Wages garnished, never notified of legal proceedings

[MrLinda1234]

State: NC

I recently started having my wages garnished as a result of a legal judgment from some old credit card debt. This came as a total shock to me, I was never served or notified in any way that legal proceedings were occurring. I only found out when the HR team at my employer told me about the garnishment.

Further complicating matters, the judgment was rendered in Rhode Island, where I have not lived in over 2 1/2 years. I have had a North Carolina drivers license and have been a NC resident since January of 2014. The writ of garnishment was issued in June of 2016. (Note: I did live in RI when I originally used the card. The debt was charged off in November 2013).

Additionally, the copy of the "writ of garnishment" my employer received was incomplete. The section that is to be filled out to verify that I was served was left completely blank...no method of service, no date, no signature, nothing. Given the fact that this was left blank, and that I've had no contact in 2 1/2 years despite following all the correct steps to make my new address well-known, shows me that nobody made a good faith effort to advise me of the proceedings against me.

I'm wondering if I have any sort of legal recourse to stop the garnishment. I was never served and have no idea where any documentation regarding the case was sent to. I clearly live outside the district where the case was heard, so I fear an appeal would be an undue hardship. Can I appeal from out of state, or in the North Carolina court system? Furthermore, I have contacted the law firm that is now collecting the debt. They have not responded to multiple emails and a phone call. I am willing to pay, but I can't afford 25% of my wages each month.

 

[LdiJ]

State: NC

I recently started having my wages garnished as a result of a legal judgment from some old credit card debt. This came as a total shock to me, I was never served or notified in any way that legal proceedings were occurring. I only found out when the HR team at my employer told me about the garnishment.

Further complicating matters, the judgment was rendered in Rhode Island, where I have not lived in over 2 1/2 years. I have had a North Carolina drivers license and have been a NC resident since January of 2014. The writ of garnishment was issued in June of 2016. (Note: I did live in RI when I originally used the card. The debt was charged off in November 2013).

Additionally, the copy of the "writ of garnishment" my employer received was incomplete. The section that is to be filled out to verify that I was served was left completely blank...no method of service, no date, no signature, nothing. Given the fact that this was left blank, and that I've had no contact in 2 1/2 years despite following all the correct steps to make my new address well-known, shows me that nobody made a good faith effort to advise me of the proceedings against me.

I'm wondering if I have any sort of legal recourse to stop the garnishment. I was never served and have no idea where any documentation regarding the case was sent to. I clearly live outside the district where the case was heard, so I fear an appeal would be an undue hardship. Can I appeal from out of state, or in the North Carolina court system? Furthermore, I have contacted the law firm that is now collecting the debt. They have not responded to multiple emails and a phone call. I am willing to pay, but I can't afford 25% of my wages each month.

You can try and have the judgment vacated for lack of service, and possibly even have the case dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. There might even by some statute of limitations issues.

However, you are not going to get that happening fast enough to stop the garnishment in a timely manner, without an attorney. Its also possible however that your company is not obligated to honor a garnishment from another state, so that might require some looking into by a local attorney. If the amount of money owed does not justify getting attorney's involved, then you might have to just live with the garnishment, although I REALLY hate to see collection agencies/attorneys getting away with not properly serving debtors.