Writ of Garnishment Filed, But Account is Paid

[titanmom]

What is the name of your state? Oregon

My husband had a default judgement entered against him and since June 2004 is wages have been garnished. The attorney files a new writ of garnishment every 90 days or so.
A writ of garnishment was filed in mid February, and the balance was listed as $4200. He has approximately $150 garnished from his check each week, so we figured the garnishment would continue for quite some time.

On May 7th we received a letter from the creditor stating that the account had been paid in full and along with it was a refund check of $88. Then on May 10th we get a call from the creditor and we were told the letter and check were sent in error and there is a balance on the account of $142. We told them that his checks were still being garnished so $150 had been taken out on May 9th so that should pay the balance. We were told that they would check into it and get back to us.

The February writ of garnishment had expired as of May 12th so we thought it was over. May 14th we received a copy of a new writ of garnishment from the creditor's attorney and it shows a balance of $2700, calculated on May 5th. We immediately called the creditor and the attorney. The creditor didn't seem to know what was going on and the attorney didn't return our call. We filed a challenge to the garnishment and have a court date set for June 12th. My husband's check on May 30th was garnished.

Yesterday (June 4th) we received a letter from the creditor showing a zero balance on the account along with refund checks totaling $306. We also received a letter and spreadsheet from the attorney. The letter said that if we cancelled our challenge the garnishment would stop and a satisfaction would be filed; if we do not cancel the challenge the garnishment will continue and a judgement for post-judgement attorney fees, including the cost of having to come to court for the challenge, would be filed.

After reviewing the spreadsheed the attorney sent, and comparing it to the writ of garnishment from February, the garnishment showed $4200 the balance on the spreadsheet shows $1600. The spreadsheet stops on April 23rd with a 0 balance, but yet he filed another writ of garnishment. My husband has had a little over $900 garnished since that date, and only $300 has been refunded.

What should we do? We are afraid that if we cancel the garnishment challenge the attorney won't really stop the garnishment or file a satisfaction. Can he file a judgement for post-judgement attorney fees? We have talked several times to the creditor and they consider the account paid and closed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Ladynred]

You need to speak to an attorney, but not even an attorney can just 'file a judgment' against you. You have proof from the creditor that the balance is paid in full. However, every judgment for a creditor balance also includes attorney's fees, court costs, PLUS statutory interest.

Your husband's employer should also be able to show exactly how much has been taken out of his checks all this time.

[Texas Pooh]

I can't follow the math, but it seems like you and the creditor both agree that all is paid.

Call the attorney's office and offer to go to his office and hand him a dismissal of the garnishment challenge in exchange for a signed satisfaction of the judgment. The attorney will file the dismissal and you can file the satisfaction of the judgment. That should make everybody happy and satisfied that all actions have been dismissed.

In addition, you can keep a copy of the file-stamped satisfaction to prove in the future that the debt is paid.

By the way, congratulations on getting this paid off.