i do not understand what judgement proof means? could someone explain. and what if by the time the "trial" comes i have some $ like 5,000 or more will they take that as well?
"judgment proof" means that you own nothing that a creditor could seize once a judgment has been obtained against you. Also you have no job, or a job but only get paid minimum wage, or you are in a state that does not allow wage garnishment If the $5000 is in a bank and a judgment is obtained the creditor can go after it. If they don't know where to go looking for it they can't get it. It could be deposited in some out of state bank or taken out and given to someone you can trust to hold for you. However, you might be deposed to provide "discovery" and you would have to list all of your assets under penalty of perjury to the creditor
Judgement Proof basically means that under federal, or your states laws, you do not have any assets, or your assets are of a specific type which by law can not be touched. It depends on where the $5000 is. If it is under your mattress, there is a chance that they wouldn't be able to find out about it. If its in a bank account, especially a local bank, there is a very good chance that they will, and will be able to try to sieze those assets. http://www.carreonandassociates.com/articles/statute.htm On that page you can find your states specific garnishment exclsuions, and you can search their site for "judgement" and "garnishment" to find out more information on the federal garnishment limits. For instance, if your bank account is mainly comprised of funds which are exempt from garnishment, and you can prove that, you may be able to keep the account from being able to be siezed. But it is best to try to stop the judgement from ever happening in the first place, then to try to cover your assets after a judgement. Here is Flyingifr's Making Yourself Judgement Proof thread, it may help you to understand what Judgement Proof is a little bit better.
basically i guess what i am asking is...i have a JOB that i get approx $600 a week. I really dont "own" anything. everything is in my wifes name(she is not on the credit card that is past due!) I was wondering about the sheriff's sale that someone had mentioned. would they just take money out of my paychecks?
You are posting different questions in different threads....you should just pick one thread and everyone will answer your questions there. someone else mentioned that wages in PA are exempt from garnishment someone else mentioned that you may have many options to avoid getting to the point of having the judgment in the first place. Most important is the SOL for debt how old is it? second is has the CA validated this debt? third is even if so, you should go to court and this will buy you some time. often the judge will require the parties to attempt to reconcile before trial and you can set up a plan to pay them off in installments rather than $9000 all at once.
If you click the link i posted in the previous reply, you'll see that according to that site, 100% of wages are exempt. You always want to check with an attorney to double-check whether that is still the case, since laws can be changed. Especially because PA doesn't have the 'official' laws on the web to refer to directly. If they would get a judgement, they can still attempt to sell anything which is owned, either jointly or individually. You're wife would have to complete paperwork, and show proof that she in fact does own everything, and that you in fact don't own anything.
