Credit Card Debt - Motion for Summary Judgement

[website2560]

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

Hello, I received a packet regarding notice of motion for summary judgement.
This is for unpaid credit card debt at approximately $3,000.

They've provided my credit card statements and a copy of my answer,
along with account affidavit from credit card company.

What can happen when I go to court?
Will they garnish wages or freeze bank account?

I have no assets, no money saved and I'm doing
Deed in Lieu on my home.

Please give advice as to how I can protect myself and/or
have these people stop bothering me.

 

[ecmst12]

They're not going to stop bothering you until you pay them. Once a judgement is ordered against you, they can garnish wages and levy bank accounts.

 

[website2560]

There's no way I can pay $3,000. I have $5 in my savings and live paycheck to paycheck.
I'm in financial hardship.

Should I try to make payment arrangement with them
or just wait until court date?

 

[mmmagique]

You will be hard pressed to find a creditor or law office that will drop a case once it's been filed. They've already spent the money, and they're more than likely to win in court.

Have you checked to make sure it's still in SOL? Are there any other defenses you might have?

If your income is very low, you may not even be garnished in New York. According to NOLO:

"Limits on Income Execution in New York State

There are limits to how much money can be garnished from your paycheck. The idea is that you should have enough left to pay for living expenses.

Federal law places limits on income execution amounts. While states are free to impose stricter limits, New York State only slightly expands the federal limits.

Here are the rules:

In New York State, a creditor can garnish the lesser of 10% of your gross wages or 25% of your disposable income to the extent that this amount exceeds 30% of minimum wage. If your disposable income is less than 30 times minimum wage, it cannot be garnished at all.

"Disposable earnings" are those wages left after your employer has made deductions required by law. Examples of legally required deductions are federal, state and local taxes, social security and the employee portion of state unemployment compensation insurance. Deductions that are not required by law do not count to reduce your disposable income."

 

[You Are Guilty]

Side note to the above - although there are limits on what can be garnished, oftentimes that will require you to fight the judgment creditor for a return of the funds after they have been taken.

In the meantime, the only way to stop the summary judgment motion is to file an Affidavit in Opposition (it needs to be signed and notarized), that shows the existence of an "issue of fact". That is, you need to (truthfully) tell the court why the argument in the motion papers against you are wrong. Maybe you never had that credit card, or maybe the account numbers are wrong, or maybe the charges themselves are incorrect, or maybe you were only an authorized user, or maybe its not even your debt at all - whatever it is, you write it up, serve a copy on the plaintiff's lawyers and file the original with the clerk in the courthouse listed in the caption.

If you do not oppose the motion, or, if you oppose it without creating an "issue of fact", you are going to lose and have a judgment issued against you.

Read all of this, but pay close attention to pages 8-9:
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/publications/GuideforProSes.pdf