Need some advice on dealing with a judgement

All you should have to do is contact the attorney and try to make the arrangements.

One thing you should watch out for is to make sure that the attorney notifies the court that the judgment has been satisfied. If you don't the possibility exists (however unlikely) that years later they could come back at you and demand to get paid all over again. Another possibility (a wee bit more likely) is that they could sell the debt accidentally and the new company comes after you a few years later.

I have heard of those things happening a time or two so make sure the judgment is satisfied at the court house and released before you pay.

If they won't do it before you pay then make them prepare and sign a statement saying they will do that within so many days after payment.

 

Was the judgment filed in a local/state jurisdiction? If so, they can act rather quickly to obtain a writ to garnish wages or court order to grab your bank account. You might want to first protect your cash assets and get them out of your bank.

In terms of negotiating, hopefully others will chime in first.

If you have a reasonable job with reasonable pay and they can see they are potentially the only judgment creditor at this time, they may go for garnishment before they are willing to negotiate. You need to check your state laws related to how long a writ of wage garnishment lasts until it needs to be renewed by the crediotr/collector. You may not see a garnishment coming. I've heard some states require notification to debtor of 30 - 45 days prior to the garnishment taking effect after the employer (garnishee) is served. In other states, the debtor need only be sent a copy of the writ within 10 days after being served. I'm not trying to frighten you, but you do need to be prepared. You could have a chunk of your wages garnished and a few days later you receive the copy of the writ. The first garnishment, if received by the emplyer mid-month, generally is a prorated amount of the state allowed garnishment for the month. I've heard that some creditors/collectors try to get the writ served near the first of the month so to get a bigger chunk of the first month's pay (if paid monthly.)

In many states, a judgment automatically sets up a lien against real property, so be looking for that if this is the case in your state and you own property.

Sorry i can't help you with negotiating when they already have the judgment and you're employed.

 

Slow down a bit and let's take a closer look.

You have two cars - one they won't touch because you are upside down, the other is vulnerable.

The 401K they cannot seize, so I advise that you not be in such a hurry to hand it over to them. Only give them things they can get anyway.

You don't own a house or a bank account so they cannot get that either.

Here in AZ the maximum Garnishment is 10% of your gross... BUT... a Child Support or Alimony garnishment counts towards that 10%. You have a 50% child support garnishment. How much (in dollars) is left over after all the required deductions (Support and all taxes)? If it is less than 40 times the Federal Minimum Wage ($5.85 per hour or $234.00 a week) then they can't garnish your pay at all.

I would look into your State Garnishment laws to see what collection leverage they really do have on you. If you live in Texas or one of the other no-Garnishment states then they have a judgment they can frame and hang on the wall, and not do a lot else with.

 

Why is that? Its essentially a savings account.

 

packing peanuts you mean ghost poop, there good toasted with bb-q sauce.

 

Because IRA's and other Retirement accounts are exempt by Law.

 

I agree, take a deep breath. I would guess that after the child-support, etc, there is little left to garnish. I was told by a 'well-advised" person that in my case, I should let my student loans go into default and encourage a garnishment. the allowable garnishment on student loans is 10%. This, in my state, leaves 15% garnishable for other creditors. I'm even considering this. I get my student loan monthly payments made, and I only need to subject 15% of my wages to garnish, H*ll, i didn't write the laws, LOL! Maybe I should "encourage" the student loan holder to go for immediate default and get a permanent wage garnishment! The inportant thing here is that student loans are not free of a chapter 13 banbkruptcy, so should I go the BK route, the loans roll into deferrment and I'll have another $40K in debt due to interest after five years. Nothing to begained by BK 13!

Do you have a court order showing your insurance payments for the kids are a mandatory deduction. This should reduce you "garnishable amount."