Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

Sure they can. They can also drain any joint accounts, and place a lien on real and personal property.

Yes. You needed to have seen a lawyer a long time ago. At this point they can seize your bank account, garnishee your wages, and go after your car, home and other assets. The only way to stop a judgment is pay it off or file bankruptcy. If you have a judgment and have failed to get a lawyer yet, see one immediately.

Yes they can. If you want to talk about your situation, I give free email consullts. I can also help resolve debts for a reasonable fee. If you are interested, please contact me at rachelforjustice@hotmail,com.

If you have or will soon have a judgment against you, there are things you can do depending on your situation. If you have a lot of debt, maybe you should consider bankruptcy, I am not a bankruptcy attorney and don't file them. But you should get a consult with a bankruptcy attorney so that the attorney can review your debts and assets and advise you of the bankruptcy process. Many attorneys give free consults and just because you get one doesn't mean that you have to file.

If bankruptcy is not an option, then you need to think about resolving your debt. Judgments don't go away and they earn interest at a rate of 7% or more so the judgment will get bigger. Most creditors will resolve the judgment for 50% to 80% of the debt. Do you have at least 50%? If so, see if they will accept that. If they say no, see if you can use the 50% as a down payment and pay the balance of what they want in installments. Some creditors will allow this and some will not.

If they want more and will not let you do payments, then keep saving until you hit their number (allowing more for interest) and try again. Before you pay them a penny, you need to get a letter from them in writing addressing the terms of settlement. When the money is paid, they need to mark the judgment as satisfied.

If you do nothing and if you work, not only will they freeze your bank account, but they will garnish your wages unless your income is exempt (you are self-employed or your income is only Social Security or some other type of government benefits).

To protect yourself against a bank levy, get an out of state or online bank account or bank at a very small credit union or community bank that is 25-50 miles from your bank. If you have a joint account with someone else, get your name off the other person's account. If you do get exempt income (Social Security etc.) then do not commingle it with non-exempt funds.

Regarding wage garnishment, some creditors will let you do payment plans to avoid the garnishment. Payment plans are on the total debt and interest and are usually about 2% - 3% of the debt. But some creditors want to much and this is not an option I would recommend unless you are at risk of they garnishing wages or seizing your property.

Remember, there is a limit as to what they can garnish and if your pay is already being garnished (like for child support) then they may only be able to get very little or nothing so there may be no need to enter into a payment arrangement.

As I said, contact me if you are interested in reviewing your situation.