Need Help! Is this Legal

[Anonymous]

I need advice quick.  I woke up this morning to find my checking account overdrawn by $8K.  I call my bank and come to find out that a debit credit hold has been placed on my account.  The bank told me I had to call another number that it wasn't fraud.  I call that other number and it's an attorney's office which was closed.  I imagine it is an old collection.  Can they do this?  I have direct deposit will this mean that they will take everything that get's deposited.  I need advice any suggestions.

[Junejer]

Has someone won a judgment against you? I imagine that if they have, it might be legal. If I were you, I would contact an atty ASAP to determine that. I am not an attorney and would not feel comfortable attempting to advise, without all of the information that is available.

GL

[mymoneynow]

Listen to ByrdMan- run, don't walk, to an Attny.

Possibly judgement or tax lien (IRS)?

[Anonymous]

I am not aware of any judgement. It possibly could be a car that I voluntarily turned in.  But I will heed the advice of getting an attorney.  Any further advice is appreciated.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have direct deposit will this mean that they will take everything that get's deposited.  I need advice any suggestions.

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I have no idea at all about the collections bit of this, so hopefully the advice of others will help there.

Relating to the Direct Deposit, I would strongly recommend opening a checking account at ANOTHER bank ASAP and IMMEDIATELY filling out the paperwork to have your direct deposit switched to the new account.

That way while you figure out the collections issue you at least will have money from your paychecks available to live off of - good luck!

ETA: You would need to discuss with your current bank what the ramifications are for having your account $8K overdrawn, however, until you figure out what happened.  If the bank would start charging $35 daily overdraft fees, for example, that may aggravate your problems.

Message Edited by jacred on 11-09-2008 02:55 PM

[fishbjc]

If your account is o/d by $8k....I really have trouble believing that the bank will honor this!  They should return it to the depositor as NSF.

Change accounts immediately and stop all direct deposits.

[Anonymous]

A garnishment order would not be returned NSF.  Also, if it is a garnishment, then the employer will probably be served with an order after the insufficiency of the bank account is determined. 

[guiness56]

Your states laws determine how a bank account can be levied.  In my state, the levy is for what is currently in the account.  They would have to refile every time they wanted to levy the account.  In other states the levy is in force until the money is paid back.

Your wages can be garnished also.

Sometimes there is a freeze put on your account pending a judgment.  You should be notified of this and get a day in court.

[Anonymous]

Not sure if this helps, but I'm fairly certain that seizures and levies are processed as ACH debits, not CREDIT debits.

Your bank should not only be able to give you the phone number of the "seizing" party, but also be able to FAX you a copy of the order to levy.

What state are you in, BTW? That bit of info would go a LONG way to figuring out the whos, hows and whys (since not all states allow bank account levying for simple judgments).

Do you owe any back taxes? Child support? Defaulted Student loans? ANY government-related debt? Government agencies (both state and Federal) are usually more prone to seizure/levy than judgments or collections.

I'd not even move your DD to another account (since, if it's a legal levy/seizure, they can VERY easily find the account again) ... I'd notify your employer that you want your pay via check rather than DD. I'd, honestly, live on a paper check & cash only basis until this is sorted.

Please, keep us posted!!! Best of luck to you -- I hope this gets sorted ASAP!!!

[Anonymous]

I also might add that this happened to us about 5 years ago. By error.

My ex owed me a substantial amount of child support. Get that? HE owed ME. However, due to a lovely blunder on the part of the state's CSE, they levied MY account for the money owed to ME. Ain't that priceless?

Of course, when we realized it happened, it was past "close of business" on FRIDAY, so we were stuck without any $$ for 3 days. Needless to say, Monday morning, we had NO patience with those idiots. No one knew how it happened or why the error occurred. No one seemed to think it was such a grievous error, either (um, hello! Over $3K taken from our account?).

After about 6 hours on the phone, we had the money credited back to our account and a half-hearted apology from the agency. They also tried to grill ME about where my ex could possibly be "hiding" his bank accounts (I already knew, even back then, that he lived solely on a cash basis because of situations like this).

The moral of the story is that this COULD be a mistake. I hope it is. And I hope you have an easier time straightening it out than we did!!!