judgenebts/wage garnishments

We don't know what kind of debt you have?? I think, and I could be wrong, when you enter into an agreements such as a loan contract or cc contract you usually are asked to sign a wage assignment or garnishment document saying if you don't make the payments they can do that. As far as I know only one company can do this at a time. So if 2 places garnished you...whoever got there first would get the court ordered % and the other one would have to wait until the 1st one was completed.

i have 22,000 in credit card debt. i owe back taxes to federal, state, and city. the city is taking me to court. i just received a letter from one creditor they will take me to court and demand full payment of account. i got over my head in debt after my husband died august 2006. i was eligible for surving spouse benefits from social security. i had to wait 6 weeks before i got a check from social security. i also was limited to how much money i could earn so i had to quite my full time job. that six weeks without the income i was used to really did me in financially. after about 10 months of struggling i gave up and seeked advice from a bankruptcy attorney. it was going to cost me $1200. to file. i had to pay them $900. before they would start my case. i was making installments every 2 weeks. in the meantime my creditors were adding late fees, over limit fees, higher interest. i did not like the feeling of filing bk. i saw an ad on tv about debt settlement. i thought i would feel better about that. i picked a debt settlement co. had to pay 2 installments of $360. to start program. so i cancelled the bankruptcy plan. i still owed two intallments so they had not started my case. when i talked to the bankruptcy office they said even though i pay the fee it would still be while before i would get a case number. i have been feeling a lot of stree with all the calls from creditors and could not bear it any longer. so that is why i decided to do debt relief. it has been over six weeks since I cancelled the bankruptcy. i still have not received a refund. they will not tell me how much i will be refunded until they calculate what fees to charge me. well, i paid the $720 to the dedt settlement to get started. i thought that would stop the calls from creditors but i was wrong. the debt settlement co said that they never said that this would stop creditors calls and also i would be still accumulating debt from the creditors. well i did the math. 360 mo x 40 months = 14,400. then i started to add up if my creditors were still going to add interest and late fees my debt would be higher. i cancelled with the debt settlement. lost the $720 i sent. i am in the state of panic i can't think straight. the debt settlement co had a good record with the BBB. stated it had 14 employees but whenever i called i spoke with the president every time. too late now. anyway, i don't know how i am going to fair. it has helped me to know their are others going through this same plight, not meaning misery loves company. i really feel bad for all of us. sorry so long and hope i made some sense. oh, i have an appointment with a debt couseling service locally this wednesday. it was listed in the senior citicizen directory. i hope they can help.

Guest....first welcome to our community and please know you are not alone. That said it would be nice if you registered and then you can keep track of the posts you have on here.Please keep yourself calm and thinking clearly before you make any more decisions.

Now I see you have a large amount of debt. Am I assuming you are now working and able to make payments but are just so far behind?? If your not going to do the BK...which I understand your hesitation but sometimes it's the best alternative...the debt management/couseling thing might possibly work very well for you. Just please do your homework and check them out before loosing any more of your hard earned money. In a dmp (with a couselor) you will make 1 monthly payment to them and they will dispurse your funds to the creditors. After a few payments it is not unusual to see some of the creditors reduce the interest and remove late fee and over limit charges. As the smaller bills get paid off the extra money is then put to the larger ones continually paying down debt until it is gone. You usually will agree not to incur any additional debt while you are doing this. It can take up to 5 years to clear all your debt depending on howmuch you pay.

I would be calling the BK lawyer every day to see where my refund is. And why did you lose the $720. to the settlement company if you cancelled the program??

I can't add to Morningstar's great advice to guest..

But to bjpeterson..Here's what I can tell you about garnishments. If you are dealing with PDLS, the online ones will collect by wage assignment. However, storefronts can sue you in court and obtain a judgement to garnish.

I get the feeling you are talking about other debts, though. As far as credit cards, medical bills, child support, etc..Yes, all of those creditors can sue you. To avoid a garnishment you can make arrangements now with your creditors, or if you have been summoned, answer the summons..You will have a chance to make arrangements there.

If two creditors due file a writ at once, it is not always who gets there first that gets the first deductions. Generally the rule that we HR people go by is "first in first writ". However, federal debts always take precedence. So if you get a judgement for a student loan and a credit card, the student loan would go first. BUT..If you are already being garnished for a consumer debt and a fed debt comes in, most of the time the consumer debt will not be stopped, but there are exceptions to this rule! Also, for consumer debts, the federal mandate is 25%. A student loan is 15%.

so only one wage garnishment at a time. what about freezing checking account?