Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

A garnishment can't happen until you lose a lawsuit. So by waiting too long to ask a lawyer, you blew thousands of dollars. You could have spent far less on a bankruptcy. See a lawyer now before you lose more money by not protecting yourself.

And your question is? I have to agree with Attorney Asman. If your bank account was garnished, it means only one thing - you were sued and ignored the lawsuit. A judgment was entered. You foolishly not only ignored the lawsuit but did not seek out legal advice as to how to protect yourself from garnishment.

That money is GONE unless you have some kind of exempt income (Social Security, unemployment or something like that).

Do what you should have done awhile back. First, get your name off any joint account with your son or anyone else. Joint bank accounts are a no-no for anyone wtih a judgment. If your son is under 18, then have the other parent or a grandparent's name on the account. Second, stop putting money into the bank account at SunTrust.

Third, try to get an online bank account (try USAA if you are member of the military or if you are not, ally Bank, ING Direct or get a pre-paid debit card through ready-debit). This way, your bank account will not be further garnished. If an online bank account will not work, see if a credit union or very small community bank in your new state (not Georgia and you do not want a bank or credit union which has branches in Georgia) will allow you to open a bank account. However, the longer you wait, the more likely it is that Sun Trust may report the deficiency on your Chex Systems report. If that happens, you may not be able to open any bank or credit union accounts until the debt with Sun Trust is taken care of. In such case., learn to use cash. If your son or another family member is over 18, do not have a joint account but see if that person will allow you to make deposits into that account and pay bills.

I don't know the details of why Sun Trust allowed a check for $3400 to go through. Who was the check to? It is very unlikely that you will be able to prove that Sun Trust erred.

You are going to have to make arrangements to re-pay Sun Trust. After that, you are going to have to see what is left owing on the judgment by the HOA and get that resolved.

I am sorry about your situation, but the time to act was when you first got into trouble so that you could have protected yourself. Now, you have made a bad situation a whole lot worse