Legal Question in Consumer Law in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania does not have wage garnishment for most debts except taxes, alimony/child support, back rent owed to a landlord and maybe a few other things.

If you owe money to a creditor, the creditor can sue you and get a judgment. Judgments are renewable; they can be renewed after 5 years for land and are good for 20 years on personal property.

Personal property includes a bank account or car.

Judgments will be reported on your credit report for 7 years after the date of entry. They earn interest at a rate of 6% per year.

With an unpaid judgment, you will never be able to have a car or house in your own name as you will not be able to get financing for a mortgage. You may be able to buy a car but you are not going to get a favorable interest rate.

With an unpaid judgment, you will not be able to keep more than $300 in the bank; otherwise, the creditor will grab it and place a hold on your account.

What you do depends though on who the creditor is and how long it has been since you last paid on the account. If its with a collection agency, that just means that its over 90 days delinquent. The creditor or a junk debt buyer has 4 years from the date of your last payment on the account to sue you.