrangements to pay a fair amount, not inflated where they add $ instead of subtract. In April 2009 when they took $2000 from my bank account they said I owed $15,000. Now that they have froze $1,000 in my bank, they say I owe $17,000. I just want a fair deal because this making it impossible for me to live and pay feels fraudulent. Once there is a jugement, can they add on money like that?

[ScottGem]

I know this may sound harsh, but remember you borrowed this money and failed to pay it back. So you got yourself into this mess by doing so.

As to whether they can continue to charge interest or add on fees after the judgment depends on your local laws and the terms of the judgment.

You can try explaining to a judge that taking your car is counter productive.

[slew123molt225]

My deposition was today. It was scheduled at an attorney's office near my home. There was a court transcriber. Her and I were on speaker phone with the attorney handling my writ of garnishment for the plaintiff. The bottom line agreement was they froze $915 in my bank account. They get half and I keep half. Then I pay them $100/month beginning January 2010 for 6 months. At that time we will revisit the issue. If, at any time, I have a sum of money sufficient to "pay it off for less", I can offer the deal. I owe $15,000 and get the impression they may settle for a lump sum of $8,000 - $10,000. Obviously, I do not have that kind of money, but for now, my funds are unfrozen and I can breathe.

[ScottGem]

That does seem fair.

[DisabledinMD]

That's seems like a good outcome, I'm sure you are relieved.