garnishment question

[Anonymous]

So here's the story. Got sued in 2009 had a judgment for 2000. No attempts made to collect from me no bills no letters of garnishment nothing. Now 5 yrs later just before the judgment goes dormant I receive the we are going to garnish you letter and hey now you owe us 6000 instead of 2. I was finally on track to get a car after years of rebuilding my credit so that I wouldn't be paying 400 of month in car payments for a POS car that would probably break down its 1st week off the lot. I'm going to call them and try to keep them from taking me to court again. Do you think that they would just accept the original judgement amount? I can give them my state and federal returns and borrow a couple hundred from family. I am hoping they will want to do this because I am a server and from what I've been told garnishments on servers are almost impossible since in some states  tips don't count towards base salary because they are not consistent. The collection agency could theoretically collect only 1 tme every 5 months due to wage garnishment laws. Looking for anyone who is a server who's been in this situation or any at all who's been in it.

[Anonymous]

I would question the amount they have added. The court would have awarded expenses and interest on top of the $2000 judgment, but $6k seems on the high side. Most states cap the interest at 8-12%. Go to the court and get a copy of the actual final judgment. Have they actually sent a garnishment order to your employer?

[Anonymous]

I just got the you have 15 days to respond letter before garnishment. It gave me 15 days to respond or we will go to court etc. I'm hoping they will settle for the original amount because I went online and found some garnishment calculators and they wouldn't be able to take any money out of my checks at all. I am in essence due to my income judgment proof, I can use my tax refund and some family will help to raise the 2grand but other than that I have nothing to take. No car no house no savings. The only thing I have now due to time is a good credit score.

[Anonymous]

Can creditors Or the state garnish your tax refund if you have a judgment on you ?

[Anonymous]

Federal Student Loan creditors can certainly take your income tax refund, obviously the IRS can as well, and state tax agencies can take your state refund, but not federal refund.

'Ordinary' creditors would generally not be able to do so.

[Anonymous]

I would call them and tell them flat out - look, you can garnish me all you want, but there's nothing for you to take, and thats not going to change anytime soon. But between my income tax refund and some help from family I'm willing to settle for x amount of money just to put this behind me.

[Imperfectfuture]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I would call them and tell them flat out - look, you can garnish me all you want, but there's nothing for you to take, and thats not going to change anytime soon. But between my income tax refund and some help from family I'm willing to settle for x amount of money just to put this behind me.

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+1. I was judgement proof for several years, even lawyer said don't bother with bankruptcy.  They will try to get the additional fees.  However, if you prepare yourself, and go to court, they won't be able to get the amount they are asking for (probably from additional attorney fees).  They want to add on, and extend the reporting time period,

They will probably settle, but will push for quick payment,

[Anonymous]

Thanks for everyones replies talked today with a co-worker who was in the same situation. She said call them and tell them you like to settle and what were they thinking a good amount would be. She then said after they give you the amount tell them how much money you made last year. Its very embarrising to admit but I make below the federal poverty level for  single individual. She then said to conter then low  like offer 500 and settle for no more than 1000. She went on to say that they know that garnishing my paycheck is almost 100% out of the question and will probably settle for the low ball offer like hers did. She also stated to include in the settlement that they agree to vacate the judgement.

[Anonymous]

Made my settlement off today went to 1200 a little over my max but this gives them 20% and will if accepted have 30 days to make payment. So goodbye tax return oh well.

[RobertEG]

Kind of a two-edged sword argument.... you cant garnish my pay, but I have enough assets to pay at least the judgment amount.

Garnishment is not the only form of asset attachment/recovery.