Total Nightmare for me today

[RockaFowler]

We found out yesterday that there was a Garnishment placed on our bank account. We called the "creditor" who placed the garnishment and they said it was for a judgement from 1996. That judgement was for $6000 (long story - accident). Now they tell us the judgement is for $24,000. No-one gave us any information before yesterday that this would occur. And there was no notice sent to us that we had to go to court.

OK, there are a couple of things that bother me about this. First, they drained our checking and savings account. I just got paid, so this money was to be used for our mortgage. My husband is out of work, so the rest of the money was Unemployment. How does a company legally get our money?? We have written to this company at least 4 times since 2005 and they have never written us back. How did they get our checking and/or savings account??

I'm just shocked. We have a call into an attorney, but well it's Saturday. Not much we can do today. We found out about this after 4pm yesterday, so we had very little recourse at that time. I am just shocked that this could happen. I looked up the Writ of Garnishment online, and it totally looks illegal to me. It says that the State of Florida is the plaintiff. The State of Florida was never the plaintiff. I'm just sick to death here.

[madmax]

1. I can understand your stress.

It's easy to say relax you can't do anything about it today but, you'll stress anyway. :hug:

[ProgressOnTheMove]

2. Banks should in their own interest charge only interest payments till economy baounce back.

[knitter4democracy]

3. I wonder if they somehow got it all wrong.

It really sounds like there's a mistake here. Wrong plaintiff, wrong amount, never answered your written communication. All that's very odd. If you were in my area, I'd send you to the right lawyer, a Dem of the highest order who'd kick ass and take names.

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. Seems like this kind of thing always happens Friday afternoon.

I'm no lawyer ( and that's what you need) but it seems to me they can't legitimately attach your accounts unless you've been properly served... which you have not.

Sounds like it might be a relatively inventive , relatively new scam. Try to keep calm til you can talk to your legal dept'.

Easier said than done... I know.

[klook]

5. Call Clark Howard

I know somebody will point out that he's a buddy of Sean Hannity, but that's beside the point. He helps people with problems like this all the time.

http://clarkhoward.com/
http://clarkhoward.com/cac/

He's on the radio and CNN Headline News. Call-in show is only M-F, but I think he could give you some good advice if you can hang on.

Talk to Clark 1-4pm ET:
(877) 87-CLARK
[phone]
[phone]

Good luck, and Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down.

[Sherman A1]

6. Get thee to an attorney

I think it will be in your best interest.

[RockaFowler]

7. Calling on Monday

I think it was taken out late on Friday for a reason. So we couldn't dispute it until Monday. I love crap like this

[FormerDittoHead]

9. "interest" - Joke! n/t

[madrchsod]

8. they have gotten your check account routing number.

or they convinced the bank they had a valid claim on your account. did you send anyone involved in this case a check since 1996? . the savings account number must have come from the bank.

the bank will be able to tell you why and how the checking and savings were drained.

close your checking and savings accounts today.

call your lawyer asap. i hope you can prove you sent them letters

unfortunately my wife and i are experts on these things.

[handmade34]

11. close the account - excellent advice

[Catherina]

25. If you can, reopen an account OUT of state where FL can't seize the funds n/t

[Nay]

20. If your bank is open today, go now and find out what they know, and

close the accounts.

[handmade34]

10. been there

all I can say is- I truly am sorry this is happening to you... I know it doesn't help right now, but we get through these things somehow because we have to... please don't make yourself sick from worry

[wellstone dem]

12. Well, part of the problem is that it is a judgment

If you were served with the court papers back in 1996 that created the judgment, then it will make this tougher. If not, you will have a very good case. Normally, when there is a judgment, people do not get notice before accounts are garnished (this is because they have notice of the judgment, and because if people got notice of the garnishment they would then go clean out their own bank accounts.)

The one fact that looks to me to be really on your side is the length of time between when the judgment was obtained and the garnishment. In some states, like mine, judgments expire after 10 years unless renewed.

Also, some funds are protected from garnishment. At least part of the earnings may be and maybe the unemployment is. If so, there is a way to get that money back. If you've written any checks, call the person and ask them to hold the check til you get this straightened out to avoid additional fees.

Absolutely get to a lawyer first thing on Monday. If the creditor did something wrong, there may be a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which could mean the lawyer gets paid by the creditor and you get an award from them.

There are now more and more lawyers handling FDCPA cases because they realize they can get paid by the other side. There is also lots of information on the web.

[janet118]

13. Getting an attorney may be a problem

most need a retainer up front. You definitely need one. Maybe you could get some basic information from the Attorney General's office in Florida (?). In my state, the AG office has a consumer protection division that is helpful. The "company" must have gotten a default judgment against you in some court years ago and were just waiting until the statute of limitations for removal of the default ran out.

That said, it's hard to figure out what rights you are entitled to without having all the information and documentation. 14 years of interest on a debt does make it increase exponentially. Did you get any notices for undelivered registered/certified mail that you ignored? Maybe you moved and they were sent to a former address.

Good luck.

[RockaFowler]

15. We received a notice in 2009 (at our new house)

So they found our address last year. We replied to the notice we received at that time and never heard anything from them until this garnishment. When my husband called yesterday, they said that all of their letters were returned to them. I'll call BS on that since we did receive a notice in 2009. We also sent this information to the court at the same time. In 2005, the courth through out the case because they said the company mis-represented themselves to the court. I guess now 5 years later they were able to mis-represent themselves and a judge bought it. I can't believe that we have a judicial system that didn't even look back on their own records to show that this company is fraudulent. Just sick to death right now.

[QC]

14. The statute of limitations on debt in Florida runs 3-5 years,

depending on the type.

But what a lot of companies do is buy old, noncollectable debt and file suits to collect it. They are not very careful about notifying the people they are suing, because if these people do not show up, the vulture gets a default judgment.

That could be what happened here.

I'm not a lawyer, but I have had some experience with unethical debt collectors.

[RockaFowler]

16. Doind a lot of research now

And I see this is the typical MO with these companies. And this one is the top of the list of crooked companies. If a judge saw that this case was from 1996, why would he allow it to continue let alone issue the garnishment. What a crock of sh*t this is

[Tsiyu]

18. In TN they have to provide documentation to you

and to the court concerning certain details of the debt.

I have seen judgments reversed because the debt scavenger didn't do this. I had a case dismissed for the same reason. The judge dismissed "without prejudice" meaning the case could be brought before him again, but I haven't heard squat from them, mainly because debt scavengers don't do their homework in their greed to get people's money.

Get an attorney if you can, if not please go to a law library and read up on pertinent laws. They are confusing, yes, but perhaps there is a local Legal Aid that can steer you in the right direction.

Scary times....my heart goes out to you- what a shock.

[QC]

19. Well, the thing these vultures take advantage of

is the fact that they can get a default judgment in most cases.

Sure, if someone shows up in court and points out that this debt is out of statute, the judge dismisses the case, but on the other hand when people do not contest the suit, the judge rules for the vulture, by default.

They make a lot of money this way.

Google the phrase "zombie debt" for more info. It's sickening, but so typical of what this country has become.

[MajorChode]

17. Usually you have to be served with notice

They may have gotten some loophole by sending it to a previous address and now they're claiming they couldn't find you. Some states' laws favor creditors more than debtors.

Most likely your only recourse is to file bankruptcy.

[JanMichael]

21. if this isn't too personal, do you mind if I ask what kind of debt

it was?

[RockaFowler]

23. Not a debt

It was part of a court case in 1996. Husband was in a car accident and hit a PBC Sheriff's vehicle. Hubby went to jail and was ordered to pay $75 a month in restitution. The rest would be a judgement against him. The total amount due at the end of the probation was $6099. We paid $2400 of it to one of the people that was hit. The rest is the cop car. So all we owed them was $3699. Now they say we owe them $24,000. It's total BS. As they are not only using an old case from 1996 to pursue this, but they claim that the State of Florida is the Defendant. Total bogus. The PBC Sheriff is the defendant. And it was settled in 2001. Oh my had is killing me right now

[tech9413]

22. One more good reason not to live in Florida

You didn't go into details of why your assets are being seized and I can understand that. It pays to know that some states are VERY business friendly and you're holding the short and dirty end of the stick if there is a dispute.
I learned my lesson with my ex that it's better to owe no one anything. If you can't do that make sure to pay off as quick as you can.

[Greyhound]

24. The illusions we cling to. I'm sorry this is happening to you. n/t

[Catherina]

26. Who is the creditor? Google them. Some of them are so sleazy

that there are websites dedicated to their corruption which give very helpful history and advice.

[Boxerfan]

27. Statute of limitations is over in 2006.

10 years & it is over the statute of limitations. Unless you signed a pay plan or made a payment since 92/24/2000 . If you arranged to pay or made a payment since you are screwed.

Get a lawyer...

edit: saw some others mention this above. I know where I live its 10 years-