Greetings, all - I recently had my bank accounts (checking and savings) restrained for over $5000 each on a $2900 debt. I have been unemployed, but am a finalist for a job that I hope to get this week. My question is: what do I do with the paychecks I hope to be getting soon? Obviously, I hope to use a good deal of the money to pay off debts, but I don't know where a safe place to deposit or cash the checks would be, since my accounts are restrained and I don't want to put my whole check into paying off the debt (I do need to live, after all). Also, since I had only been using my check card associated with my checking account, does anyone else have any ideas as to how I can pay bills online without a check card? Are there other options out there? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated - thanks!
You can cash your paycheck at the bank that it is drawn on for free. You can cash your paycheck at any Walmart for i think a $3.00 fee. You can cash your paycheck at a check cashing store for a fee. Grocery stores cash paychecks, some 7-11's have check cashing atm machines, or you can have it direct deposited to a pre-paid debit card. You can then get a pre-paid Visa or Mastercard, and only load it with the amount you are going to pay bills with, and then load it up again when you need to again. Besides opening a bank account in another state, and doing everything my ACH, Direct Deposit and Mail, the above would probably be easier and less risky. There is always a risk with banks once you have had a situation with one. Good Luck.
There are actually banks now that won't do it, won't do it for free, or that impose extremely inconvenient restrictions (such as having to go inside and use a separate, slow-moving line to go to the teller window). Some thumbprint you too...
If you open a new account, do it with an out of state bank with no in-state branches or related banks in-state. If you don't want to do that, at least use a small, really recently formed bank in a neighboring county. Don't deposit any potential trojan checks into your new account.
If the judgment was only for $2900.00 and they seized $5000.00 in each account, the bank shouldn't have held more than what was called for on the judgment. You need to get a copy of the judgment if you don't already have it, and also get copies of the garnishment papers they filed. Bank garnishments are usually 1 time deals, they would have to refile another garnsihment to take more funds out. Closing the account and going with another bank isn't going to do much good, they can run searches and find out where your bank is located, even out of state. All they would have to do is register the judgment in that state, for a minimal fee, and serve the garnishment there.
I don't agree. Here's how bank accounts are found: Legal Ways to Locate Bank Accounts As you can see, there's no magic-bullet database for the creditors ... only a wealth of more or less trade secret investigatory tactics used by the investigators that tell the creditors they have a database. Sure, they can use the UEFJA, but they'll have to cut another attorney in a distant state in on the haul. And that's after they figure out which state they're dealing with. P.S. -- There is some recent discussion on a Florida attorney's blog that Delaware bank accounts can't be garnished. If that's truly the case then your local adversary would need to try to get a turnover order that would force you to retrieve the distant monies in the Delaware bank on pain of a contempt citation. Judges don't hand those out like candy. Here's the Delaware discussion: Florida Asset Protection: Are All Delaware Bank Accounts Exempt From Garnishment? P.P.S. -- Keep in mind as well that the judgment creditor can ask you, under oath, and you've gotta tell 'em. But what's true today needn't be true ten minutes after you walk out of the deposition or mail the interrogatories. Lather, rinse, repeat until a judge tells you to stop.
I don't agree with your link. I have an investigator who has a banking commission license, and is able to search by name ssn and dob for any account anywhere. He's got a license to do it and it only costs me a small amount if he locates an account, and no charge if he doesn't. I've used him hundreds of times over the past few years, and it has netted me tens of thousands of dollars in garnishments. Typically, if the bank will not accept an out of state garnishment, and we have several banks in OK and MO that will accept our KS garnishment, we will have our counsel in that state just draft a one time bank garnishment to see if there are any funds there, the debtor isn't located there, so it's not as if they are doing much more work, and it's on a flat fee, not contingent.
The Banking Commission in Kansas licenses Mortgage Companies, Loan Originators, Supervised Lenders, and Credit Service Organizations. Even if your investigator is in one of those businesses, he's misusing his license if he's using it to gain investigatory access to some database or other because he's licensed, assuming such a database exists at the state level. AFAIK, there is no non-governmental database that would enable a mere civilian (not Homeland Security) to peek at who had an account where. That would, if nothing else, embroil banks in an uglier battle to steal the most profitable customers than what already exists. More likely, he's blowing smoke about the license and about how he does what he does. What he may really be doing is making improper use of insiders at those banks to the extent he isn't using simple social-engineering type pretexting (rusing) over the phone. Some bank folks in NJ went to prison for helping investigators and taking their bribes, IIRC. Investigators like Anthony Pellicano always want the client to think they have some legitimate means of doing something that is seemingly undoable. Usually they are doing what anybody can do if they're scummy and have money to throw around.
He's not from KS he's in NY I believe, and I've no clue where his license is, assuming he told me correctly.
You should check the rules of the ACA regarding what you can do with respect to investigators. What questions you have to ask, and what you have to do if the answers aren't spot on. If your investigator gets into trouble, it can blow back on you.
A lot of them come out of buffalo ny and go by many names.then theres jersy city nj did alot of study on certain companies does sleep with fish have any meaning?
So let me get this straight, you have lawyers who are swearing under oath that they have good reason to believe there is money in this or that bank and it's nothing more than a fishing expedition? Are you aware that that has been held a FDCPA violation?
It's not a fishing expedition if we are told the person, with a verified SSN has an account there. I haven't seen one person, even represented by opposing counsel, challenge where we got the information from. I even told we sent it our for a bank locate search.
ACA means nothing to me. They don't govern our business, if there is an issue, the debtor can take it up with the Judge or the ABA/Bar.
Close your old account I think you have to close your old account and then create new a/c in different bank.
And don't use a check from your old bank (cashier's, or god forbid one from your checkbook) to fund the account in the new bank.
If your guy is using pretexting, this is what you're in for: Pretexting During An Asset Search : Asset Search Blog
I do not agree with getting another bank account. Tip, you can cash your check at the bank the work places uses (Just as long as you do not have an account there). They just need an ID. Then you can use the cash or go and buy a pre-paid debit card. There are fees for the prepaid debit cards.
