Exempted $ and Garnishments?

[tobee43]

The judgement still stand it is just listed as satisfied, I still have to go down to the court house file the motion to vacate due to dischage in BK. I just haven't gotten around to it yet, but it's on the to do list.

it will stay on your record until the motion is filed and the actual order is issued from the court. it's usually not listed as "satified" as it was not. it must go through the motion first, then heard and then so ordered and then a written order is issued and signed by the judge.

if you don't get it removed it will come back to haunt you unfortunately, and for a long time. it's best to file the order right after rec'ing the discharge and close orders

[tobee43]

Thanks again

Unfortunately I can not contact the payroll department directly. I'll just have to wait for the attorney to call back.

no, you're correct, you can't. they have a court order and will not do anything until they get notification directly from the courts. unfortunately, everything takes time all the paper they need to push!

[Freddy03]

no, you're correct, you can't. they have a court order and will not do anything until they get notification directly from the courts. unfortunately, everything takes time all the paper they need to push!

My attorney called me back and he said he will call the judgment attorney to see if they collected any money. If they did not get any money he will contact the payroll dept for DH.

[tobee43]

My attorney called me back and he said he will call the judgment attorney to see if they collected any money. If they did not get any money he will contact the payroll dept for DH.

great news!!!! unfortunately, that's exactly the way it had to be done.

and i'll be reminding you after you get that well deserved discharge and close orders to file that order to vacate that darn judgment!!!!

[disconapper]

My check was garnished for 8 solid weeks after I filed (I am paid weekly)...it was a State tax debt....man, getting them to stop the garnishment and eventually getting my money back was like pulling teeth from an alligator...my attorney was no help really, I did all the leg work on my own...had to bring in the state's attorney to make it all stop...

Good luck to you, I'm glad your attorney is helping you.

[tobee43]

My check was garnished for 8 solid weeks after I filed (I am paid weekly)...it was a State tax debt....man, getting them to stop the garnishment and eventually getting my money back was like pulling teeth from an alligator...my attorney was no help really, I did all the leg work on my own...had to bring in the state's attorney to make it all stop...

Good luck to you, I'm glad your attorney is helping you.

i hate them all!!! you know they make it SO easy for them to take the garnish and one's money, but when it comes time for THEM to give it up, you have to fight and fight...you even had to go to the states' atty!!! what a shame! those nasties...

[DesdemonaB]

no, you're correct, you can't. they have a court order and will not do anything until they get notification directly from the courts. unfortunately, everything takes time all the paper they need to push!

tobee - that might not be completely true. The release of of garnishment states 1. the garnishment issued on (insert date) is withdrawn by the plaintiff. 4. Any amount withheld by the garnishee (Freddy's employer) on or after (insert date) shall be returned to the defendant and any further witholdings shall be discontinued.

The garnishment release is the order from the court and there is nothing stopping Freddy from contacting his payroll department directly. Why he can't I can't answer, but Freddy be careful your lawyer may request a fee for a % of the funds collected.

As for stopping the garnishment your employer's hands are tied till they receive the release, the plaintiff has file with the court, the court has sign and file then mail. Pay period cross during that time frame, I was incorrect earlier my employee must hold the funds 28 days (not 21) because the garnishee (employer) has 7 days to answer the writ, and 14 days to inform defendant (me) I have 14 days to object if I take no actions 28 days later the funds are mailed to the plaintiff (creditor). There is a good chance that the funds are still being held by Freddy's employer, and depending on their payroll process he may see the refund(s) in the next pay period(s).

[oregonpilot]

and i'll be reminding you after you get that well deserved discharge and close orders to file that order to vacate that darn judgment!!!!

I bet you already have that reminder on your calendar tobee....
ahhh Freddy. you are in such good hands.

[tobee43]

I bet you already have that reminder on your calendar tobee....
ahhh Freddy. you are in such good hands.

oh i most certainly do after all, freddy and i go way back! she actually lead me to pizza in fl...now that's a task! LOL!!!!

[tobee43]

tobee - that might not be completely true. The release of of garnishment states 1. the garnishment issued on (insert date) is withdrawn by the plaintiff. 4. Any amount withheld by the garnishee (Freddy's employer) on or after (insert date) shall be returned to the defendant and any further witholdings shall be discontinued.

The garnishment release is the order from the court and there is nothing stopping Freddy from contacting his payroll department directly. Why he can't I can't answer, but Freddy be careful your lawyer may request a fee for a % of the funds collected.

As for stopping the garnishment your employer's hands are tied till they receive the release, the plaintiff has file with the court, the court has sign and file then mail. Pay period cross during that time frame, I was incorrect earlier my employee must hold the funds 28 days (not 21) because the garnishee (employer) has 7 days to answer the writ, and 14 days to inform defendant (me) I have 14 days to object if I take no actions 28 days later the funds are mailed to the plaintiff (creditor). There is a good chance that the funds are still being held by Freddy's employer, and depending on their payroll process he may see the refund(s) in the next pay period(s).

garnishments vary from state to state. i assure you.

The garnishment release is the order from the court

my point exactly

once the garnishment stops you still need to deal with the actual order of the judgment. additionally, one cannot arbitrarily call one's payroll dept. when they have been issued an order to take out the funds, until they receive something from ( and maybe in one state it could be directly from the court, or another from atty to atty (doubtful)). however, in most normal circumstances, as you have pointed out, it comes from the court itself, thus, just simply a call from YOU or the person being garnish is, under most circumstances, not enough to stop the process. normally, paper work is involved.

in MI you may have different ways...in North Carolina creditors can't even garnish your wages along with a few other states like PA...so it all varies from state to state. here in Florida they can take up to 25%. as well, in florida judgments and wage garnishments function as powerful tools used by creditors to seize your money. when you file your bankruptcy case, your creditors are powerless to take any action and they lose their right to seize your wages. when one files a bankruptcy at any point in the pre-judgment or judgment process to put an end to creditor action. but it does not clear or satifisy the judgment.

addionally, and once again, this is pertaining to florida...wages of the head of a family are exempt from garnishment unless the person's net wages are more than $500 per week and the person has agreed in writing to allow wages to be taken to pay the debt. a head of family includes all persons who reside in florida and who provide more than one-half of the support for a child or other dependent. wages in a bank account that belong to a head of family retain their protection from being seized for six months even if the wages are mixed with money from other sources. if a head of family had not agreed in writing to allow the garnishment or attachment of wages, all the wages are exempt. You must file an affidavit with the court to declare your head of family status and protect your wages from being taken.

persons who do not qualify as head of family will still have the protection of federal law which limits the amount of wages that can be garnished. if you take home less than 30 times the minimum wage per week, all of your wages are exempt. otherwise, a judgment creditor can obtain 25 percent of your net wages under a continuing writ of garnishment until the judgment is paid in full.

and that's just referring to florida ...then end

[IamOld]

You know guys it's absolutely amazing to me that some payroll/HR depts argue that once they receive the BK (FEDERAL courts notice) that they still insist on a notice from the local court. Fed courts overrule state courts - I would never have ever dreamt of disobeying a FEDERAL court order versus a state court order. I know there are HR/payroll people who, as a matter of course, once the BK stay is received by them (if the employee chooses to do that) automatically stop garnishments.

[tobee43]

You know guys it's absolutely amazing to me that some payroll/HR depts argue that once they receive the BK (FEDERAL courts notice) that they still insist on a notice from the local court. Fed courts overrule state courts - I would never have ever dreamt of disobeying a FEDERAL court order versus a state court order. I know there are HR/payroll people who, as a matter of course, once the BK stay is received by them (if the employee chooses to do that) automatically stop garnishments.

interesting point iamold.

however, many times in many situation state or local law trumps federal. a simple example is building codes. if state codes are more stringent the fed codes are trumped by the local or state whichever is "stricter" ...nice??

if the payroll dept. is notified by federal court of your bk, it just means the stay is put in place and they should immediately halt or stop taking the funds. (this has been my understanding from just a few i have seen, i wouldn't taken it as the Gospel! )

my ONLY point here, is that a phone call in it's self, will not stop the garnish from continuing. that's really all my saying in a nutshell

[Freddy03]

tobee - that might not be completely true. The release of of garnishment states 1. the garnishment issued on (insert date) is withdrawn by the plaintiff. 4. Any amount withheld by the garnishee (Freddy's employer) on or after (insert date) shall be returned to the defendant and any further witholdings shall be discontinued.

The garnishment release is the order from the court and there is nothing stopping Freddy from contacting his payroll department directly. Why he can't I can't answer, but Freddy be careful your lawyer may request a fee for a % of the funds collected.

As for stopping the garnishment your employer's hands are tied till they receive the release, the plaintiff has file with the court, the court has sign and file then mail. Pay period cross during that time frame, I was incorrect earlier my employee must hold the funds 28 days (not 21) because the garnishee (employer) has 7 days to answer the writ, and 14 days to inform defendant (me) I have 14 days to object if I take no actions 28 days later the funds are mailed to the plaintiff (creditor). There is a good chance that the funds are still being held by Freddy's employer, and depending on their payroll process he may see the refund(s) in the next pay period(s).

The garnishment has stopped already (last paycheck it wasn't taken out). My concern is getting the money taken prior to filing (we did exempt it) and the 2 paychecks it was taken out after we filed. My attorney never mentioned any fee. He stated before we filed he would get the money back. He's an up front kind of guy so I'm not worried about him sticking me with a fee afterwards.


And Tobee - I will def vacate the judgment(s) after discharge. I already have my paperwork filed out

[IamOld]

Right Tobee!!! If fed law permits and/or if state law gives you more rights, certainly. But to me, this is a fed court order, and that's it... :-)

interesting point iamold.

however, many times in many situation state or local law trumps federal. a simple example is building codes. if state codes are more stringent the fed codes are trumped by the local or state whichever is "stricter" ...nice??

if the payroll dept. is notified by federal court of your bk, it just means the stay is put in place and they should immediately halt or stop taking the funds. (this has been my understanding from just a few i have seen, i wouldn't taken it as the Gospel! )

my ONLY point here, is that a phone call in it's self, will not stop the garnish from continuing. that's really all my saying in a nutshell

[SunshineGal]

thanks for the clarification. however, then what happens to the actual judgment if it's not eventually vacated???

Just wanted to chime in here since we had this same issue. First, *if* the judgment impairs exempt property (ie: you have a house and you claimed the homestead exepmtion) you can file a motion to strip the lien through the BK courts. If it doesn't, and ours didn't, than you can file a motion to vacate through the issuing court but I *think* there is a time rule, can't remember what it is. After thinking long and hard about it, we decided to let ours stand. The judgment can no longer be collected, can't attach to property acquired after the BK, and is actually listed as satisfied on the credit report through BK discharge.

I do want to add that I'm a fanatic about keeping paper trails, so if you decide to go the easy route, like me, lol, make sure you keep copies of everything showing that debt was discharged in a bk. And of course, talk to your attorney since each situation is different.

SG

Also wanted to add that it cannot be re-recorded in the public records, which extends the time to collect.