Judgement granted- Now they want to interview me

[Lexy1969]

I am in a serious financial crisis with every creditor and the IRS and cant come up with the money to pay for a BK filing at this moment. Maybe next month I can.
My problem is that 2 creditors already received judgements against me and have scheduled 2 different times for me to call in and discuss my employment, assets and other financial questions.
The letter states if I dont they will subpoena me to appear. Is this normal? Any advice on what to do? What to tell them?
Garnishing my wages or freezing a bank account would be devistating to me right now. Thanks for any help!
Im in the state of Arizona.

[freshstart06]

Hello, I am in Arizona as well, if you can 't afford a lawyer I know a paralegal you can use. She has 13 years experience and is going to law school. PM me and I will give you her contact info. she charges $200 and she is good. This will save you a bunch of money and stop those judgements in their track.

[treehugger1]

Here is what I found on Arizona:

"The maximum amount of a debtor's disposable earnings for any workweek which is subject to process may not exceed twenty-five per cent (25%) of disposable earnings for that week, or the amount by which disposable earnings for that week exceed thirty times the minimum hourly wage prescribed by federal law in effect at the time the earnings are payable, whichever is less."

If they have judgments, there is nothing to stop them from requesting a writ of garnishment against your wages or bank accounts. You might want to close your bank accounts and all direct deposits if possible. The wage garnishment is probably unavoidable, but try to protect any other cash asets you have.

You dilemma: It appears that the creditors are fishing. I would assume that if you don't reply, they will get a court order for you to appear in person or fill out some paperwork under oath of honesty. Either way, just as is the case in a bankruptcy proceeding, you dare not be untruthful. If you have successfully removed your liquid assets from you acounts, you might not have anything to lose (except wage garnishment), by laying your financial picture out to them. You don't need to give any details (adresses, phone numbers, etc). They migth be simply fishing to see if it is worth the extra effort to take this to the courhouse.

In my case, with the exception of wage garnishment, I have zero assets to protect, so I would certainly tell them my situation (to some degree.) They would learn that even if they get a garnishment, they will be standing in a line waiting for their turn.

Your best defense at this point is probably to file the chapter 7 and get all of this shutdown. You can assume that if you do not file and they even have a sense you are employed or own assets, they will circle and attack when you least expect it. Some folks can live on 75% of takehome pay, others cannnot. If you can't afford 25% garnishment, you should be prepared to file. You might at least discuss this with a legal person in a free consultation and get a better sense of where you sit.

[lrprn]

Hello, I am in Arizona as well, if you can 't afford a lawyer I know a paralegal you can use. She has 13 years experience and is going to law school. PM me and I will give you her contact info. she charges $200 and she is good. This will save you a bunch of money and stop those judgements in their track.

FS, you are giving Lexy the idea that a paralegal can do the same thing for her that a bankruptcy lawyer can do - this is just not true. By law paralegals cannot give legal advice and cannot file motions with the court. Law school student or not, a paralegal is not a lawyer.

Lexy, you need to understand that in bankruptcy a paralegal is allowed by law to only help you fill out bk forms, nothing more. If the paralegal offers you legal advice about anything, that paralegal is breaking the law in Arizona and every other state.

Do your homework. Learn about bankruptcy yourself. Speak to several real bankruptcy lawyers in your area - most give free initial consultation visits with no obligation. If your case is very simple, you understand how bankruptcy works very well, and you have no assets at risk, then it's ok to consider filing on your own (pro se) or just with a paralegal.

However, in our experience, once creditors have judgments against you, it's a bad idea to try to handle creditors on your own in court. A paralegal can't help you, but a bankruptcy lawyer can.

[freshstart06]

No, I am not giving her that idea just an alternative. Not everyone can afford a lawyer, and yes by law they can't give legal advice but they can give their "experience" similiar to what we do on this board. To be truthful, if you have not assets it is okay to file pro se. Later, from reading on this board lawyers have been doing a very bad job and putting people in worse situations, for us that can't afford that sometimes a paralegal is our best route.

[HHM]

I am in a serious financial crisis with every creditor and the IRS and cant come up with the money to pay for a BK filing at this moment. Maybe next month I can.
My problem is that 2 creditors already received judgements against me and have scheduled 2 different times for me to call in and discuss my employment, assets and other financial questions.
The letter states if I don't they will subpoena me to appear. Is this normal? Any advice on what to do? What to tell them?
Garnishing my wages or freezing a bank account would be devastating to me right now. Thanks for any help!
I'm in the state of Arizona.

It's not "normal", but it is legal and they have a right to question you after they get a judgment against you. Its called a "judgment creditors exam". Basically, its a deposition. They offer to do it by phone as a convenience. If you don't show, you can be held in contempt of court; if you lie, you can be held in contempt of court...at which point, they can have a bond warrant issued against you.

IMO, you better figure out a way to get yourself a good lawyer, if you have creditors going to the trouble of actually scheduling a judgment creditors exam, and have IRS issues, time to get on the ball and deal with this head-on.

[JRScott]

Is there anyway you might can cut corners and afford a lawyer?

Any friends or family that might gift you the money to pay a lawyer?

It sounds like you are in a tough spot and with the judgments and such you really need a good bk attorney on your side.

I hope it works out for you. If your situation is as bad as you say then most likely they will take the depositions and then not immediately do anything. I would suggest taking any money out of your checking/savings accounts leaving only a minimum in there to maintain the account.

[CityGirl]

When is the last time you paid your creditors? When does a judgement actually happen?

[Lexy1969]

citygirl. Its been over a year since I last paid the creditors. Took a while of collection attempts for them to come local and file in my county. The other creditors have not done this except for this one. They got agressive because I only was able to make 3 payments after getting the loan.

[Lexy1969]

As far as the deposition. I can do it by phone but they are asking for me to bring a laundry list of items including paystubs, tax returns, etc.... Are they kidding me? Should I not call in and have them subpoena me to get more time to get an attorney involved?

Im going to see if the attorney will work out some sort of pay plan to help out. Thanks for everyones help!!

[HenriettaHen]

a laundry list of items including paystubs, tax returns, etc.

Lexy, it sounds to me like you are headed for bankruptcy no matter what - so you're going to have to get all that paperwork together anyway.

As you've said, the situation has reached a crisis point - so it's time for you to ACT.

Try a legal aid service or perhaps the Bankruptcy Court in your state has a Help Desk. Call the court clerk and ask.

Meanwhile, steel yourself and dive into your papers. What you need to do is to gather everything that pertains to or proves your income, your expenses, your taxes, your real estate, your vehicles, any other "assets" that aren't regular everyday stuff.

edit: and your bills, all of them. And collections notices and all other proceedings pertaining to your debt. Might not be a bad idea to pull one or more of your credit reports to use as a guide to help you find creditors' addresses. You'll need a whole list of those.

Once you have this complete picture of your financial affairs, you will have done a good deal of the legwork for bankruptcy, and when you DO find a lawyer, things can go much more quickly.

Go back five years for taxes and three years for everything else, just in case.

This is really awful to do, we know! But it's the first step.

Face the Fire.

[treehugger1]

Here is another angle. Be careful that this is not some "threat" the CA or creditor is using to get more financial information out of you than what they would get under a judge or court administrator in a debtor examination. Taxes? Your bills? Try to find out what kinds of "digging" your local court allows. Don't let the word "subpoena" scare you. It will be a summons (delivered to your house or via the mail.) Make sure it is from the court.


Still, your best bet is too file for BK, if you are not comfortable fighting this any other way.

[Lexy1969]

Thanks for the help. I will talk to a lawyer on Tuesday. One more question. I have a bank account in North Carolina at a credit union. Just a savings account. Should I move my direct deposit to that? As for garnishment. Its 25% in Arizona. Is that total that all garnishments can be? What if someone else comes in to garnish my wages and someone is already getting 25%?

[HHM]

Garnishments are first come first serve. The most that can be garnished is 25% (except in cases of child our spousal support, which can be higher). The first creditor to garnish gets the full 25% (in most states).

At the very least, go see an attorney to make sure the Subpoena for documents is legitimate. I suspect that it is, therefore, they are allowed to pretty much ask about and request any documents they wish (i.e. paystubs, tax returns, bank statements, etc).

[Lexy1969]

Havent received an actual subpoena just a letter stating we they have scheduled a meeting with me and if I dont show then a subpoena will be issued. Its from a local law firm actually. I think they mean business. Im going to try to buy some time and get with an attorney this week. Thanks for everyones help.