Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

You made the mistake of ignoring a lawsuit and this is the consequence. If you did not agree with their numbers (which includes interest, late fees, and attorneys fees) , you could have contested the case, but you did not. Of course it is generally legal for them to now take steps to collect the judgment, including garnishment of your paycheck. Either continue to get your paycheck garnished indefinitely (at 12% interest), or see a bankruptcy lawyer.

I believe you left out important information.

Were you served with a summons and complaint regarding their claim against you? If not, go to the magistrate court in your county and pull the case file. If there was't valid service in your case, hire an attorney to reopen the matter. This will stop the garnishment for now and give you more time to raise the money. However, if you owe the money, you will be back in the position you are in now after a valid judgment.

If they are garnishing your check, then you were sued and you did not pay attention to the lawsuit. I don't know when the judgment was entered, but if it was within 6 years after the debt was last paid and this was a Georgia debt, then the lawsuit is timely. I would agree with Attorney McGill - if you don't recall getting served or if the process server lied, you may want to talk with a local litigation lawyer to see if the judgment can be opened. Although you would have had notice of the garnishment as well. Did you also ignore that?

When an account goes into default, some creditors stop charging interest, but most don't. So it is easy for a $6,000 debt to increase. After judgment, the debt will earn interest, although usually at a lower rate (still 12% but thas is better than the default contract rate).

I don't know how much they are garnishing from your pay, but there are limits as to the amount they can take (maximum is 25% of your net/disposable pay after deduction of taxes and required deductions).

Depending on what they are garnishing, you can either offer to make a payment plan on the full sum owed, or allow them to keep garnishing and try to save up your funds to resolve the debt. Most creditors will accept between 50% and 80% of the debt. However, if your circumstances are such that you want to consider bankruptcy, then the judgment can be discharged that way.