Debt collector advice questions

[lewber]

I'm helping out a friend and looking for some advice. If a debt is already to the point of a wage garnishment and you have a job, is there anyway to get the debt collector law office to accept a deal for a lesser amount to be paid in full immediately? 

[Mergath]

Nope. I mean, anything's possible, but typically, once a wage garnishment has begun, the debt collector won't deal with you anymore because they have guaranteed payments for the full amount. We dealt with this years ago right after dh got a job after his stretch of unemployment, and it sucked.

 

I would advise your friend to keep her remaining money out of the bank, also. I wasn't even aware of this until we went through it back then, but creditors can also get an order to drain your checking or savings accounts. They can literally take every last penny and leave you with nothing.

[lewber]

Thanks. That's what I was afraid of. This has been going on a long time. It seems he's paid an excessive amount already. For years. I just hate it for him. It was a credit card an ex girlfriend ran up. He obviously missed the opportunity to deal with it a long time ago and now he continues to be faced with this.

[BarbecueMom]

I would advise your friend to keep her remaining money out of the bank, also. I wasn't even aware of this until we went through it back then, but creditors can also get an order to drain your checking or savings accounts. They can literally take every last penny and leave you with nothing.

Also certain retirement accounts. Rollover IRAs I know can be unprotected from creditors (probably pending on the state laws).

 

And joint accounts with adult children (like, if you are still on the account from when they were a minor). They aren't supposed to take it, but they will and just wait for you to sue them back for it. Which is probably not going to happen if they just took all your money.

 

This just happened to someone in my family. It's not pretty.