How does the judgment process work? I am getting ready to get a few.

[GoneBust]

I am about to be sued by three large banks for around $60,000 in business credits cards and $86,000.00 for an SBA business loan. I stopped paying on all of them about a year ago.

About one year ago I got summoned and made an appearance in court for the SBA loan, and the U.S. Bank did not show. I haven't heard from them since. So basically I have about $60,000.00 in credit cards and the two banks are in the process of getting judgments against me.

I have a few questions that have been haunting me, and I would deeply appreciate it if you could give me some answers. Here they are:

1. If the bank gets a judgment against me, what happens then? Do they have to setup a second hearing to determine what we are able to pay?

2. If the bank gets a judgment against me, can they immediately get access to my checking account? If so, can they completely clear it out? If not, how much can they take, and how often can they take it?

3. If the bank gets a judgment against me, can they attach a lein against my home?

4. If the bank gets a judgment against me, can they attach my PayPal account?

5. If it is possible to work out a repayment plan with these creditors?

6. If we get forced into a Chapter 13, do we have to pay our quarterly income tax estimated payments on time to comply?

These are very important questions to me, because I am probably 2-3 weeks away from getting a default judgment against me for around $30,000.00 in credit cards. The BK attorney that we went to (BK cattle mill type) doesn't seem to like answering detailed questions like these. They act like we are a burden.

I realize most of you will say just file BK, but we are worried we could lose our home and/or get pushed into a Chapter 13 that we cannot live up to with the way my business income fluctuates. We have two daughters in the local school in a small town and there are no rentals around here.

I appreciate any input you may have.

[Exployer1234]

I am guessing from your post you are self employed. Typically when a judgement is issued normally a creditor will get an order to start garnishing wages. Typically that is within 45 days of the judgment. Each state has a certain amount, which is a percentage of your pay each week. Take for example my state is 25%, but you have to make a certain percentage over min. wage. i had a judgment against me and the creditor received the order to start garnishing my wages. Unfortunately my employer was not familiar with the exact law and was going to take out way to much money. So before the garnishment started I filed BK and the creditor got nothing.

The thing is if you are self-employed they do not have an employer to garnish your wages from. If your state allows the creditors to garnish your checking account this could happen. Also they can put a lien on your house. Here is the thing though if you are self-employed then creditors may have a harder time garnishing your wages. I have a friend who is self-employed. He received a judgement on a business debt with Cap 1. Problem is Cap 1 told him that they have no way collecting the money since he does own his home and has no checking account. My friend finally worked out a payment plan with Cap 1 and sent them a monthly amount. Cap 1 also did away with all the interest and court fees.

Good luck. I hope you can get the issues resolved without too much trouble. I would start doing some research on your states laws for garnishing wages, plus look at how your state handles judgments on individuals that are self-employed.

[shark66]

I don't see why you'd lose your home. If you're current on your mortgage(s) that's pretty much all that matters.

What I'd be looking into given the structure of your debt is a non-consumer Ch. 7.

Good luck.