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    cabo587's Avatar
    cabo587 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Oct 31, 2009, 09:43 AM
    Garnishing wages for an unpaid credit card bill in Pennsylvania
    Does anyone know how to help me? I have an unpaid credit card bill and I just received a call from a collection agency and they threatened me and told me they were going to garnish our wages if I didn't let them take 3 payments of 460.69 right away out of our checking account. Well, I did and now my account will be overdrawn. I called my bank to stop payment. I need to know if it is legal to garnish our wages before there was a judgement ever made. I was told by someone that you have to have a court order before they can call and threaten you.
    s_cianci's Avatar
    s_cianci Posts: 5,472, Reputation: 760
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    #2

    Oct 31, 2009, 01:14 PM
    Wages cannot be garnished without a judgment. They might threaten you all they want but unless they actually sue you and get that judgment, they cannot garnish your wages. In the future, if they call you instruct them not to, that they are to only communicate with you in writing. They're not as likely to try and bully you in writing as they might over the phone. Also insist that they provide you with written verification of this debt, even if you know that you legitimately owe it. Keep in mind that if they pursue legal action against you the burden of proof is on them, not you.
    Fr_Chuck's Avatar
    Fr_Chuck Posts: 81,301, Reputation: 7692
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    #3

    Oct 31, 2009, 01:17 PM

    I am more concerned at this point over why you would write a bad check, and now to stop payment, they may use that check for legal action against you in addition to other things.

    1. never talk to collection people on the phone
    2. collection people always lie on the phone.

    If they are going to garnish your pay they have to sue and get a judgement first.

    I doubt that you can challenge the debt now since by sending them payment you have confirmed you owed the debt.

    You were in pretty good shape till you wrote bad checks to them.
    ScottGem's Avatar
    ScottGem Posts: 64,966, Reputation: 6056
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    #4

    Oct 31, 2009, 01:49 PM

    If you gave them your checking account info they may have immediately debited the account. You need to make those payments good or you may find yourself in even deeper trouble.

    No they cannot just garnish your salary, but I suspect they didn't say it that way to you. However, they can sue, you obtain a judgment and then garnish your salary. And the fact that you agreed to make payments will make it almost a slam dunk that they will win a suit.
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