Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in North Carolina

Assuming that your creditors sue and get a judgment, your IRA/401(k) is exempt. I would suggest that you file for bankruptcy, but with your condition, you are going to be incurring many more bills so I would hold off for now. The reason is that once you file, you cannot refile for another 8 years if you get a discharge.

You do not tell me if you own a home or rent or if you own a vehicle that is liened or is free and clear and its value. Depending on the assets, the creditor can go after those things as well. And they can freeze your checking account once they have a judgment.

My advice for now is that your creditors can do nothing until they get a judgment. While there is no wage garnishment in NC, a caveat may be if any medical bills are owed to a state institution, like UNC. In such case, they may be able to garnish wages or intercept any tax refunds at the state level. You may not be able to do anything about that except file bankruptcy.

Regarding checking accounts, make sure that you have an account that is just in your name. If you bank at a big bank, like Bank of America, consider opening an account at a small community bank located more than 25 miles from your home, an online bank or out of state bank. Avoid having significant unliened assets (for example, if your car is owned free and clear, it has to be worth less than $3500) solely in your name if you possibly can. However, that means being able to trust someone else, which brings up other problems.

I hope this helps.