Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

Being on your credit report is irrelevant. Whether they can garnishee now depends on the date of the original judgment and any renewal of that judgment.

Let me add that with a debt that large you may want to consider, if you qualify, a bankruptcy to wipe out the judgment and interest.

Having a judgment on your credit is not the same thing as having a judgment. Judgments can only be reported on your credit for 7 years after entry of the judgment. Just because the 7 years has expired does not mean that the judgment is somehow now invalid. It is not and lasts forever until it is marked satisfied.

The fact that your wages were garnished means that a judgment was entered. However, you do not indicate how much the judgment was for or how long the garnishment lasted and how much was garnished. Judgments earn interest at a rate of 7% - 12% on average. Moreover, there is a limit as to how much can be garnished from your pay (25% of your disposable pay is the maximum).

Judgments can be revived and if revived, they can be enforced. So if there is still money owing, your pay can be garnished.

Who you contact depends on what you want to do. If you have a lot of debt, maybe you file bankruptcy and avoid the judgment lien. In such case, maybe you want to have a consult with a banrkruptcy attorney. If you don't want to go the bankruptcy route for whatever reason, then you need to see a general civil litigation attorney who helps with credit card or repossession debts. I don't know if the judgment was revived properly and if anything can be done legally about this. A local attorney would be able to review the court file and give you a better idea.

Assuming that the judgment and garnishment cannot now be challenged, then you don't want to spend money fighting a battle that cannto be won. In such case, your best bet would be to resolve the judgment.

It depends on how much is owed. I would contact the law firm that obtained the judgment and find out how much is owed as of today, taking into account all the interest that has accrued minus any payments made through wage garnishment. Depending on the answer, if you have the funds to do this, see if they will take 50% just to get rid of this. If they say yes, get something in writing to that effect, and get them to agree to mark the judgment as satisfied once your payment is made. Once you get the letter, then you can pay, the judgment will be marked satisified and you will be free.

If they will not accept 50%, find out what they will accept. If you don't have the funds, if you are close, see if you can make a down payment with what you have and pay the balance in 1-6 pays. If the answer is no, keep saving your funds and try again when you have the target number (60% - 80% for most debts).

If this is too much, for reasonable fee I can assist you in resolving the debt. Please contact me at [email protected] if interested.