wage garnishment

[fncbj]

can you have your wages garnished if you are self employed?

[lrprn]

can you have your wages garnished if you are self employed?

If you are in Texas, no. Texas doesn't allow any garnishment except in cases of child support, alimony, etc. However, if you are self-employed in other states, it is possible for a creditor to file a "writ of garnishment" to hold money that is owed to the debtor by his/her customers. For example, if there is cash in a register that is payment for services done by debtor as part of his self-employment, the writ allows the creditor to take it up to the amount of the debt in question.

[SinkingFast]

I believe PA doesn't allow for wage garnishements either, but,.......... Your Creditor can get an Court Order to have the Sheriff come and inventory your household goods and belongings for auction to satisfy the debt.

[fncbj]

i forgot to mention i live in n.y anyone have experience?

[GoingDown]

I believe PA doesn't allow for wage garnishements either, but,.......... Your Creditor can get an Court Order to have the Sheriff come and inventory your household goods and belongings for auction to satisfy the debt.

I have heard rumors of this kind of stuff happening, but I have never met anyone who actually even knew anyone where this really happened. I've searched the internet to try to find real life examples where this has happened and have come up empty every single time. If anyone can find examples of this, please post the link so I can read it.

I'm thinking it's just a rumor started by debt collectors to try to scare debtors into paying, and it has been spread around the whole country.

As far as I know is that after the debt collector gets a judgment they can get court orders to seize or attach assets, but that they are typically responsible for telling the sheriff via the court order just exactly what to seize and where it is located. In other words, the debt collector must already know that you own a big screen plasma t.v., just for example, and he must write that down on the writ of execution and tell the sheriff the exact street address of where it is located, and then the sheriff will go out to seize that particular item. But the writ costs the debt collector money, and so does the sheriff and then the people who move and store the item must be paid, and the auctioneer must also be paid. And of course, a $7,000 t.v. will probably only sell for a few hundred dollars, if even that, at auction. So by the time that it's all said and done, the debt collector won't end up with much money, if any at all from seizing household items which have very little resale value.

But just think of how much time of the sheriff or his constable it would tie up if they had to come out and search through your underwear drawer looking for assets. They would be there for hours. And what if you live with a roommate? How are they going to determine on the spot who owns what? Think of how long this would take to untangle such a messed up situation. Who's going to pay for their time to do such tedious searches? And how much money is used underwear going to bring them at auction? I'm being silly, I know, but I'm trying to make a point here.

Debt collectors will say all sorts of things that they might do, but in reality, how often do they actually do these things? Sometimes they make false threats, like saying that the police are on their way to arrest you if you don't pay up right away. I think this threat of seizing household goods is another false threat that they use to harass and scare debtors.

Now, on the other hand, if the debt collectors know that you have a major asset that is worth a lot of money, like a late model car that's paid off, then they might get a court order to seize it. But this idea of having a sheriff forcibly enter your home to take a detailed inventory of everything you have inside would seem to be impractical and overstepping the bounds of the Constitution a wee little bit.


EDIT: I did find this info from the VA Sheriff's website...

"I have received my judgment in court for the money owed me, why haven't I received my money?
Obtaining judgment and enforcing judgments are two different actions. While the plaintiff may have won his case in court, it is up to the plaintiff to pursue collection remedies. The method of collection will vary according to each case and the assets and information available. One method of collecting your money is through the Writ of Fieri Facias process. We refer to this as the levy process. The Writ of FiFa authorizes the Sheriff to levy (inventory) property owned by the judgment debtor which is later sold at public auction to recover the debt. This is a time consuming and sometimes costly process.

[SinkingFast]

I knew I remembered someone on here that PA was discussed with and then it happened.

CatWhisperer:

http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/showthread.php?t=8557

The Sheriff has done the inventory. Whether or not there has been an actual sale,............