How long until garnishment begins?

[jwhit]

I will be filing Ch 13 next month and retained an attorney yesterday. I had court ordered arbitration (that is what they do in Oregon instead of a trial) with a JDB today. My attorney got the arbitrator to approve a postponement but the collection agency attorney would not consent so today he was awarded a summary judgement. I checked with my payroll department and my paycheck has already been processed to be auto-deposited on 3/30. There is no way to stop that from happening. I can't find in the civil rules and procedures what the timeline is to start a garnishment. Does anyone have any idea if my next paycheck will be safe or will the garnishment to the bank be in place? It is roughly a 4800 judgement.

[AngelinaCat]

Once you file and get your case number, that will stop the garnishment. It sounds like things move along much faster in Oregon than in Florida. Usually the plaintiff's attorney will go to court and file a Writ of Execution, or something of a similar name before the actual garnishment can start. You should have an opportunity to respond. The whole process may give you around 30 days.

Hopefully, someone with actual experience will chime in. Good luck!

[treehugger1]

jwhit,

Currently, it sounds as if your employer has already processed payroll for the month. If this is the case, then you may be safe for the 30th. Many payroll processing offices can do final court-ordered deductions or other payroll deletes within the last 3-4 days prior to the ACH record being sent to the Feds.

It might also be the case that there may never be any action against the judgment. I think in cases where the attorney has already been paid for their service, action on judgment may not be a top priority. Hard to say for sure, so be prepared for anything.

I have a great deal of personal experience with Oregon wage garnishments. Once the judgment was rendered, the plaintiff's attorney can immediately obtain the writ of garnishment and file it on your employer. They have another 14 or so days to notify you. Any Oregon BAR attorney or court clerk can sign off on a the writ. A judge's signature is not required to obtain a writ of garnishment.

If you are only paid once per month, and because it is past the middle of the month, it would not be unusual for you to know nothing about the garnishment until the end of the month. I do believe that your employer must notify you, and you should also receive a copy of the original writ and supporting papers from the JDB's attorney soon.

If you are a public employee such as teacher, college worker, state classified worker, city/county worker, etc, then you will probably receive paper work quite soon.

You (or your attorney) must have filed an answer to the original summons or the court-ordered arbitration would not have been set into motion. Did the collection attorney file a motion for summary judgment and you failed to respond? Or, did you respond and the jusdge allowed the summary judgment based on the collections attorney's pleading? I find this interesting.

As mentioned, the BK 13 filing will shut down any and all future garnishments.

I have been advised by others with experience, that if I am sued by a JDB's attorney here (Southern Oregon), I should immediately exercise any rights I have to contractual arbitration. I can't say I know many debtors who have beaten back court-ordered arbitration. However, there are some precedent cases where circuit courts have issued stays of complaints (suits) pending outcome of contractual arbitration. It is my limited understanding that many JDB's will not engage in contractual arbitration. Providing an answer with a motion to compel contractual arbitration can shut actions off for a significant amount of time.

Was your debt credit card or other unsecured debt?

What county are you in?

What the JDB's attorney local, state, or other Oregon BAR member living out-of-state?

I was sued by McGavic and company out of Eugene before the State of Oregon shut him and his minions down.

I have also been sued by Seattle-based firms with Oregon BAR numbers.

I do have to say that in all cases the plaintiff's attorneys had their acts together and did nothing illiegal or shady. They also represented the OC's.

I have not been sued by a JDB. Please share more about how this all went down. Others would gain by yoru sharing of information.

Best to you! TH