Total time limits to continue garnishments

[highlife]

I recently read that a creditor has up to 21 years to enforce a garnishment. What I don't understand is does that mean that have only 21 years total that they can keep garnishing you to collect a debt? Or, does that mean they have 21 years after a judgement to simply begin collecting a debt, with no limits on how long they can keep collecting from you?

With what I make, even a max 25% garnishment would not pay the debt off in 21 years. Just seeing if that is the max time period they could garnish or collect from me, or if they can keep the garnishments going until I die.

Just trying to use the information to make a settlement offer on a large debt. Hoping to offer them more in monthly payments than they would recive if they garnish my wages (over 21 years), but less than the total I owe. Any help would be appreciated. This would be for Ohio if that matters at all.

[GoingDown]

It depends upon your state's statute of limitations.

For example, in Arizona, a judgment is good for 5 years, and becomes worthless at the end of the 5 year period if it is not renewed by the judgment creditor within 45 days from its expiration date. At that point, they could no longer use the judgment to garnish wages and checking accounts. However they could renew it every 5 years for all enternity if they chose to do that. In reality, most judgments are never renewed because if the judgment creditor doesn't get paid within the first 5 years, they tend to give up on that account and go after fresher ones.

In your case, filing bankruptcy might be a cheaper option than making payments for 21 years. And it would get it over with, and you wouldn't be facing any tax liability for the amount of debt forgiven by the creditor.

[shark66]

First and foremost, does the creditor have a judgment against you, and if so, what kind of debt are we discussing here?

I'm with GoingDown, generally speaking...for something that would take 20+ years to pay off it's well worth filing BK...presuming it's a dischargable debt to begin with...

My $0.02 only...

Good luck.

[frogger]

They can keep garnishments going as long as their judgments are alive. If your income is low, you may not be worth garnishing.