Hubby got served to go to Magistrate court for past due medical bills. It will be 4 yrs. before think about SOL. The only thing I am worried about is wage garnishment, as he doesn't have real estate or other property in his name worth going after - in my opinion. They will be able to get judgement against him. The origional amt. was $8250 now $9500 including interest they have added. This happened before we married. I would be willing to pay app. 1/3 of $8250 lump sum for settlement & have acct shown as pd in full. He has not answered claim yet, I was hoping to try to get something worked out before it came down to that. If this does not happen, & when he goes to court, can the judge put order to garnish or order him to make payments, or will it be up to the collection agency to do these things? Also in letter to ask for settlement do you tell them these things - no property for them to take a lien on & if they garnish, he can quit & they won't get that much for doing that. Also, I know if he was to bk, that this is unsecured debt & that it would be wiped out, right? Thanks with any suggestions.
Sweetness, Assuming you live in a state that allows wage garnishment, should he lose then yes, the judge can authorize his check to be garhished. And, yes medical debt can be wiped out in a bk. As to the letter. One thing you mention sounds extreme. That he'll quit his job to avoid a garnishment. Don't say anything like that in your letter. Also, don't threaten a bk unless you intend to carry out the threat. If you're serious about the bk, word your letter to the affect that this needs to be resolved prior to the court date and if a settlement is not reached by a certain date then, you'll file bk. The reason you do it like this is it's cheaper. A bk will wipe out the debt that created the judgement but, the judgement will still be on the books. To get that off the credit report, you and your lawyer would have to petition the court that granted the judgement to squash the ruling. No biggy but, another set of legal fees.
Are you sure you are within the SOL to be sued in your State ? If you are beyond the SOL you can use that as a defense to avoid any judgement.If a judgement IS obtained,you still may be exempt from garnishment, depending again on what State you are in. In any case, a seperate action to obtain any garnishment is only available after a judgement is actually obtained.
Live in GA - think SOL is 6 or 7 yrs. Debt not quite 3 yrs. old yet, so I think it would be 4 yrs. before could use SOL as defense. About quitting present job, don't think he would stay there long after garnishment when he could go somewhere else & not have 25% of pay taken each wk.
Sweetness, Understand something. That garnishment can follow him to a new job. Quiting a job because of a garnishment solves nothing.
The main thing I was wanting to find out is "Do you think they will settle for less than total amount?" Is there anybody that has been sucessful at this?
Ga. has a 4 year SOL.This begins on the FIRST date of delinquency. You say the debt is "about" 3 years old. Exactly when was it due? This is the garnishment law. This means if his "bring home" pay AFTER all taxes and deductions is LARGER than 30X the min. wage,they can take 25% of that amount.It is still better than trying to settle- unless he is really raking it in on his job. Federal Law exempts from garnishment 75% of disposable earnings per week, or an amount to 30 x federal minimum hourly wage, whichever is greater.
He had 3 different surgeries 1st Date of Delinquency 5-99 & last 2-2000 - I didn't realize it was listed that short time ago - the last one. If garnishees, they will want total $9K plus added interest - won't they? And no, he's not "raking it in on job" - at this rate he would be garnished for yrs. to come.
Ga. has little or none protection for you. I suggest BK- settlements don't really work, The CA's promise to "settle" grab what they can and then resell the balance to another CA,who will still have time to sue. If your other debts are minor, and if your husband's med. bills were only signed for by him,you may want to think of him filing bk individually. I agree with breeze,do it fast.
yes, bk it quick! See a lawyer tomorrow. It is not worth the hassle - you can start over and rebuild quicker than you can pay the bloodsuckers off. So sorry you have to go through this.
If it is "settled" with THEM,they still have the right to sell the balance of the account to ANOTHER CA,and the fact that you paid them to "settle" will get them a higher price for a "live" (still within the SOL limit) account. To get them to completely settle and give up all claims to any balance is a job for a lawyer,PLUS if you ARE successful,and the balance is completely eliminated,you will be getting a 1099 for the unpaid balance and have to pay taxes on it.
