Dealing with a judgement while waiting to file...

[brokenomore]

I currently have a $3,500 judgement against me for medical debt. I cannot file right now because I'm waiting for my receivables to be paid by my customers, and will probably be filing in about 30 days.

Meanwhile, I'm concerned about what collection actions can be taken.

I called the sheriff department to get general ideas of what they can do, and I asked if they could take my car or even ask me to empty my wallet, and they said that yes those things and more are possible, depeding upon how they are instructed.

I was very concerned about that, and contacted my bk attorney, and he said there are only two things to worry about: 1) That my bank account could be garnished. 2) That the court could issue a summons for a "debtors review."

I'm not concerned about garnishment since I intend to cash my checks and keep my bank account close to zero until we file. I'm not sure about what a "debtor's review" is, but he told me to call him if that should happen.

I asked him whether they could take my car or take any other property and he said "absolutely not."

While that's a relief, I don't understand why that's the case. He did ask about the value of my car which is around $3,500, and he said it's not an issue unless it would be worth more than $6,500, and I don't understand his reasons for that.

Anyway, my talks with the attorneys are short, so I don't have a lot of time to ask followup questions, but just want to ask members here if this sounds right.

It seems I have little to worry about so long as I keep my bank account balance low, and that they have nothing else they can do.

[brokenomore]

I did a little research and found that at least in my state of Oregon, certain exemptions apply to taking property, similar to a bankruptcy.

There is a $2,100 car allowance, and if married, it would be $4,200. My car is worth less than that, so they could not take it.

They also cannot take business equipment that is used regularly to generate income, and a certain amount of personal possessions are allowed as well, again, similar to the bk exemptions.

It's good I talked to my attorney, because I would have wasted money paying the creditor to stall them why waiting to go bk, and would have spent $77 to have my mother be a lien holder on my auto to keep them from taking it. (And that would have been legit, since I owe her money).