Bank Account Garnishment

[Anonymous]

A couple of years ago I bought a house, and shortly after I got served papers that I was being sued by a collection agency for an old debt in the amount of $1750.  I contacted the plaintiff in the suit and asked them for my options, they told me if I made a payment they would halt the suit and it would be dismissed.  I foolishly believed this and paid them $300 - then a month later was notified that a judgement had been filed against me in the amount of $1750.  I never received any further communication from the collection agency after the fact. 

Fast forward to yesterday, both of my bank accounts are negative $5100.  I called thinking it was fraud activity and was informed that my account had been "leveed" and that the only information the bank could give me was the phone number.  I contacted the number and was told that my account had been garnished as part of a debt collection, that they were not required to notify me of this action because then I "would just empty the accounts so there would be no money to garnish".

Since there was not enough money in my account to cover the full amount of the garnishment my financial institution has TRIPLED the amount (hence 5100) requested so that "in the event of any future deposit activity you are not able to remove the funds", in addition to which they assed me a $100 "Legal Order Fee" just to add some flavor.

I know from skimming through some of the posts here that I was stupid for trying to deal with the predatory collector - there are hundreds of pages on Google about this particular company, and that assuming the agreement made over the telephone where I sent them money would be honored and thus not appearing in court was a huge mistake.  Looking back now and examing the Statutes in Texas I see that this account was beyond the statute of limitations at the point the JP court issued the judgement to begin with.

I am curious if anyone has dealt with this before and has any suggestions.  I have literally no money right now, they took everything I had, I don't have two cents to rub together much less the money to hire a lawyer to examine this case for me, and I really have no idea what to do from here.  The agent for the collection company recommended I either send them a MoneyGram for the full amount owed or call them "after we receive the funds from your financial institution" and request they treat that amount as a settlement and it will "probably be accepted".  Of course I'm sure that will come with a clause that I will not pursue any legal action against them and to consider the issue fully closed.

I get paid tonight at midnight and since the levee on my account is so high I will have no access to that money, the only way for me to get my money is to settle this account and wait 5-10 days for the levee to be reversed.

Sorry for the length of this post, thanks in advance if anyone has some advice or suggestions for me.

[Anonymous]

For the record, the agency in question is Asset Acceptance LLC (AALLC) - I was not sure if it would be appropriate to name them in my message or not but I see they're all over this board as it is, heh.

[Booner72]

MY GOD THAT SUCKS.  Can you have your employer stop the auto-deposit and cut you a check that you can cash elsewhere?

[MissMia75]

How in the Mary Kate and Ashley did they get your bank information

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

A couple of years ago I bought a house, and shortly after I got served papers that I was being sued by a collection agency for an old debt in the amount of $1750.  I contacted the plaintiff in the suit and asked them for my options, they told me if I made a payment they would halt the suit and it would be dismissed.  I foolishly believed this and paid them $300 - then a month later was notified that a judgement had been filed against me in the amount of $1750.  I never received any further communication from the collection agency after the fact. 

Fast forward to yesterday, both of my bank accounts are negative $5100.  I called thinking it was fraud activity and was informed that my account had been "leveed" and that the only information the bank could give me was the phone number.  I contacted the number and was told that my account had been garnished as part of a debt collection, that they were not required to notify me of this action because then I "would just empty the accounts so there would be no money to garnish".

Since there was not enough money in my account to cover the full amount of the garnishment my financial institution has TRIPLED the amount (hence 5100) requested so that "in the event of any future deposit activity you are not able to remove the funds", in addition to which they assed me a $100 "Legal Order Fee" just to add some flavor.

I know from skimming through some of the posts here that I was stupid for trying to deal with the predatory collector - there are hundreds of pages on Google about this particular company, and that assuming the agreement made over the telephone where I sent them money would be honored and thus not appearing in court was a huge mistake.  Looking back now and examing the Statutes in Texas I see that this account was beyond the statute of limitations at the point the JP court issued the judgement to begin with.

I am curious if anyone has dealt with this before and has any suggestions.  I have literally no money right now, they took everything I had, I don't have two cents to rub together much less the money to hire a lawyer to examine this case for me, and I really have no idea what to do from here.  The agent for the collection company recommended I either send them a MoneyGram for the full amount owed or call them "after we receive the funds from your financial institution" and request they treat that amount as a settlement and it will "probably be accepted".  Of course I'm sure that will come with a clause that I will not pursue any legal action against them and to consider the issue fully closed.

I get paid tonight at midnight and since the levee on my account is so high I will have no access to that money, the only way for me to get my money is to settle this account and wait 5-10 days for the levee to be reversed.

Sorry for the length of this post, thanks in advance if anyone has some advice or suggestions for me.

---

First thing you want to do is divert any incommin funds to another account at a different institution.  Otherwise those funds will disappear down the black hole.

Although virtually never does a judgment creditor have to notify you of a pending garnishment or levy, it seems they did violate the FDCPA by informing you you could ignore the summons & complaint as your payment would stop the process.  Based on that, there is a possibility that you could sue them under the FDCPA (providing the SOL has not expired on that event) and perhaps have the judgment vacated. 

Unfortunately, though, you would be better off having a lawyer.  I would try a local university law clinic or the Legal Aid Society. 

[bruiseviolet]

Oh no =(  Call your employer and have them stop your direct deposit- and give you a check- they can do that.  I had a similar issue with asset acceptance.  They called to collect on a debt and we arranged a settlement amount and I did a payment over the phone- giving them my banking info to take the money out.  Sue enough, that day they took the money out.  No problem-  but the next day- they then cleaned out my bank account.  They didn't have a court order or anything, and I didn't authorize it - so thankfully the bank filed a dispute and was able to deposit my money back right away.  it then cost me 30 bucks to put a hold on my account against them- so they couldnt try and take anymore money.  Had I know what I knew now, i probably should have filed further action against them.  

Make sure they really have the correct paperwork to garnish your bank account.  You can look up attorneys in your area who will give free consultations.  Pick 2 or 3 and go talk to them- they will give you some options of what you can do.  It will be enough information that you can fight this on your own without any money.

[bruiseviolet]

Also, if you have bank accounts at that bank with other family memebers (children, sister, wife etc...) and any of the accounts have your name on them- even if they aren't necessarily your account-  they can take the funds from those accounts as well.