Paid creditor, but they're still garnishing?

[lauren1282]

This is my situation. I had a judgement against me in April of 2003. I owed roughly $1800, so hence the garnishment. The $1800 has since been PAID OFF (as stated on my credit report), but the same creditor filed a judgement saying I owe roughly $1000. Is this even possible? I have all of my check stubs showing the garnishments for April 2003 to June 2006 which equal more than the original $1800. I'm extremely confused as to how they want more money when its been paid. I pulled my credit report and under status it says, "Paid, closed/Account charged off, $1731 written off." That means it's paid, right? ANY help in what I can/should do would be greatly appreciated.

[SinkingFast]

According to your Credit Report, it looks like the Creditor didn't get a penny. Your debt to them is being reported as a loss which was charged off.

Correct reporting, since you have paid them thru wage garnishment should show the acct as paid in full. The Creditor could post PP to show the money was paid thru a payment plan. You may have lates reported as well, but the Creditor should not be showing the acct Charged Off. That's incorrect.

The $1800,....... Was the amount of the original debt??!! Could be, the additional $1K is for their legal fees and costs to recoup the debt.

Has that Creditor gotten a new Wage Garnishment Order against you for the additional $1K?? Doesn't seem right that the Creditor could simply say, "Oh yeah. We need an additional $1K." and your employer just dole out the money to them. I'd think they'd need a new Wage Garnishment Order for that.

[HHM]

That means it's paid, right?

You can't rely on your credit report to get the outstanding balance of an account. Do you have a copy of the original judgment, more importantly, do you have a copy of the writ of garnishment...if not, get a hold of it and see what is on there. Typically, a judgment will include interest and attorney's fees on top of the original balance owed, plus the sheriff (or whoever executes writ of garnishments) will add their fees to the writ of garnishment.

In short, you need to go to the source, you need a copy of the judgement and the writ of garnishment. The writ of garnishment is typically more helpful because it will include the specific instructions regarding how much is to be taken out and for how long. You could probably get a copy of the Writ from your HR department.

[lauren1282]

Thanks for the quick responses...

SinkingFast: I did recently receive a new wage of garnishment against me for $992.39. The original judgement was actually $2024 when it was filed in April of 2003. The garnishments did not actually go into effect until November 2004and stopped in July of 2006. Since July 2006, no garnishment of my earnings were done which signaled to me, it was paid off. To date, I've paid $1761 in garnishments, which in fact does leave a balance of $293 from the original jugdement to what was paid. How is it possible to for me to receive a Wage Deduction Notice for more money when garnishment has been happening all along?

HHM: I do not have the original writ of garnishment from April 2003. I have since changed employers. Would my old employed still have a copy of the writ of garnishment?

All in all, I really do not want to have to pay something that I don't have to. The $2000 was bad enough, but to tack on another $1000 doesn't seem fair.

Thanks again.

[BK&Filer]

My experience with garnishments

First, the creditor gets a judgement for x amount. The judgement also specifies interest. The creditor then gets a garnishment againt you for up to the judgement amount + interest accrued up to the date the garnishment is filed. The garnishment lasts for a pre-determined amount of time (or until the debt is paid in full). If the debt is not paid in full by the time the garnishment expires, there will be a "pause" in garnishments on your paycheck after the initial garnishment ends. Durring this "pause" the creditor recalculates judgement interest and files another garnishment for up to the newly calculated amount.