Judgements and Debt Relief

It is risky using a third party when you have a judgment....you really need to be kept in the loop. Once they get a judgment you could be garnished or your bank account levied at any time. A third party wont take the time to keep you in the loop. Have you tried talking to them yourself?>

As there are judgments against you, it will be difficult for you to qualify for any debt relief options. If there are any such accounts on which you don't have a judgment, then you can consolidate or settle that account by contacting the local debt relief companies.

Hi ssiwik,

You will be able to locate a company willing to assist you. The question to ask, and one Soap and Anna allude to is; should you look for and hire someone?

Negotiating and settling accounts when a situation is complicated by an existing judgment with the addition of other accounts that may be headed to suit as well, is often best addressed by a pro.

First, a pro is going to help you identify if things have progressed to a point where filing bankruptcy will be the best option when weighed alongside your ability to fund settlements and meet payment terms that are consistent with your short and midterm goals. Negotiating and settling may be a waste of time given your set of circumstances.

Second, you may be able to leverage the existing judgment in efforts with other creditors in order to get better than average settlements even if you are being garnished or a lien has been filed (if you have access to funds). You may find settling the judgment debt is best saved for last or better to be addressed first. You should look to answer: who your other accounts are originated by and where the accounts are placed at this time? Are you currently being garnished? Can you be garnished in your state? Is there a lien filed against property? Do you have property to lien? Has a bank levy been attempted? What hardships led to default and can those facts be leveraged for optimal results?

In my opinion, you should look for outside assistance, but be very careful in doing your homework on who to hire, if indeed settlement genuinely makes sense for you.

As part of your efforts in looking for solutions to your current issues, if you have not already consulted with a local bankruptcy attorney, do so. Many offer free initial consults. Learn what bankruptcy means to you from a reliable source. It does not mean you are filing by having a consult. You may learn that it is the right thing for you to do at this time, or learn that you should definitely avoid it if possible, or learn that chapter 7 discharge is a viable option if other efforts later fail.

In response to Soap: It is more risky to go it alone when a consumer’s situation is complicated. Having the assistance of a pro is generally better. A reputable firm will most certainly keep clients in the loop. Yes, you will have to locate a good firm, but they do exist. People have to do their homework and find one. Good companies are admittedly fewer in number than crappy and mediocre ones.

In Response to Anna: Judgment debt typically does not qualify for a DMP, nor is it of any real benefit to enroll charge off accounts in a DMP. Consolidating debt, in the true sense of the term, would likely be impossible for the OP given the credit report carnage existing from charge off and judgment debt.

Having said all of this ssiwik, were you to attempt to negotiate the judgment debt on your own:

If you are currently being garnished, the creditor has very limited reason to negotiate with you. If you remain employed at your current job, they get all their money plus statutory interest. The only real angles you have would be if you have provable exemptions that would either cut the garnishment off or reduce the amount being taken. Also, if the balance owed on the judgment is large and it will take some time to satisfy through garnishment, creditors know the real time value of money and may go for a lump sum now as opposed to risking your filing BK, losing your job etc...

If no garnishment, it would be best to get busy in putting a plan together to address the judgment prior to garnishment. There are strategic reasons to allow one to happen depending on the disposition of other accounts and whether you have ready access to funds to settle a bunch of your debts, but if you are DIY on this thing, you will likely be better off killing the judgment debt off first and then one offing the remaining accounts in collection.

You do have the option of setting up payment plans on judgment debt to avoid lien, levy and garnishment, but lump sum settlement is in your best interest if you can swing it.

At this point, if you are not already doing so, you will want to keep the minimum amount of money in any bank accounts that have your name on them. You will need to operate on a cash basis using money orders to pay bills etc..., until you have things under control.


Negotiating judgment debt for the best savings in a lump sum settlement is generally best when they cannot garnish, have nothing to lien, have already tried to levy bank accounts with little to no success.
If they cannot garnish, have had less than favorable results with attempted levies, but have placed a lien on real property, some seasoning of the judgment is best, but not necessarily required to maximize results.


I wish you the best in resolving your debts.


Cheers to your success!

So do I understand this correctly? I have to let the accounts that are already being garnished continue to be garnished until paid in full? The accounts that are with collection agency's at this time I can find a pro to help with these to get them to settle or pay off some how with arrangements? Bankruptcy is not an option at this time.

Hi ssiwik,

If you have eliminated bankruptcy as an option, you are left with damage control.

Yes, it may be best to let a garnishment continue if you have access to enough money to settle the other accounts. You, or a representative you may hire, can likely use the existing garnishment as a point of leverage to get other accounts settled and for a maximum in savings. The other creditors, in many instances, will deal more favorably knowing they are, at best, last in line even were they to proceed in suing you, getting a judgment and waiting for their turn to garnish. You can only be garnished on one debt at a time.

Your comment above "let the accounts that are already being garnished continue to be garnished" uses a plural for "accounts". Were you sued on multiple accounts in the same court action? If not, and you are being garnished by more than one judgment creditor at the same time, that typically does not happen as each garnishment is generally being applied at the maximum allowed.

You can also approach the judgment debt you are being garnished on first if you have ready access to a lump some of money, but you should be prepared with 80% of the current judgment balance and even then they may not take it.

If you have no qualified exemptions to the garnishment, but can access money now to settle other accounts, that is what first impression suggests.

If you have no access to funds you can use to settle the judgment debt or other collection accounts and cannot/will not file bankruptcy, it may not be wise to enter into payment arrangements on other debts (you are not settling but holding them at bay with somewhat manageable payments based on available cash flow), as this would reset the SOL for later lawsuits should you be unable to continue payments in the future.

Depending on what access to cash you have now, or can be confident you can get in the near future, you may be left with no alternative but to let things play out with an eye on identifying future debt buyer collection efforts that should be mitigated by validation requests and defensible positions that can be raised if sued by a debt buyer. Eventually the debts are cleared, or SOL expired.