Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New York

Verizon

A restraining order was placed on my checking account. According to the bank I have an outstanding bill with Verizon in the amount of 742.00. I never recieved any notification from Solomon & Solomon's law firm and the $555.05 that was in my account is now frozen. I am a single mother of three and the law firm says I have to pay the $742.00 and then they will release the account, or send them two months of bank statements to start maybe paying off the debt slowly but they are not giving me a straight answer to if they are going to release my account and now my bank is charging me $125.00 for the restraining order. If I had ever gotten notice I would have immediately worked something out with the lawyers but I never did. I have no money and no access to the money in my account. What should I do? I did stop my direct depoist from payroll because I can not live on air alone and support three children. Please help. Thanks.


Asked on 11/08/04, 2:16 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Andrew Nitzberg Andrew Nitzberg & Associates

Re: Verizon

Stopping the direct deposit is a solid first move.

One problem is that the amount of the debt does not justify a large legal fee to contest the action.

You have a right to personal service before any 'judgment' can be obtained against you. A judgment is required before your account can be frozen.

However, in order to fight whatever 'judgment', you must have a defense to the underlying debt. Do you owe the money?

If you do not, I would be happy to take your case and money/fees will not be a problem!

If you do owe the money, then this is primarily a negotiation problem. They want money. They do not want to fight hard for it. I would recommmend agreeing to set up a garnish situation if they would waive the amount of the bank fee and the 'colection costs'. That is a reasonable negotiating position. Please give that a try and get back to me if

Remember, give them no information about where you work unless it is after an agreement is in place.

Andrew Nitzberg

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Answered on 11/08/04, 4:55 pm


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