Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Alabama
Can social security be garnished for auto loan?
I am asking this on behalf of my father and his wife,both are
in their 70's and each draw s/s.They had a new car which they turned back over to the bank after my father had several strokes.It left a 3000$ deficiency balance. I guess the bank turned it over to a collection agency which said the Alabama law has changed and that 1 check can be garnished but not both.That's all the details I have as I didn't talk to the collector. I believe,like in my home state-California-after obtaining a judgement,they can attach their bank account but if they grabbed the funds from s/security they would have to return the funds,providing my parents submitted a form to the court.
They said that the person who talked to them i'd hisself as an attorney.
Can someone advise if they can do this and what law source I can reference that they can use when dealing with these people?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Can social security be garnished for auto loan?
Well, i would be interested to know the specifics of the conversation your father had with this collector. SS income cannot be garnished and that is federal law, not state, so it's irrelevant what AL law says or whether or not it might have changed. If this collector said that ss income could be garnished, then this person violated federal law. In addition, if this person said that he or she was an attorney-and I highly doubt they were-that is also a violation of federal law. The federal statute you are asking about is the Fair Debt Collection and Practices Act. The Federal Trade Commission has some good information on their website: www.ftc.gov. If your father is interested in pursuing a case against this collector, the FDCPA has a one-year statute of limitations. Good luck!
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