Wage Garnishment

[EmmeRose]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Minnesota

I got a packet in the mail the other day saying that in two pay periods, I will be having 25% of my wage garnished for a debt of almost $40k. I have been moving around (in the military, dealing with a divorce etc) so I never got a judgment notice or anything. It lists an address that I haven't lived in for years so I guess that is probably where they sent the judgment case.
Well, anyways, the debt is from 1996 which would have made me 16 years old. It lists my mother's name first and my name second. It says that the debt was for about $6k but now with 29.99% interest, it has skyrocketed to almost 40k. I called my mother and she says what she did was that she had a whole bunch of debt and she got another company to combine all of her debt just to pay one company, she just never paid them a dime.
She said she just forgot about the whole thing and neither of us have any idea how my name was put onto it.
What can I do about this? Who can I contact about my wages being garnished for my mother's actions? I now live in North Dakota but the company (Messerli and Kramer) is in Minneapolis, about 6 hours away from me. I tried calling Messerli and Kramer and the lady literally hung up on me. Once I started explaining my situation, (and I wasn't rude) she just hung up.
I did call five different lawyers in the Minneapolis area and they said "that it wouldn't be in their best interests because Messerli and Kramer are a big firm of lawyers."
I need to know of a certain kind of lawyer that isn't afraid to go after this so called "huge company of lawyers." But first, I need to know how I can get this wage garnishment thing to cease before it even starts, which is in about a month.
Thank you.

 

[EmmeRose]

Well, I continued calling lawyers today and I was referred to the Attorney General's Office. They said that they are more than happy to look over my case. I'll be faxing the information to them tomorrow. Hope it all gets worked out.

 

[swalsh411]

Your post is confusing. What does your mother have to do with this? Is this her debt? Or are you saying she took some action regarding your debt?

If they have a valid judgement then they aren't interested in any sort of payment plan because they can just garnish your paycheck and get their money faster and with more assurance. They would only be interested in talking to you if you can pay in full immediately. They aren't going to be interested in discussing any sort of payment plan because it's looooooong past that point. (assuming they have a valid judgement).

Does the notice say where their judgement is? (county / state). If so you should contact that courthouse and get as much information as you can. They would probably be willing to give you some basic information over the phone.

edit: It's not at all surprising that a 7k debt from 16 years ago is now 40k.

 

[cosine]

Well, I continued calling lawyers today and I was referred to the Attorney General's Office. They said that they are more than happy to look over my case. I'll be faxing the information to them tomorrow. Hope it all gets worked out.

Don't stop at this point. Keep looking for an attorney. Also seek out any legal aid services groups that might be around (like at the state university law school).

Once you can get an attorney at least starting to look into this, and can show the garnishment will be of some harm, they may be able to get a judge to issue a temporary order to suspend the garnishment while the case is looked into. There's also another way to make it stop for a while which your attorney should know about, though it could impact your own credit record.

Ask your mom to send you money to make up for the garnishment, since it is apparently all her fault, at least for having never paid her then much smaller debt. I am wondering how it is that your name got on the debt if you were 16 at the time. Is your name the same as another relative she might have asked for co-sign support from?

 

[EmmeRose]

It is my mother's debt. We don't know why or how my name got on the debt. My mother has never been married and I share her last name (her maiden name). All I can figure out is that since my mother lives under the radar, they are going after me. She doesn't have a job, doesn't have a license, no car, no house, nothing, she just doesn't care about anything to be honest. Since the company can't go after her, they are going after me.
I looked into calling attorneys, I can't afford any of the ones I have been able to find. I'm going to wait until I hear back from the Attorney General's office to see if I need to make further steps.

 

[bigun]

You likely are going to need to find a way to afford an attorney.
See if this group has anyone near you.

National Association of Consumer Advocates | Consumer Protection Advocates and Attorneys - Help for Consumers

One thing you might do is start some basic research and find out when the judgment was returned.
You mentioned you were in the military. In 2005 {I think} former President Bush signed the Service Members Relief Act. One of the protections is, if the service member is deployed then all legal proceedings must halt. You might see if you qualify for that protection.
I'd also be a little aggressive and put everyone on notice that they have the wrong person. Send a CRRR letter to the judgment creditor.
Check your credit reports and see if the judgment is being reported. If so, dispute it as not yours. Again, send it CRRR.
If they still proceed with garnishment before you get some help then you may have a case for damages against the lawfirm.
You might also file a complaint with the FTC.
2 other good sites to post this question are

CreditBoards.com - Credit Help, Credit Repair Tips, News, Forums
Free Credit Reports Credit Repair Counseling Increase Your Credit Score Debt Consolidation

 

[swalsh411]

They can't go after you for debt that isn't yours just because the debter is your deadbeat mother. Did you (or your mother prentending to be you) co-sign on a loan or a credit card?

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Start by getting a copy of the judgment to understand how YOU could be a party to this.

 

[EmmeRose]

I was never deployed anywhere but thanks for the tip. I have all the paperwork that I can find and have requested. I cannot get a hold of the paperwork my mother signed but I have all the judgments against my mother and I. On the first judgments, it has my name right under my mother's name but now the actual wage garnishments just have my name and my SSN on them. It now seems like it is just my debt and isn't hers anymore.
I have never in my life opened a credit card. I've never even attempted to because I don't believe in them. I've never co-signed anything with my mother either.
It just doesn't make sense. My mother doesn't remember what she did because like I said, it was years ago when she got this debt.

Bigun - what is CRRR?

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

certified, return receipt requested.

 

[pattytx]

I would note that the employer is required to withhold until they get a release from the court.

 

[EmmeRose]

I went through the Attorney General and they sent a letter to the company and finally today, I received a letter back.

Here is the letter from Messerli and Kramer "Regardless if _______ was a minor when this account was opened, _______ remains liable for the outstanding balance. See Kelly vs. Furlong, 194 Minn. 465, 466, 261 N.W. 460, 460 (1935). ______'s dispute of his obligation on the account, over four years after the judgement was entered against him, is not timely.

Notwithstanding, our client will consider settlement of this judgement through a voluntary payment arrangement. If _______ is interested in settling this matter, our client will accept a lump sum payment of $9,000, if payment reaches our office no later than October 10, 2011. ________ should contact our office if ______ wants to accept this offer. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Very truly yours, Messerli and Kramer P.A."

The Attorney General's office wrote me a note saying to seek out legal representation through Central Minnesota Legal Services which is a free service for low income people.

I guess this is my next route. I hope it works. Wish me luck. I'm starting to really hate my mother to be honest.

 

[larocque1]

You can do this on your own. Forget about what is said about them being a “Big Law Firm”…whatever…lawyers are lawyers. Do not be intimidated by this. The court and judge still has the ultimate say. I suspect that the lawyers you contacted are “happy hour” buddies with the inept oxygen thieves at the “big” law firm; this is why you get push back. Yea, it happens more than you know.

First off, you should file a motion to set aside, vacate, etc. the judgment against you. Your motion should say something like: Motion to set Aside Judgment and Suspend Wage Garnishment. I did not look into the wording of how your state does this, but typically you want to set aside the judgment, and/or basically contest the judgment in question based upon your situation, military service, residence, not valid service of notice, etc.

You will want to point out that this is not your debt, as well as your military service during that time frame of when the judgment was placed against you. You can offer the court that you have a Meritorious Defense as the original proof of debt has not been offered, served, or provided (by your phone calls and hang up on you). You need to state that you have researched the judgment and alleged debt, and to the best of your knowledge, it is not valid. List out the time, day, name(s), and of the person who refused to speak to you (and ultimately hung up on you).

Furthermore, XYZ law firm has miss stepped as well as the collection agency in this matter. Your name has been erroneously placed as the responsible party as this is not valid. You need to demand proof of the debt meaning all legal signed documents, correspondence, etc. Focus on your military service and where you are deployed or stationed at the time; no one will question that. Provide proof of military service (DD214, deployment orders, stationing orders, etc.).

I suspect that the law firm and/or the debt collection agency will not be able to provide the court with valid proof of the debt.

It is intimidating, but you can do this on your own. You can type your motions in “lay speak”. That is a self represented person need not know all the “lingo” or the particular in Re’s (in rays). That law firm put a bunch of In Re: blah, blah, blahs, but at the end of the day, you are a serviceman, and this is not your debt; period. If you want to in Re: anything, place the George Bush deal in you motion (previous poster Bigun: President Bush signed the Service Members Relief Act).

It pisses me off when these debt collectors go after people, let alone our servicemen/servicewomen for non valid debts.

Do not doubt yourself, you can do this. This debt collector and law firm are counting on you not knowing your rights, and they are counting on you not being able to afford an attorney as this is a common tactic (to wear down the finances of another).

Good Luck to you, and Thank You for your service.

 

[EmmeRose]

It has been well over a year, almost two in fact but I have finally just received notification from a lawyer in Minneapolis who will be taking my case. He works with the Minnesota Volunteer Lawyers Network and everything will be free. He said it may take up to another year or two to get it done but he is going to help me fight this! Thank you everyone for helping me out with this. I will keep you updated with what is happening but it will be a long time before anything goes to court from what I understand. I'm just glad that the VLN is helping me.

 

[LdiJ]

It has been well over a year, almost two in fact but I have finally just received notification from a lawyer in Minneapolis who will be taking my case. He works with the Minnesota Volunteer Lawyers Network and everything will be free. He said it may take up to another year or two to get it done but he is going to help me fight this! Thank you everyone for helping me out with this. I will keep you updated with what is happening but it will be a long time before anything goes to court from what I understand. I'm just glad that the VLN is helping me.

Good luck on this...