Wife just received a letter to have her wages garnished. Help?

[streetrider399]

California,

My question is this, my wife is being sued and just received a letter from the court about wage garnishment. What am I able to do at this point? its a 4k medical bill from when my son was born that we just basically lost track of to be honest. I called to offer payments but they turned them down. i tried to reach an attorney before the 30 day response time was up but had zero luck. I forgot about the great internet and all of its knowledge so here i am. I am wondering what I can do to either keep the wages from being garnished or make them as little as possible.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Proserpina]

California,

My question is this, my wife is being sued and just received a letter from the court about wage garnishment. What am I able to do at this point? its a 4k medical bill from when my son was born that we just basically lost track of to be honest. I called to offer payments but they turned them down. i tried to reach an attorney before the 30 day response time was up but had zero luck. I forgot about the great internet and all of its knowledge so here i am. I am wondering what I can do to either keep the wages from being garnished or make them as little as possible.

Thanks in advance.

At this point? Not an awful lot. They are limited to how much they can take, however: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/california-wage-garnishment-law.html

To be perfectly honesty it might be in your best interests to just suck it up and then the bill is gone forever. Or, if you have a high (ish) debt burden, some people would consider bankruptcy.

 

[tranquility]

My question is this, my wife is being sued and just received a letter from the court about wage garnishment. What am I able to do at this point?

If there is a garnishment, I think you're using the wrong form of the verb. "Has been" might be better. (Alternatively, "has lost the lawsuit".) Since I suspect you have let this lie past the time for appeal, your options are quite limited. You can try to vacate the judgment if you did not get proper notice. You can declare bankruptcy. You can try for a claim of exemption. ( http://saclaw.org/wp-content/uploads/sbs-claim-of-exemption-wage-garnishment.pdf ) Or, you can negotiate with the creditor.

 

[quincy]

The California wage garnishment law has had some changes to it that go into effect July 1, 2016. The changes reduce the prohibited amount of a judgment debtor's weekly disposable earnings subject to levy under a garnishment order. The changes do not seem to be reflected in the NOLO link provided by Proserpina (although the information from NOLO is otherwise informative) so the updates are provided below.

Here is a link to the text of the bill approved by the Governor, followed by a link to the California Code of Civil Procedure's amended law, Section 706.050.

Text SB 501: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB501

CCP 706.050: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp&group=00001-01000&file=706.050-706.052

Generally a $4000 debt is not large enough to consider bankruptcy, if both you and your wife are working and if you might anticipate additional medical or other debt arising in the future that could strap your resources to a greater extent than this current debt might.

 

[streetrider399]

Currently we are in 16,000 between medical and CCs. We are only behind on the medical and 2 CCs. Bankruptcy might be the way to go if I can't catch up the other 2 credit cards. Im not sure how much she will loose but any loss will hurt. We have two children and budget is already tight hence being behind on 2 Credit Cards.

 

[Proserpina]

Currently we are in 16,000 between medical and CCs. We are only behind on the medical and 2 CCs. Bankruptcy might be the way to go if I can't catch up the other 2 credit cards. Im not sure how much she will loose but any loss will hurt. We have two children and budget is already tight hence being behind on 2 Credit Cards.

People have filed for less than that, to be sure.

Ultimately this is going to be one you need to research further. Even though it's possible, I cannot recommend people doing a bankruptcy pro se (without an attorney), so there's something of a catch 22 right there - your attorney must be paid before s/he even files your petition, and it can seem somewhat counterintuitive (if I can afford this attorney, maybe I should just use the money to pay down some of this debt). If you do want to explore bk further there is a very helpful forum (bkforum .. well, dot com) which does have a couple of attorneys posting regularly. Again though, you need to research all of your options because this would be a pretty drastic step.

 

[Proserpina]

The California wage garnishment law has had some changes to it that go into effect July 1, 2016. The changes reduce the prohibited amount of a judgment debtor's weekly disposable earnings subject to levy under a garnishment order. The changes do not seem to be reflected in the NOLO link provided by Proserpina (although the information from NOLO is otherwise informative) so the updates are provided below.

Here is a link to the text of the bill approved by the Governor, followed by a link to the California Code of Civil Procedure's amended law, Section 706.050.

Text SB 501: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB501

CCP 706.050: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp&group=00001-01000&file=706.050-706.052

Generally a $4000 debt is not large enough to consider bankruptcy, if both you and your wife are working and if you might anticipate additional medical or other debt arising in the future that could strap your resources to a greater extent than this current debt might.

NOLO fails me once again. Grumble grumble

Thanks, q.

 

[quincy]

NOLO fails me once again. Grumble grumble

Thanks, q.

The changes are really new ones, not even in effect until July. NOLO tends to update their online information regularly so it is more often than not a reliable resource.

streetrider, you might want to contact the other creditors NOW, before a lawsuit is filed, to see if you can work out lower monthly payments. You want to avoid another judgment if at all possible.

Otherwise, I agree with Proserpina that a bankruptcy is not something to be considered lightly or without consultation with an attorney. You could find some low-cost or possibly free pre-bankruptcy help through a legal aid clinic in your area.

FreeAdvice has a bankruptcy attorney member who checks in with some frequency and I will send off a message to see if this attorney can look at your thread. This attorney can perhaps provide some additional advice. Look for a post by "despritfreya."

 

[streetrider399]

The changes are really new ones, not even in effect until July. NOLO tends to update their online information regularly so it is more often than not a reliable resource.

streetrider, you might want to contact the other creditors NOW, before a lawsuit is filed, to see if you can work out lower monthly payments. You want to avoid another judgment if at all possible.

Otherwise, I agree with Proserpina that a bankruptcy is not something to be considered lightly or without consultation with an attorney. You could find some low-cost or possibly free pre-bankruptcy help through a legal aid clinic in your area.

FreeAdvice has a bankruptcy attorney member who checks in with some frequency and I will send off a message to see if this attorney can look at your thread. This attorney can perhaps provide some additional advice. Look for a post by "despritfreya."

To be clear as well, most of the debt is under my wifes name. I have one medical pending which I could probably pay off. Do these types of lawsuits stay on your credit?

 

[tranquility]

California is a community property state and debt incurred while married is going to be community unless it secures separate assets. Even if not community property, medical care is generally going to be collectible against both spouses.

 

[quincy]

To be clear as well, most of the debt is under my wifes name. I have one medical pending which I could probably pay off. Do these types of lawsuits stay on your credit?

Judgments (in most states) will remain on your credit reports for 7 years from date of entry, as do collection accounts.

Here is another link for you to look at on paying the judgment, which for your wife appears to be a little late as there is already a wage garnishment order. But you can read through the information from the California courts to see if it can be at all helpful to you:

http://www.courts.ca.gov/1327.htm

Again, I would wait to see if despritfreya can offer you any advice that has not already been offered by others so far.

Good luck.

 

[despritfreya]

Quite frankly, I see no need to add anything to this thread. Everyone has voiced good opinions/information. OP, as stated, you are in a community property state. The debt incurred during the marriage is, but for some minor exceptions, the responsibility of both spouses, regardless of who signed on the dotted line.

$16k, in the grand scheme of things is not a ton of $$. But, for OP it might as well be a million. If OP does not have the financial resources to deal with the debt, OP and his spouse will most likely end up in a bk. At least with a bk there is finality and life can move on.

Streetrider, on Monday start making phone calls to bk attnys. Consultations are usually free. At least you can consult with several attnys and get a full picture of what bk can offer you and your spouse. As to filing without an attny, it can be done. You might want to check your bk court to see if it has a "self help center" for pro se debtors. Here in AZ we have the best program in the entire Country (IMO) so maybe California has something similar.

Des.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

des forgot to mention the qualifications for a reorganization and for a total release

 

[quincy]

des forgot to mention the qualifications for a reorganization and for a total release

Seeking out help from an attorney locally would be smart for streetrider, so he can have a personal review of his family's current financial situation. From this personal review it can be better determined if bankruptcy is something he will want to consider.

I did not on a very quick review see "self help" centers connected with the bankruptcy courts in California specifically for pro se debtors - although I saw several self-help centers sprinkled throughout California that may be worth a look and a call.

Here is a link to self-help information from the California Courts on bankruptcies, though, that seems worth reading: http://www.courts.ca.gov/1067.htm

 

[streetrider399]

So let me ask this, so we say the wages will get garnished and that stays with our credit for 7 years unless paid off got it. Is it worth attempting to talk to the other party to arrange payments or will that not mater at this point for my credit?

Last, if they say no and i decide to focus on the next item that could go into an order should I focus on that? I am just throwing out the other possible ways my brain is thinking of. I really don't want a BT on my record but it seems that duration matches that of the order. My end goal of career which I am working on is police officer which credit becomes a factor.


Thank you everyone for the continued advice.