Expert: Regan Shinski - 7/27/2010

Question
I really don't know what I'm doing. I have never been sent court papers, but I have a garnishment on my bank account from Unifund CCR Partners of Palisades Collection, LLC. I wouldn't have even known about it, if my husband would not have went to the bank to find out why they were not covering any of our checks for our bills. We can barely make do on what he brings home. I'm unable to work for I have a movement disorder. I have called the clerk of courts and all they can tell me was there was a judgement in 2008 that was not fulfilled. And I was never sent papers then either. They only had my maiden name on file and have my address from high school. I have not lived at that address since I graduated school in 1999. I have not lived in the county that they even filed in for 4 years now. But because of the bank issue my husband has had to get paper checks from work again and pay everything in cash to make sure that we have a place to live, and everything that we that we need to live. I have never had a collection call, or anything I really do not know what this is about. Is there anything that you can do to help me. All the courts said is that they can send me the agreement paper from 2008 that they claim I received and signed, but as I said before I never received anything from them.  The sad thing is that the debt they claim I owe is just under $2000.00. If you can give me any advice I would appreciate it.

Answer
Hi Alysia:

You need to tackle this in two steps:  Stop the bleeding, and begin to fire back.

First, you have to do as you are and stop using that account.  I would NOT close the account unless you really need to in case you won't be able to open one again down the line.

Secondly, if you receive disability, social security, SSI, or any other type of income like this, open a NEW account.  In this account ONLY - and I mean ONLY - deposit these funds.  If you deposit one penny in cash or from other funds, you put them at risk.  Tell the bank this account only has disability (or whatever# funds and have them confirm these funds are protected.  Make them put a note on the account or paperwork you receive.  This should protect those funds.

Assuming this judgement is only in your name and he is not tied to the judgement or original underlying debt, his W-2 wages are at risk if they are in an account tied to you.  You may want to open a separate account ONLY in his name for your other assets.  Be sure to confirm he is not linked to the judgement or the debt and I would also confirm your state laws on this issue.

Secondly, the issue of fighting this really depends on what you are facing.  So the first thing you need to do is go the court house, or access their records online if available, and get the history of that judgement.  You should be able to get how you were served, what the debt was for, how the amount was arrived at, and any other pertinent information and evidence.  

Start with the servicing.  How are they claiming you were served notice of the court date?  Look up your state law and find out if this complies.  This is an important step because if you were not properly served, you can likely get the judgement vacated.

In any case, if you want to fight it, you file a motion with the court to have it vacated.  This basically means retried or dismissed.  The procedure varies by state and court so the stronger case you have, the better.  Some courts also put time limits on them, so don't wait.  An ideal situation is that you were not properly served, you file a motion to vacate, the court accepts your motion, sets a hearing, and they #the creditor# does not show up.  In this case, you win.  

However, you may have been properly served according to the law, the court may not even allow your motion due to time elapsed, or they can show up with their evidence.  In that case, you lose and the amount may grow.  So you need the information first.

A judgement is bad because they generally do not go away easily and they give the creditor the hammer like you experienced.  It may be better for you to pay it - it depends on what you find out.  The actual power of the judgement #garnishment, attacking bank accounts, liens on houses, etc) will not go away until you win a court proceeding, it's paid in full, or - in some states - it expires and is not renewed by the creditor.  Most states allow the creditor to extend this indefinitely until it's paid.

You can try credit repair to get it off your credit reports, but again that will not stop the power they have to enforce it.  So I would get copies of your credit reports and see what is showing.  You can get a free copy once a year at www.annualcreditreport.com.  The credit reports may also shed light on what this is and what it is for.

Good luck, I hope this helps and I'm sorry you are in this situation.

Regan