Please Help--Summons & Garnishment

Either this is a scare tactic or they got a default judgment against you. I would contact the courthouse to see if they have record of a judgment against you.

 

If they don't know where you work, they can't get squat from you.

They can get a judgement all day long, but without knowing your place of work, they will will be SOL in 7 years..

 

Here's the worse thing that I have seen when it comes to court cases. Let's say you offered the settlement 1 year ago of $50 a month til PIF. If you go before a judge and say that, they may have sympathy for you, or they could say why haven't you been saving $50 a month for the last 12 months ($600).

I'm sorry I am a daytime court show junkie and this is what popped into mind when I saw that. I wish I could help more, but I know *I* want to know every possible outcome when I go to court, so I thought I would share my "why didn't you" scenario.

 

Summons & Garnishment

Try to find out if the complaint was actually filed in court as the above poster said. If you have only been asked to file an answer then it is a response to the complaint generally stating why what they're saying is wrong legally. If it has gone past this and there is a default judgment you might want to move to get it vacated.

 

Look at the summons and determine if it is a copy of a case to be filed. Call the court and find out if the case was indeed filed.

If filed you will need to prepare and file an answer with the court and have a copy of the answer served on the plaintiff.

It is common practice in many states for a filing party to prepare documents for court and send a copy before filing. This allows them to speed up service by providing a statement that you were "Served with a copy by depositing in the U.S. Mail on xx/xx/xxxx."

Once the case is filed you must then be provided notice of the actual court date. If you determine there is an actual court date GO TO COURT. If you do not and they receive a default judgement thay can ask for a garnishment during the hearing.

As you have made an offer to pay, I would also send the offer in writing, certified with return receipt. Include a copy in your response and take the return receipt to court.

In most small claims cases the judge will send you to mediation to try and work out an arrangement before an actual hearing. Be sure you are ready to provide an accounting of your income and expenses. If your required expenses are utilizing a large portion of your income IF they get a garnishment it may be much less than 20%.

 

Assuming that the case was filed, this is what probably happened. You had thirty days to answer. You did not answer. Because there was no answer, there are no issues to litigate, and therefore no reason to have a court date. Normally, the Clerk of the Court will then enter a default against you (it doesn't even take a Judge to do it). The attorney for the plaintiff then makes an appointment with the Judge (you don't get notice because you never answered) and the attorney spends a few minutes convincing the Judge you owe the money and that the Judge should grant the relief requested. It is real easy because the Judge only hears one side.

The Judge enters the order (prepared by the attorney) and it is over. You lost. They have these hearings usually in the morning before regular court starts and can run 15-20 by the Judge in an hour or so. Many of the Judges don't even set up hearings for these - the attorney stops by the clerks office, gets the file, and then waits his turn with the Judge.

First, check the courthouse and make sure the case was filed. Then, look at the summons and complaint. It will usually say that a default will be entered if you do not respond. See what the case file says. I am betting that a default judgement was entered against you.

Some states will allow you to reopen the case if you can show good cause why you did not respond. But, it has to be a good reason.

There are some here that will argue that the attorney must have affidavits and other proof that you owe the money, even in a default situation. But, if you default, the allegations of the complaint are taken as true, and no other proof is usually required.

 

may I ask, how old this phone bill is? and which collection agency? you need to see if this phone bill was still in SOL for your state,,

 

how much longer do you have to answer the garish papers? my sister got nailed, original discover amount 2,000, CA got default judgement fro 5131,she found out about it in one day, bank acct seized, standing on the street w/o a dime, then went home, to find garnishment info papers from the court, she got a lawyer, the agreed to end teh garishment, report the judgement as satisified, they kept 2,300 in her acct, and wanted another 600 that day, to end garishment,,, so yes of course try to settle, I mean lets face it the CA paid pennies on the dollar for the debt, this attorney nevre had to go to court, got a default,,, do they want to sit around and wait for the money via garishment, or take a reasonable settlement,,,,, by the way, for my own curiosity and fear, I see Minn has 6 yr SOL on everything,, but nobody, lawyers included has ever been able to tell me, Is a phone bill a written contract ( you nevre have a written contract unless its cell phone) or an open acct for purposes of SOL,,, when you got your papers summons and complaint did it say, what the phone bill was in terms of SOL,,? thanks,,,

 

If they obtained a judgement against you I think you should obtain a copy of the judgement from the court clerk and review it carefully. Determine the method of "Service" for the summons for the original hearing and pour over the judgement itself for inaccuracies.

Depending on what your state laws say there is a chance the service is not valid, which could allow you a chance to have the judgement dismissed. They would likely file again but at least you would have a fresh chance at defending yourself. In some states service by mail to your last known address is acceptable, in others it must be personally served. While working for a D.A.'s office in California, I became very aware of the fact that private process servers often falsify service if they are having difficulty finding you. Their general hope is you simply won't fight the judgement.

You should also check your state laws regarding garnishments. In most states if the amount they are attempting to garnish will make it difficult for you to meet your living expenses you can file a motion with the court to have it reduced to an affordable level - this is often called a "paupers oath". You would have to provide a detailed accounting of your income and expenses and the court clerk will normally be able to provide you with a form for this purpose.

As for garnishing bank accounts - in most states any funds in the account or posted to the account on the day the garnishment is served upon the bank are frozen for a period then turned over to the sheriff or constable to process and release to the creditor. Funds deposited in banking days following would require new garnishments. The bank can usually deduct a processing fee, and the sheriff almost always will. The amount of time the funds are held varies by state, but normally it is to offer you the opportunity to request a hearing to have some or all of the funds exempted. Normally the only funds exempted are those that you can prove were the result of a deposit by a joint account holder that is not a party to the judgement.

 

Sure it, but it happened to me. They put a hold on my account for nearly $10K, my account was in the negative, needless to say, for a little more than $9k. I settled for A LOT LESS than they were asking. They did release the garnishment and report it to the courthouse as released. The garnishment showed up on my credit report within 3-4 months.

 

you need to see if there is anything, that is not correct with judgement, and then see if you can file a motion to vacate the judgement, then they will come back having perfected their case and file again, Minn requires the CA and Attorney to be licensed and bonded, have you checked this out? also, I have read on other sites, it doesnt matter with your acct with girlfriend, they will freeze the acct, and then work out later what was her money and release just that to her, although I have to say, maybe they dont want to go that route, cause they would have aleady done that, under Minn law they can garish 25% of your take home,, we never understood how the judgement on my sister was 5131, but they froze her acct for 10,000, then they agreed to take the 2,300 in her acct, and 600 more, the act of the garishment never showed up on her CRAs just the judgement, which killed her score big time,, and the joke is, after they "settled" the judgement, and send her a letter of settlement, they never reported it to the court as satisfied, but adjusted their CA tradeline on her report to the difference of 5131 minus 2900, plus interest, being updated every month,

 

I found a link to ths Minnesota Statutes on Garnishment, thought it might be helpful.


http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/571/

 

defintely dud, if you get get a loan from a family member, do it,, then call these fools,, remember, deal with them,,, see if you can settle for less, although I odnt know how much less they will go, but since judgment hasnt been filed yet, your CRAs are still OK, once it hits them, then its there for 7 yrs, Big hit, and when its reported satisfied, your score will go up a meesly 20 points,, you dont need this, I know its hard, to get bit in the butt, as you are trying to clean up,, make sure you get everything in writing, especially that this is settled in full, they settled with my sister to end the judgment, but still cont to report the difference, worse than that you dont want the CA selling off the rest, and a new CA on your reports and after you,,, good luck,,,,,,,,