Hello everyone, this is my first post. I'm very intimidated by a letter I just received from Sherman Acquisition Ltd./Sears and am really not sure how to proceed. I understand that I should never provide information as to where I work, my current address and such, but this one has District Court, and attorney signatures on it. They were able to find out where I worked without any information from me personally, and my wages were garnished at my previous 2 jobs. I'm just praying it will not happen with my new job for my Sears charge cards debt from 1999 in the amount of $8586.00 (as of now) for two cards, a regular and plus card. I have never kept track of how much they have garnished thus far, rather just accepted it. (25% out of each check) This is because of my ignorance and stupidity of never replying to any of their attempts to collect. (Sherman Acq./Their attorneys) According to this form, I must respond within 10 days. (6 days left!) Here are the scary parts: "Warning: If you do not complete and mail the disclosure form to the judgment creditor within 10 days from the date of this notice, the judgment creditor may ask this court to hold you in "civil contempt of court". If the court decides that you intentionally disobeyed this order, the court may fine you, put you in jail, or both". "This is an official court order which requires you to provide certain information. Read it carefully." What should I do? Fill it out? I'm asking for garnishment then correct? Is it too late to settle and is it wise to attempt to do so? I don't want to go to jail or have my new employer know about this debt. It asks for my place of employment, and basically my current financial status. Lines with questions requiring "yes" or "no" boxes be checked. What I would like is to settle this debt and have it removed from my CR, or meet them in court to talk to a judge to possibly settle. Any help/advice will be greatly appreciated.
What you have there is commonly called a "Debtor's Examination" and yes, failure to honestly answer the questions can be punished as Contempt of Court. BUT, in order to get to this point they have to have a Judgement against you. Do they? In what Court? Were you notified of the legal proceedings against you? Do they want to garnish your paycheck? Yes, if they can find it.
Thank you so much for the reply. Yes, a judgment was entered on both Sears accounts unfortunately. The reason why I never took it seriously, is because a few years back, I read an article on MSN, that there's nobody in jail for credit debt and how to handle collection agency phone calls and such. I must have misread it completely, because here I am, on the brink of garnishment once again, or the verge of being arrested. Do you think I can just call the attorney on the form, and ask to settle 1 or both of the accounts? Or fill out the required information and wait to be garnished? In your opinion, what is my next best option from here? I would like to avoid garnishment at all costs. Again, I thank you for your time.
I would distrust a "court order" that did not come from the court, but did come from a junk debt buyer (sherman). Do you have any of your garnishment papers? You could call the court and find out just what has been filed against you and proceed as such. Remember, just because a debt collector says its a "court order" does not mean its true, and debt collectors are notorious liars.
Oh, food for thought.. Why would an official court order not come from the court? I personally think they are full of BS
