Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia
The attorneys for the North Star capitol served me with papers in Dec,08. In 02/09, it states that there is a default judgement. (obviously because i did not go to court). We are now 08/12 and they told me by phone that that are going to subponea my work and then they are going to garnish my wages. I did recieve by mail a document from them saying they are going to garnish my wages, but its only signed by their attorney. Not stamped and its not a document from the court. After 2 years can they still do that or did they have to file another lawsuit on me?
4 Answers from Attorneys
They have a judgment, so no they don't need another lawsuit. They just need to file the appropriate garnishment documents.
Contact my law office if you are interested in filing for Bankruptcy.
That will avoid your wages being garnished
404-522-0341.
Good luck.
Of course they can. They won in court and they can garnishee at any time. It doesn't take a new court order.
You have three choices: (1) let them take your pay and do nothing, (2) file bankruptcy, if you are eligible, and (3) pay off the balance in full.
You have a legal emergency. You need a lawyer TODAY. If you are in metro Atlanta or North Georgia, call me ASAP at 404-768-3509.
You actually have a 4th option - you can try to resolve the debt in some in some way - either by way of settlement in a lump sum if you have the funds, by a term settlement if you have some of the funds or by way of a payment agreement on the whole balance.
If you allow them to garnish your pay, they can take up to 25% of your disposable pay. Here is a link to a handy chart at the federal Labor Department:
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs30.pdf
Georgia follows the federal rules. Your pay can be garnished for 179 days but can be renewed an infinite number of times. So you need to see what is your best option. If you have a lot of debt, maybe bankruptcy is the best option. In such case consult with a bankruptcy attorney. Since the creditor already has a judgment, this is final. While there are limited grounds to oppose the garnishment, if you allowed a judgment to be entered and did nothing, these may not apply If you think they might, then see a local attorney.
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