CA Courts Explain How to Collect Judgment

[ApresMoi]

I did not know that someone with a judgment against you can go after your spouse or even your domestic partner. Good grief. I'll also post this in the 'collections' section. Maybe I better cash those unemployment checks.

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/smallclaims/collectmoreways.htm#safebox

[chad9162]

I did not know that someone with a judgment against you can go after your spouse or even your domestic partner. Good grief. I'll also post this in the 'collections' section. Maybe I better cash those unemployment checks.

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp...ys.htm#safebox

Yes California allows garnishment and Bank Levies to collect on a judgement. BUT if you file BK then the judgement goes away. There are certain debts that BK can not discharge. Also, if you are in financial hardship, you can file a Claim of Exemption. This does not get rid of the judgement but just delays it. Also certain income like Social Security, Unemployment is exempt from collections.

[ApresMoi]

Yes California allows garnishment and Bank Levies to collect on a judgement. BUT if you file BK then the judgement goes away. There are certain debts that BK can not discharge. Also, if you are in financial hardship, you can file a Claim of Exemption. This does not get rid of the judgement but just delays it. Also certain income like Social Security, Unemployment is exempt from collections.

Yes, realize it's exempt and also that I can claim exemption, but I hope to file before it gets to that stage. Once you get dragged into a legal proceeding, from what I have read, it can be a bear to get out of it, even if the law is on your side. No thanks.

The part that surprised me was that they can go after a domestic partner's assets, when they were not even a part of your conflict to begin with. Yikes.

[chad9162]

Yes, that's because California is a community property state! Now if the debt is something you had before marriage you might be able to argue that.

As far as getting sued, by the time they file in court it will take almost a year to get a hearing date. Trust me I know. California has a huge backlog and the budget issues aren't make things better. When you go to court you can come up with legal arguments to stall the judgement. At the same time if you tell the courts you are BKing they usually just drop it. I wouldn't worry about being sued. California is way behind!

[ApresMoi]

Yes, that's because California is a community property state! Now if the debt is something you had before marriage you might be able to argue that.

As far as getting sued, by the time they file in court it will take almost a year to get a hearing date. Trust me I know. California has a huge backlog and the budget issues aren't make things better. When you go to court you can come up with legal arguments to stall the judgement. At the same time if you tell the courts you are BKing they usually just drop it. I wouldn't worry about being sued. California is way behind!

That's GREAT news (court delays). I tried to get info from a state agency today and got an announcement that the office was on furlough and they're off Monday on a Holiday as well, so I can't even talk to anyone until Tuesday. Yes, I'm sure the Governator's cutbacks have put a thorn in the debt collectors' timelines. Yay!