Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

If you were served with a suit, you need to see a lawyer. There are deadlines to respond, so do this less than 30 days from service on you.

If you currently are not working then this cannot be a garnishment action. You and your employer would get notice of the garnishment.

It sounds like you have been sued for a credit card debt. When did you receive the complaint? You have 30 days to respond if that is what you are going to do.

A more fundamental question is whether you need to respond. You should only respond in the following situations: (1) the statute of limitations has expired; (2) this is not your debt (like in the case of identity fruad/theft); (3) you already paid; (4) the amount that they say you owe is wrong; or (5) there is some value to be gained by delaying a judgment for as long as possible.

If this is your debt and you just want proof, you can respond and ask for it in a process called discovery. However, rather than spending money on a lawyer to litigate this, money for a lawyer might be better spent elsewhere. Is this your only debt? What other debts/assets do you have? Would bankruptcy make sense? If so, it might be better to file bankruptcy instead of defending a lawsuit when you have no defenses.

Leaving bankruptcy aside, if you have no defenses, then the credit card company is going to get a judgment against you regardless of whether you answer the complaint or not. Its just a question of when the judgment will be entered and how (default judgment where no answer is filed versus a summary judgment if you go through discovery).

The creditor may garnish your wages once they get a judgment. More important is the fact that they can freeze your bank account unless your income is exempt (like you get Social Security or unemployment benefits). If you get such benefits, make sure that you do not commingle the funds with non-exempt money or with the income of another person. Also, get your name off of anyone else's bank account so that the crditor cannot seize it either.

If bankruptcy is not an option, the good news is that debts can be resolved at any time - before, during litigation or after judgment.

I don't know how much the debt is for or how much you have. Most creditors will accept between 50% and 80% of the judgment, but it depends on the creditor and whether a judgment is entered. Creditors will go towards the lower end if you can pay in a lump sum. Many creditors will not let you make more than 2 or 3 payments. If you can only afford to make payments, most payments are equal to about 1% to 2% of the debt. Moreover, any payments are on the whole balance.

If you want to discuss the specifics of your situation in confidence, I give free email consults. I also assist Georgia clients in resolving their debt if they have the resources to do so for a reasonable fee. Please contact me at rachelforjustice@hotmail,com if interested.