Hiday & Ricke, P.A.

Hiday & Ricke P.A.

Sandy

Hi, welcome to the forums!

Being head of household has nothing to do with getting your wages garnished. Have you sent a letter to Hiday & Rickle to inquire about why your wages were getting garnished. Better yet, have you called the court systems?

Perhaps you had a debt in collections, getting ready to get presented for a law suit to a judge? If you ignored the letters, and didn't appear in court, then chances are the judge ruled in favor of the collection agency. If you can prove that you were not at the address, of which the letters were sent (usually numerous times), then maybe the judge might reevaluate the case.

Find your documents, as you'll need these for the judge to even consider going over it again.

Regards-
Mike

Always assuming that those of us in trouble get that way on purpose. I have an outstanding, unpaid debt with Chase Manhattan Bank. Offered to make payment arrangements, ridiculed for my offers, insulted and harrassed. They would never agree to anything I could afford after a financial decline in income. I have not heard anything from anyone in a year until this occured. I resent you implying I ignored the issue. I asked for a court date, got a garnishment. Offered to make payments, denied.
I sent Hiday & Ricke a certified letter of my exemptions, per Florida Statue 222.11,they denied it. And yes it does matter in Florida if you are head of household with dependents. Florida protects creditors from taking "food" out of our children's mouths. My question was "Can they do that without a subpeona, summons, court date or any other due process?" Thanks for the lecture.

Sandy,

So they were able to process a garnishment without actually appearing in court? Have you called the court systems to find out if they did have a court date, and may have neglected to notify you? I'm not saying they did, but I'm wouldn't put it past a few of the more dishonest collection agencies.

Ok, I read over the FL law, and the clerk of court should have sent you notice. First thing Monday I would call the court system to find out what happened. Make sure that the collection agency replied to your claim of exemption within the 3 or 8 day time period as allowed by law. If they didn't they lost out.

"3) Upon the filing by a defendant of a claim of exemption and request for hearing, a hearing will be held as soon as is practicable to determine the validity of the claimed exemptions. If the plaintiff does not file a sworn written statement that contests the defendant's claim of exemption within 3 business days after hand delivering the claim and request or, alternatively, 8 business days, if the claim and request were served by mail, no hearing is required and the clerk must automatically dissolve the writ and notify the parties of the dissolution by mail. "

Sorry, I should have added, so basically NO the collection agency could not process a garnishment under FL law without proper notification to you.

What kind of documents did your employer get in support of the wage garnishment?

Yes they garnished my wages without appearing in court. I received papers in March, signed by a judge on March 14 and signed by Hiday & Ricke on March 27 notifying me of the intent to garnish. With those papers came an affidavit for "exemption and request for a hearing". I filed out the affavit and request for hearing and sent back to the attorneys certified mail within 20 days. I subsequently received copies of papers sent to my employer signed April 5 to garnish. I then get paperwork from the attorney dated April 11 denying my exemption for they included a notice of February 7 that I did not respond to. I claim I never saw the notice on February 7. Interesting how I received all the paperwork but the important one on February 7. The document signed by the judge said I had a right to contest by an exemption affidavit on March 14,(within 20 days) not known to me until after March 27 when the attorneys signed more paperwork and then finally mailed to me. This appears to me that I was hood-winked on more avenues than one. I was not given proper notice, they let time frames go by (my due process rights)and lied about the notice on February 7. I discovered that Hiday and Ricke are a collection firm disguising themselves as Dodge Enterprises.

Sandy,

If it was too late to file the exemption, wouldn't the judge have said so? Or maybe I'm just looking at the issue too simplistically.

I'm not saying that the company is lying, but I smell something fishy here. Why would you bother going through the hassle of filing the exemption paperwork if it was too late,and the same is true for the exemption paperwork being included with the March paperwork- if it was too late, the paperwork wouldn't be included would it? And does the CA have PROOF of mailing you a notice in Feb?

The notice your employer received from the attorney states the exemption was not allowed. Did a judge sign this? Again, something to talk to a court clerk about tomorrow.

And also, can your employer stall the garnishment while this is all figured out? I don't know what the legal process allows. I think you are right to be angry, I know I would feel that way if I were you.

set4sail thank you for your time and advice. The garnishment paperwork was not signed by a judge it was signed by the attorney, at least, the copies I received. My employer took the money out of my check on Friday, do not know whether they should of or not. I do not know how to get to the judge for him to know of my exemptions for I am not versed in legal documents. All I know is that I cannot pay my bills and they took 25% of my salary.
It appears to me that laws only apply if you can afford to hire an attorney to file paperwork.
How would they prove they sent me the paperwork, stating they mailed it? How would I prove I never received it? There is not a check and balance system here. It is legal documents signed by those attorneys saying they did. The February 7 document certifies that the attorneys sent the document to me.
March 14 the judge signed the document stating I could object withing 20 days, the envelope with that information was sent to me on March 27, looks like 20 days elapsed!
I do believe that they are lying and it would seem they do not have the right to decide if I do not qualify for a State Statue.
I just do not know what else to do.

They SHOULD have sent the notices by certified mail, return receipt requested. At the least, I think they are required to get a proof of mailing certificate stamped at the post office when they mail the letter. But I know from dealing with a company here in VA, they don't even follow that requirement.

From my understanding of reading FL law, if the judge didn't sign the garnishment than it isn't legal. Again, call the clerk of court for your city and ask for the status on your filing.

have you kept all of the letters and the envelopes they came in, so you have proof of postmarking for the letters you received?

He's not licensed in FL, but you might send a personal message to VA-Legal-Defense to ask him to read over the law and give his professional opinion on it. Wouldn't hurt.

In the meantime, I would talk to your employer and let them know that the garnishment may not be valid so THEY need to check into the legal validity of it as well. I don't know what the ramifications are if the CA and your employer unlawfully withheld a garnishment from your pay. There may be a consumer group in your area that could provide more FL-related advice. I would also contact your state office of consumer relations/ consumer protection (whichever they are called in FL) AND the FTC because all collection agencies operating in the US must be registered with the FTC. File complaints.

Thank you for your advise again. I have filed a complaint with the Florida Attorney General and am looking for some sort of a consumer agency. Still hoping I can get the garnishment stopped and trying to figure out how to do that.

Your should also file a complaint with the Florida Bar Association against this firm ( I am assuming they are actually members of the bar). IF they aren't members of the bard, definitely file a complaint with the Bar Association, as they are required under Florida Law to be.

http://www.floridabar.org/tfb/flabarwe.nsf/0/47fc0a8f415a11d285256b2f006ccb83?OpenDocument

To everyone that reads this plight of mine. I know that good people fall on bad times. That agreeing to pay a debt initally was in good faith, however, sometimes things happen in life. We do not want to be ridiculed, harrassed, insulted and made to feel like we are criminals. Every since I received this documentation in late March I have experienced chest pains. My doctor wanted to call 911 and have me taken to emergency just last week. Well my first thought was, who is going to fight for me and more money spent that I do not have with hospitalization (deductables). Some people with too much debt already feel pressured, sad, scared and overwhelmed. Why do agencies feel that they have to make them feel worse, make matters worse? I can say that this has devasted me.
I can also tell a story of my neighbor of 20 years invited his son to come live with him after his son got into debt that he could not repay. We will never know the full story of what went on between the son and his creditors/collection agencies for the son committed suicide last year. He left his father a note saying he just could not fight it any longer. Then the father started intercepting the calls from the collection agencies, their rudeness, demands, relentless harrassment.
Anyone that reads this and works for a collection agency, shame on you! You obviously do not know the negative impact you have on people's lives or you would look for alternative employment.

I agree, Sandy, and I am very sorry for the stress this is causing you. Yes, I would say 90% of the time it's honest people falling on bad times, and sometimes those bad times just keep going. But please don't give up. Maybe you can find a therapist to help with the panic attacks? I know that has worked wonders for me. Even just being able to talk to someone, either on the board here, in person or over the phone, can do wonders to help lift that burden.

Sadly, there is a very small percentage of people that take on debt with the intention of never repaying. I've never met a single person that has done so, but there are people out there that are criminally minded like that.

And Clay, thanks for the awesome suggestion of filing a complaint with the Bar Association. I hadn't thought of that.

Only collection agencies that break the law should be asshamed of themselfs. Collectors are people just like you trying to feed their familes. If you had to put up with the constant abuse they do you might see things differently. As far as the garnishsment is concered, nothing is outside of the law in what took place from what you state. You were sent the notice of your rights after the writ of garnishment was served on your employer. The ball was from that time in your court to set a court date and prove you claim of Head of Household. As a judgment has been issued agaist you the burden of proof now falls on you. Im sure if you call this attorney's office and offer something reasonable for the balance they would be willing to work with you. But remember what you think is reasonable and what they think may be different however the debt is yours to solve.

I believe your story 100%...due process needs to be set for most collection firms that file suit without serving you etc...fight back

sandy, thank you for sharing your story. i googled hiday and ricke and found this site. the are trying to garnish my wages but they did things wrong. it is a long story but the garnishment was dissolved because the court did not recognize that hiday and ricke owned my debt. but ****** ****** with hiday and ricke refuses to believe that his garnishment is dissolved because he did not receive a copy. i have made offers which have been refused. i do not deny this debt. today i called to see if they accepted my last offer and they did not. i tried to explain to ***** ****** that he would never receive a copy of anything from the court because the court still has the debt with the old law office. copies were sent to them. so he got mad, called me names and hung up in my face. again thank you for posting your story!!

Email on file.[/samebox:a163e0a9d6]

I have been reading all that have posted here, i can agree with it all, i am going through something with this law firm right now, i called them just the other day trying to resolve the debt, no sooner than i got off the phone with the guy, i tried calling back because it appeared to me like the guy did not want to help me, so i called back and spoke with another rep she giving me details about 3 different accts 1 acct dont even recall doing business with them, the next thing i know is that my bank calls me and tells me that they have put a freezre on my acct, mind you i paid my bills out this acct and guess what, my stuff being returned for NSF, i talked to three people there and not one of them told me about this was about to happen, so now i contact Legal aide, bu the way i responded to the letter that they sent, certified mail, never got a response, but yet got a response from them telling me my car had a lien on it, but still never told about my acct being frozen until my bank called me. sad situation, and the awful thing about it is, i just put xxxx amount of dollars in the acct to try to settle, its a mess. and they are not helping the matter, they put me in a situation and i have no access to my funds and they said it will take at least 30 days.

you must have talked to that teri scab chick, she talks nice and then sinks her teeth into your ass worse then a pitbull

she tried to take everything i had. she got most of it

I am also going through a big mess with this company and am suppose to go to court next week. I am disability income and yet they went through my bank to garnish my wages. I have sent ****** ****** all the proof he asked for and he was very nice at first and when he returned my call last week he was like a totally different person and started harrasing me. I have been out of work for a little over a year now because I am sick and believe me this is all making me sicker too. Did anyone speak to anyone else at Hiday & Ricke? Go to court? What was the outcome?

Email on file.[/samebox:d1014c15bd]

I have got papers to send and pull from my employee
he said they are fake but a judge in miami stamped it
he said he will quit me before he gets pay deducted
the never served him he says

Trying to deal with ****** and he is like a random number generator. I have verbally agreed to what they asked for, which is more than 6 weeks net pay but I want it in writing before I send them more money. Since I have to borrow the money from any one that will still talk to me. The stress from this is putting me back under the knife for another heart operation and still no help from anyone.

Went to a lawyer about it and he was as worthless as tits on a nun. These guys have no idea what they are doing to people and really don't care.

Luckily the company I work for could switch me to paper checks or I would be homeless right now. **** ********** ** * ************ *******.

Email on file.[/samebox:e1bd7abf6d]

To day after I got a letter from the attorney they garnished my wages. It that legal and also, I filed a claim of exemption and request for hearing. Do I have rights.

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There's good info here. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog. Keep up the good work mate!

Hiday & Ricke already took my tax return in 2008 when I was unemployed. Now they are back contacting my HR Dept at my new job trying to subpeona information from my workplace. They also just sent a letter to my house asking for information and it states I have 10 days to respond. I need a lawyer ASAP!!

The very same happened to me. Chase would not allow terms that I could pay, sent it
to collections, obtained judgment & now H & R attempts to garnish wages every time
I get a job. I am unable to keep a job when employers receive the letter. I will have to
find employment "under the table" if I am to survive. They say they will allow payment
arrangement (under their terms). I will go to my grave still owing this. So very sad :(
:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

Hello,

I'm not a lawyer, but in the state of Florida there is what is called the Florida Department of Fininacial Regulation. You will see it under the state attorney's website. You can launch a complaint there. I haven't been able to get my questions answered either. After I finish with my debt issues with H & R, I will file a complaint myself and they will tell you the right answer.

I just replied to the last post with the same answer. I'm not a laywer, but Chase and H & R- there is something wrong here. I would submit a claim with the Florida Department of Financial Regulation about them both. There are laws to project you and you need to know what they are. You can find your rights at the State Attorney website and look under credit collection ect. After I settle with H & R I will also file a complaint because the same thing happened to me. Surely something is a miss.

I'm sending this to you and everyone on this site - launch a complaint witht the Florida Office of Financial Regulation. The Fl laws say they can not treat you the way they have. I will be sending mine in, in about a week. I believe if enough of us do, H & R and Chase will be spending a lot of their time explaining their policies. The same happened to me too. Good luck. You can find it online or call 850-410-9800

Launch a complaint - see them on the web or call 850-410-9800. I think if enough people do this things will change.

these people are awful. they have threatened to put a lien on my husbands only vehicle and have taken money out of his checking account! they are now also threatening to do it again even though his only income is his disability check. they also sent him a 5 page questionaire last year demanding that he provide information - i.e., my salary, employer, bank account numbers, my vehicle info., etc. My husband's debt was incurred BEFORE we were married so I don't owe them diddly. in their letter they also stated that if he didn't provide it that he would be in contempt of court! did anyone else get this kind of letter from these scum sucking pigs??? They will get theirs - and yes, I am complaining to the Florida Department of Financial Regulation.

yes, if you live in florida and are head of household.

your wages cannot be garnished and your assets can not be taken: bank accounts and automobiles, etc.

Head of household means that you make the most money in your family and you support someone in that family.

Or if you are paying support to someone such as child support.

Look it up as it is the law in Florida.