Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: credit card debt cases (garnishment)

There is no way to tell without an attorney reviewing your documents to see if you have any (1) defenses (2) any valid exemptions and/or (3) if you have any claims against the creditors and credit and collection agencies.

Re: credit card debt cases (garnishment)

Well, Cary is right of course.

First look very carefully at the paperwork that came with the garnishment about instructions on exemptions that apply, to see if you can claim any of those exemptions.

They do have the right to collect the money due to them. (You have not suggested so far that the first judgment is incorrect.)

I can't tell of course if they are taking out too much. It is supposed to be 25% of the amount ABOVE a certain minimum. I don't remember. But it could be that your employer is taking out too much money. The rule is NOT 25% of your total paycheck, but 25% AFTER deducting a certain minimum level.

But the net result should be less than 25% of the total. You may want to talk to your payroll dept about that.

But until the first judgment is paid off, they can garnish your wages.

The good news is that they cannot have more than one garnishment on at the same time. They have to wait for the first to be completed before starting the second one for the second judgment.

So you may want to do your best to challenge the next case coming up on Feb. 17, to make sure you are not overwhelmed. Have you looked at the statute of limitations? Is the amount they are claiming correct?

Here is a hint: And a Prince William County Judge agrees with this general concern, as she spontaneously explained from the bench one day.

If they garnish your paycheck, they can only take 25% of the amount over a certain mininum. This is designed to make sure that a debtor will have some money to live on.

However, as soon as you put your paycheck into a bank, they can garnish your bank account and take ALL of it. This is a weird situation. The General Assembly intended to protect debtors, but they forgot to consider what happens when the paycheck goes into the bank account.

So you probably should change banks and make sure nobody knows where you are banking. That way they cannot take too much at a time.

I have had heart-breaking situations where my law firm-employer filed a garnishment on a bank account, they had direct deposit (which can take several cycles to cancel), and the family was EVICTED from their apartment or house because of "MY" case against them. That was NOT what we wanted to do! As a debt collection attorney, I do not want to disrupt people's lives, because I will never see any money if their lives are ruined.

ALSO: When you say "they" are suing you for another $5000, are you saying it is the same collection agency, or the same Citigroup credit card?

If the exact same creditor is suing you for an additional amount of money, then RUN, DO NOT WALK, to your nearest attorney experienced in collections and ask him or her about "RES JUDICATA" and get an evaluation of whether or not they can do that.

Remember that many lawyers will give you a free consultation.

Most attorneys if they give you only an hour of their time are NOT that expensive.