When are you judgment proof?

[Bandit]

Did anyone mention thye garnishing of wages? To be jusgment proof you also need to be under the amount allowed to stop them from garnishing income.

[BROKENN]

Did anyone mention thye garnishing of wages? To be jusgment proof you also need to be under the amount allowed to stop them from garnishing income.

If you don't BK it, right?

And what is under?

[Bandit]

If you don't BK it, right?

And what is under?

Right. That is one final and grand reason people will file, when their wages are garnished.

The amount you can make before garnishing will vary from place to place and the percent they can take will also vary.

There are a handful of states that protect people and wage garnishing for like CC debt is now allowed...I forgot what they all are. Pa. is one. I believe Texas still is too. I have an uncle who moved to Texas years ago to avoid both a BK and wage garnishing.

[PoorGrammyinBK7]

Did anyone mention thye garnishing of wages? To be jusgment proof you also need to be under the amount allowed to stop them from garnishing income.

Right! I forgot to list that one. Very important. And the laws on that vary from state-to-state too. Here, they cannot garnishl for "head of household", if your wages (deposited in a bank) are not more than $500 weekly (net). If you are above that, they can take up to 25%, but even then, only if you give permission by signature. You would have to check your states statutes to see what the law is there.

[stressin]

I agree with those who have said that judgment proof/collection proof is not a goal to shoot for. I could conceivable have gone this route. My business failed, I am in my late 30's, married to a spouse with good credit, etc. and so if I am out of work, our home, cars, etc. are in his name, etc. and I didn't plan on returning to work, I would basically be judgment proof and bankruptcy wouldn't technically be necessary.
However, I would like to return to work eventually (not currently as our special needs son has recently been having more problems than normal in school, etc.). They could garnish 25 percent of full time, based on minimum wage, etc. SO...if I wanted to stay under the radar, I could work less than full time for minimum wage, etc. There are ways to always be collection proof--but none of that really adds up to getting your feet under you and making a fresh start.
For some people, being judgment proof is fine--retirees, those on social security, those with no real estate, etc. BUT--even if they choose not to file bankruptcy because they are essentially judgment proof, they will have to put up with aggressive bill collection calls, etc. That can be reason enough to file--in my book. And, as others have mentioned, those judgments last a very long time--so if you ever came into money, property, etc. the judgments would then, most likely, be enforced and you'd lose that.
I could take "shelter" in being, currently judgment proof--but I want the fresh start that the bankruptcy law provides for.

[BROKENN]

This is good data! I was confused between judgments and judgment proof. Hopefully others that got confused as I, will understand the definitions too!

[PoorGrammyinBK7]

I agree with those who have said that judgment proof/collection proof is not a goal to shoot for. I could conceivable have gone this route. My business failed, I am in my late 30's, married to a spouse with good credit, etc. and so if I am out of work, our home, cars, etc. are in his name, etc. and I didn't plan on returning to work, I would basically be judgment proof and bankruptcy wouldn't technically be necessary.
However, I would like to return to work eventually (not currently as our special needs son has recently been having more problems than normal in school, etc.). They could garnish 25 percent of full time, based on minimum wage, etc. SO...if I wanted to stay under the radar, I could work less than full time for minimum wage, etc. There are ways to always be collection proof--but none of that really adds up to getting your feet under you and making a fresh start.
For some people, being judgment proof is fine--retirees, those on social security, those with no real estate, etc. BUT--even if they choose not to file bankruptcy because they are essentially judgment proof, they will have to put up with aggressive bill collection calls, etc. That can be reason enough to file--in my book. And, as others have mentioned, those judgments last a very long time--so if you ever came into money, property, etc. the judgments would then, most likely, be enforced and you'd lose that.
I could take "shelter" in being, currently judgment proof--but I want the fresh start that the bankruptcy law provides for.

We were in a similar situation - pretty much "judgment proof" technically, but when we really thought about it, we were trapped - we desperately needed to improve our financial situation for our future. And we had no future with that huge insurmountable judgment hanging over us, not to mention the judgment crediotr's constant harassment. To have any chance at a life, we needed to file BK and get a "fresh start".