Motion to Garnish Wages / Bank Account Levy

[Venge97RI]

Hi All , just wondering how this would work out. I have contacted a lawyer and do plan to file bankruptcy within 8 weeks or so, once i have enough saved to file ch 7 . i have been sued by a creditor , and apparently they got a judgement against me , and i received a letter for a Motion to Garnish wages. My Lawyer has contacted the creditor's lawyer letting them know that i will be filing , and asking to dismiss the motion based on that. Today is the last day to make any objection , and i have none that i can file.

My concern is that if/when they get the motion to Garnish, will they also be able to levy my bank account without any further action?, my concern being i can somewhat survive with the 25% of my check gone , but losing a whole weeks worth of pay, if they just went into my bank account. I'd most likely lose my job , because I wont be able to get here . My lawyer wasn't really able to give me much more of an idea of what i can do.. he feels that its pointless that they garnish now ,as they know i'll be filing soon , but that's not to say it may not happen.

Also how quickly can i expect all this to happen , the hearing date would be on Thursday 6-16 , i get paid on Friday 6-17 , I'm assuming that check should be safe.. but from there on out , I'm not sure. If it matters , i live in RI , and work in MA

[disconapper]

I think if your hearing date is 06-06-2011 then you'll be safe for awhile, maybe another 30 days....but if they are granted the motion, they are going to garnish you regardless at some point. Judgments are nasty. I finally jumped off the filing bankruptcy cliff to avoid one from a creditor.

I already had a state tax debt garnishment in place before I filed, they were taking 25% of my net pay. It took them 7 weeks to stop garnishing even after I filed, it was a nightmare. I'm still waiting on the funds owed me that were garnished after I filed the bankruptcy.

When you go to court (if based on your attorney's call the case has not been dismissed or put on hold) tell them you have an attorney on retainer and are in the process of filing bankruptcy...maybe that will help.

Best of luck to you.

[Venge97RI]

Thanks for the info.. i guess my real concern is that they can just Levy my Bank Account and i'd be unable to get to and from work everyday

[IamOld]

Thanks for the info.. i guess my real concern is that they can just Levy my Bank Account and i'd be unable to get to and from work everyday

I think what others would say it this: on payday, take all (or leave just a little bit) cash out of your account, and if you can, switch to paper check until you can file...just make sure you can document where you spent the cash - once you filed, (and as long as you owe nothing to the bank where you...bank) you can go back to using the account. Do NOT let them take your bank account - take the $$ out even if it's say for a week or two!!!!

[Venge97RI]

Thanks for the info IamOld. Thats what i plan on doing , i have the form to end the direct deposit, and will have that sent in for next week's payroll, this week, when i get paid i'll just pull most of the money out and pay cash for my expenses and bills. Hopefully this all works out , and they end up putting the case on hold , while i get the money saved up to file ch 7

any idea how quickly this can all happen ? Also currently i am a "contractor" with my job , i work for a staffing services company, i wonder if they will be able to figure out my actual employer ?

Thanks for the help everyone.. although this is a lil more time consuming and more work for me . id rather do this , than lose access to my funds

[IamOld]

Oh boy I do understand!!!! The thing is, if they don't know your employer, where I live, they can serve you with a debtor's interagotary (sorry spelling), where you have to list where you work, where you bank, etc. BUT that takes time - so if they don't know where you work, and you don't tell them, they'd have to get that piece of paper to you, so that buys you a bit more time. By then, I hope you and your atty will have filed!!! And, as one person posted once, then you can take a "cheerful walk" down to your courthouse with the bk filing notice.

Also, if you get your pay and W2 from the staffing co, legally, they're your employer.

so you think you'll have the $$ for the atty in about 2 months?

Again, BEST WISHES!!!!!

Thanks for the info IamOld. Thats what i plan on doing , i have the form to end the direct deposit, and will have that sent in for next week's payroll, this week, when i get paid i'll just pull most of the money out and pay cash for my expenses and bills. Hopefully this all works out , and they end up putting the case on hold , while i get the money saved up to file ch 7

any idea how quickly this can all happen ? Also currently i am a "contractor" with my job , i work for a staffing services company, i wonder if they will be able to figure out my actual employer ?

Thanks for the help everyone.. although this is a lil more time consuming and more work for me . id rather do this , than lose access to my funds

[Venge97RI]

Thanks for the well wishes IamOld , i should be good to go around aug 1, im actually having to pull money from an old pension plan i had with a previous employer , maybe not the best way to handle it , but no way i could come up with what they are looking for to do the filing before things got completely out of control.

Well we'll see how things progress , hopefully this will all be over by thanksgiving , and i'll have something to be thankful for lol

[IamOld]

BEST WISHES!!!! Look I know everyone says don't touch your pension plan but heck, this is probably the best money you will have spent!!!

GOOD LUCK!!!