Credit Negotiation

What is the name of your state? OH

I signed up for credit negotiation through a company. I have not paid any of my credit cards, for like 4 months. I just received a summons to go to court from Citibank for $3,500. I do not own anything, rent an apartment, owe on my car; I am self employed, and do not get a regular pay check - commission only.

I had a car accident had to pay $1200 for my car, needed to pay $3000 for a minor surgery, and used my credit cards to pay for rent and etc. I have truly over extended myself. I want to pay my credit cards back, but I am not able to at this point.

Do you know what my rights are as a debtor in OH?

[JETX]

"Do you know what my rights are as a debtor in OH?"
*** Your rights as a debtor:
1) You have the right to have any debts reported to the CRA (Credit Reporting Agency) to be accurate (FCRA).
2) You have the right to not be 'abused' by a 3rd party debt collector (FDCPA).
3) You have a right to declare exemptions and exempt assets from seizure by the judgment creditor (if a judgment is obtained) as allowed by your state laws.

That is pretty much it. What 'rights' were you looking for??

thanks for the response. I think I was looking to find out if the creditors can take anything from me, (I dont "own" anything) and since i got that letter of summons to court, when i receive a judgement, they cant really garnish my wages, correct? Thanks for advising.

[JETX]

"I think I was looking to find out if the creditors can take anything from me, (I dont "own" anything)"
*** The judgment creditor can seize any non-exempt assets that you have. And since an Ohio judgment is valid for TWENTY-ONE years (and renewable) it is possible that you MAY have sufficient assets to pursue at some future date. And you will then owe all the interest also (at 10% per annum).

A list of the assets that Ohio exempts can be found at:
[url]http://www.toolkit.cch.com/pops/P98_12_assettables_OH.asp[/url]

"when i receive a judgement,"
*** Actually YOU won't receive the judgment, it will be against you.

"they cant really garnish my wages, correct?"
*** Wrong. Ohio follows the federal garnishment exemptions which are:
75% of disposable earnings per week,
or an amount = to 30 x federal minimum hourly wage, whichever is greater.

"Thanks for advising."
*** You're welcome.

They can garnish wages even if I am self employed and dont receive "wages"?

[JETX]

Your post asked "they cant really garnish my wages". The correct answer is, yes they can garnish wages in accordance with your states exemptions.

And since you are self-employed, the judgment creditor can take ALL of your income if they know where it is coming from. This can be done by what is called a '3rd party garnishment' or 'turnover order'. Upon request by the judgment creditor, the court could order your 'employer' (or source for income) to pay the court instead of you. I do them all the time, especially for independent contractors, real estate agents, etc.

okay, that makes sense. my income is an advance, which is not really "earned". I almost rather not receive any advances because then they will take that and when I pay off my account, I will have interest on that as well.

I signed up for a debt negotiation program. Is this illegal or something because I did not realize it was this hard.

Thanks for your help

[JETX]

"I signed up for a debt negotiation program."
*** Oh, oh!!! I hope you found a good one and not one of the many scams out there!!

[url]http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/14/pf/debt/q_creditcounseling/[/url]
[url]http://money.cnn.com/2002/06/17/pf/banking/q_debtconsolidation/[/url]
[url]http://www.angelfire.com/home/genec/bankruptcy/vampires.html[/url]
[url]http://www.madison.com/wisconsinstatejournal/biz/58795.php[/url]

A man was depressed and went to talk to the preacher at his church. He said "Father, I have been laid off, my wife left me, I am about to lose my house and my car too, I don't think I can go on"

The Pastor said" Son, sometimes when things are particularily bad, it is a good time to turn to the bible for answers."

He says ok father what should I read

Pastor replies, take your bible to a quiet place and set it on your lap and let it fall open. Then you will find your answers.

A couple of months later, the man shows up in his truck with his wife, and he is happy. The preacher asked, " I see you took my advice, where did the book fall open?"

Guy says chapter 13