Can/Do Law enforcement come to your home and take personal items?

[candlestick]

I live in Florida and owe 12,000 credit card debt. They can't garnish my wages and I have very little in the bank so my question to you folks is will a sheriff break down my door and take video game consoles, couches, TV's ect..? Thank u in advance

[bcss]

No. First they would have to a a judgement. For the inexpensive items you describe it would not be worth it to them. Now maybe if you had a pile of gold bars that might be another story. I'm sure they would knock on the door nicely : ) You're not a criminal.

[candlestick]

You're not a criminal.

Well, their letters they send to the house sure make ya feel like one. Life was once good and then the good paying job ended as did the payments I was making. Waiting until after taxes before I can afford to file. Thanks for your reply

[AngelinaCat]

In the meantime, read all the stickies you can here, and learn as much as you can about the BK process. Welcome to the forum.

[AngelinaCat]

Since you are thinking about filing, I am going to move this thread from 'Collections' to 'General Bankruptcy Talk'.

[HHM]

Is it "possible" yes. Is it likely, "no"

As was stated, the creditor would first need to sue and get a judgment. Moreover, even in FL with lousy exemptions, household items tend to fall within the exemption, so it is not worth the creditors costs to attempt to take the items only for the debtor (you) to claim the exemption.

Instead of focusing on the consequences of doing nothing, start focusing on what you can do so you don't have to ask questions like this...e.g. file bankruptcy, bring 100% certainty to your financial circumstances and move on with your life.

[tobee43]

i don't know what district you are in florida however, here in the middle district i haven't heard of anyone other than the trustees sending people out to estimate the value of your items if they are interested in throwing you into an asset 7. it's happening more and more in this district now for some reason. even those with very little, i have no clue why other than perhaps they are attempting to get more assets to distribute or attempting to throw more people into 13s so the trustee's make some money for their own pockets.....and i don't really care about any atty comments that this isn't true because i believe it is at this point. at least in this general area of the state for some reason. again, i think it may be to discourage people to file, i really don't have any clear answer.

it didn't happen to us because we didn't own a home at the time of our filing and at that time, it seemed as though only those with homes and homes full of goods were being scrutinized, however, i'm hearing of more and more situations that if you own a small boat, or trailer or whatever they are on it like flies on a pig. even, if you don't own anything else that is not exempt.

it sounds as though you have little tho, so hopefully it will go just fine for you. it's best to set up some interviews for free consults and see what the atty's feel your position is and what is the likely outcome. best of luck and keep posting! there are many here to help