Articles Tagged with Judgment

If you get served with court papers, you are being sued by someone (person or business entity).  For the sake of this discussion, let’s say you are being sued by a creditor over a debt you did not pay (or they say you did not pay). If you don’t show up for court, the debt collector wins, right or wrong – they win and get a judgment is set against you. With a judgment in place, the debt collector has the power to garnish your wages or seize your bank account, or any bank account with your name on it.

They can sue you and garnish your wages even if they have already repossessed their collateral (such as a car, furniture, guns, etc).  They can sue you and garnish your wages even if they have foreclosed on your home if they say that there is a delinquency (the sale of the home, car, furniture, guns, etc) did not cover the entire balance you owed the creditor.

Don’t avoid being served. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution mandates “due process” when someone is asserting a claim against a person’s “life, liberty or property.” State Constitutions have also adopted this right and passed what is called “service of process” laws that spell out how a legal document must be delivered to a defendant in a lawsuit.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that avoiding being served will avoid the consequences of being sued. It is just not true. Avoiding being served does not make the case disappear and avoiding being served could make things worse.

A garnishment is an order from a court that is sent to your employer requiring them to withhold certain amount of money from your paycheck. This money is then sent to the creditor. Mississippi law limits the amount of money that your creditors can take from your wages to 25%. Most creditors are limited to the 25%, but some creditors like the IRS, State Taxes and Child Support are allowed to get more.

What Is The Process For Getting A Garnishment?

1. A creditor must file a lawsuit against you and serve you with a summons telling you to come to court.

To review the various clips of attorney Frank Coxwell’s appearances on the Fox 40 AM Show, click here to go to our Media page.  Mr. Coxwell discusses multiple topics on the show – the garnishment process, how to stop foreclosures in Mississippi,  how to deal with student loans, the pitfalls of the new “business” credit card offers, and more.

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NO!!!  The lender cannot threaten or use criminal prosecution to collect.  However, the lender may file an action against you in civil court.  If you cannot repay the loan, you may request that the lender place you on a payment plan.  However, the lender is not legally required to grant your request.  If you wish to file a complaint regarding a payday loan vendor in Mississippi, please call either or both of the following offices:

Department of Banking & Consumer Finance – 1.800.844.2499

Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General – 1.800.281.4418

Most of my clients come to me after a garnishment has been sent to their job. A few come to see me as soon as they are served with the lawsuit.  I wish they would come to see me on the day they get sued, but that is not always practical.

If you get sued or served with papers trying to collect a debt there are several things you can do.

1) Ignore everything and hope it goes away.

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