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I got paid on the 7-31-09 and I have just looked at my account on line and seen where all the activity on my account is gone three days before my deposit and found out I have a garnish on my wages for a ole credit card ! I can not get ahold of the lawyer and can not get ahold of any one at the bank that will answer my questions of what is going on ! Has anyone here been thur anything like this or have any advice for me please let me know Mike
Hi
Is the credit paid out? Or is there some amount due yet? You could try to pay off the due amount to stop any more garnishments. Talk to an attorney.
Hi Mikerotter
Are you not aware of this debt? If you have owed the debt and did not pay it your credit card company may get a judgment against you and garnish your wages. It is nobody's responsibility to let you know about the garnishment.
Before the creditor got a judgment against you they must have pursued the debt with you before. Did you seek debt validation or did you dispute the debt? If you haven't done any of these then it is going to be tough for you.
One solution...
I know with the bad economy getting another job is not easy, but one solution to this problem is (1) FREEZE your credit reports and (2) CHANGE EMPLOYERS, in that order.
Step 1 will prevent ANYONE except you from obtaining your credit information. Your credit report includes your employment information, this is where the creditor seeking garnishment can obtain your information. Freezing access to this information closes this avenue to them.
Step 2 will end the garnishment because no longer working at the job where the located you (likely through your credit records) will result in no garnishment possible -- they will indicated you are no longer employed there. Now the creditor will have to locate your new employer before they can resume garnishing your wages. The only legal method they have available is to use your credit reports to locate your new employer. This takes time for it to appear on your reports and if you did step one first, with your credit information FROZEN (i.e. private) with only you having access, they can not obtain your new employer information.
One additional step which can be taken as a precaution is to change your address to a P.O. box (or new P.O. box if already using one). Do not file a change of address, instead notify only those who have need for the new address directly. This will block communication from them. It can help if they try to take you to court to obtain your employment information to file a new garnishment request with the court.
Also do not forget it is not illegal or against the law to avoid a summons by lying if a server tries to serve you. You may be John Smith, but if someone tries to deliver a summons for John Smith, you can become some other "Joe" instead and say no one by that name lives there.
As your credit record is frozen, the creditor will need another means to locate your current residence.
It IS against the law to lie in court or to a judge, but they have to get you to court to get that far. If they can't deliver the summons due to unable to locate you, they can't get you to court.
This can help end your garnishment -- and I know changing employers is not good at the present time. I recommend you immediately freeze your credit record. Look for another job. When you are hired at the second and have left the first, change your address. As long as they can not find your new empoyer, you are safe from garnishment. The law places the burden on them to locate your employer.
One other possible avenue is self-employment, which is another way to avoid garnishment, or contract work, where your 'employer' regularly changes. Good luck.
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Additional
I just re-read your original posting -- are you saying your BANK ACCOUNT was garnished? If so, this changes things a little.
I recommend the traditiona credit report FREEZE to slow down access to your personal information. Change your address (PO Box for example). Open NEW bank account at NEW BANK and close old bank account.
In order to garnish your wages, they have to locate your bank account. One way they knew about it for the present garnishment is if you paid your credit card online with your bank account when you were paying the credit card bill.
With credit FREEZE, address CHANGE, NEW BANK account usiong NEW address, this will leave them hunting with no easy way to find your new bank. Until they do, they can't file for a new garnishment because they have no bank account details to file with. It will look like you no longer have a bank account, with places like AMSCOT and other check cashing places, this is not necessarily unusual.
If they try to take you to court to obtain the information, they again have to locate you and what I left above applies, do not ever admit to a process server you are whom they seek. If you have your name outside of your home, take it down, all you need is a number, no name needs to be advertised.
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