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Judgement, Garnishment, Frozen Bank Account help!!! :(

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rome138

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? VA

(This is a post for my girlfriend)
She received a judgment against her ~6-8months ago for ~$5,000 for nonpayment of rent, late fees, interest, and damages from 4 years ago.

She was making $50/mo payments but missed a couple of payments in December and January. Now they have started to garnish her wages from her job and on top of that froze her checking account. The garnishment also seems to be over the maximum allowed (25% of disposable earnings a week, isn't that the max?)

Before this mess she couldn't even pay all her bills and now she's severally crippled. It’s just going to get her into more trouble with other debtors....

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In a nutshell she shouldn't be in this mess...

What happened is she was living with her boyfriend (at the time) and his friend in an apartment. They broke up and she moved out. She finds out a year later that her ex-boyfriend and friend didn't pay rent for ~3-4 months and trashed the place.

The way she found out was through a letter from the rental company asking for the money. She called them and the way it they left it with her was, don't worry about it they'll (the rental company) will take care of it.

Now 3 years after that letter she gets a summons to go to court from them. The other two (her ex-bf and his friend) did not show up to court. Her ex-boyfriend (I assume by default) got a judgment, but his friend did not because apparently he was a "third party" on the lease.

Since she was the only one to show up to court they are only going after her. She told them where the ex-boyfriend works at but they seem to not do anything about it.


Questions from this:
What can we do at this point?

Is there a way to stop this garnishment?
- ...I see that there’s an exemption claim form but I’m not sure what category she could fall under to get exempt....

How can we get her bank account unfrozen and is that legal if you've already got a garnishment from that person?
- I mean its one thing to garnish her wages but not they're freezing her other monies...how is she supposed to pay her other bills or eat for that matter...

Can we find out if her ex-boyfriend is in fact getting garnished or paying this as well?
- And if he is...then wouldn't this be like a double recovery....the total amount is $5,000 and they're getting it $5,000 from him and her??!!??!

Why did the ex-boyfriend's friend get dismissed from this judgment?
- Is there a third-party category for a lease and if that exists you get 100% dismissed from these type of situations?


please please help....she obviously can't afford a lawyer and if she could wouldn't it cost just as much as what she owes....?

thanks!:(
 


ForFun

Member
I'm assuming your gf and the exbf were both on the lease, while the friend was in some fashion subleasing from you two.

Your gf and the exbf are jointly and severally liable for the entire amount owed. This means that the landlord can collect 100% from either of them. However, the landlord cannot collect more than the total judgment (that is, he cannot demand payment twice).

Your gf can seek "contribution" from the exbf, however. As an example, if she pays the entire $5k, then she can sue the exbf for his share, probably $2500.

She can also sue the friend for his share if he was subleasing. Let's say the friend was supposed to pay her half ($2500) -- she can sue him for that amount.

Think about it as a pecking order. The landlord is entitled to go after the easiest prey (i.e. the one who can pay). But that person is entitled to go after the other deadbeats.
 

rome138

Junior Member
i see....

but in the mean time....is there a way to stop or at least lower this garnishment? and also get her account unfrozen....like instead of this 25%-30% garnishment...get it down to like 5%-10%....

her court date for the next garnishment isn't until may and we can't wait that long of them taking out ~30% of her check for that whole time...

also what about that letter she got after a year of this...she called the realitor people and they told her not to worry about it and then 3 years after that they come back and sue her...
 

Ladynred

Senior Member
is there a way to stop or at least lower this garnishment?
It's possible. She will have to APPEAL the garnishment and will probably have to go to court to tell a judge WHY she is appealing.. and to make her case for hardship - and prove that the 25% is a hardship. She should be prepared to show her entire financial situation. Only a judge can lower or stop the garnishment.

They can take up to 25% of her disposable income IF she makes more than 40x the Federal Minimum wage. That 'disposable' income does NOT consider any VOLUNTARY DEDUCTIONS coming out of her check - like health insurance. The calculation only considers MANDATORY deductions - federal, state and local taxes, social security, medicaid, etc.

also what about that letter she got after a year of this...she called the realitor people and they told her not to worry about it and then 3 years after that they come back and sue her...
The letter means nothing and will not get her anywhere. If her name was on that lease, they were within their legal rights to pursue her for the money.
 

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