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Debt > Dealing With Debt (4)
Garnishments
Collectors often threaten or make references to garnishing your wages. This is often an effective scare tactic because most consumers are unaware of the measures that must be taken to garnish wages or fear the embarrassment of having a boss or coworker know they are delinquent on debts. It is illegal for a collector to tell you they are going to sue you as a means of getting you to pay the debt, if they do not plan on doing so. A collection agency cannot garnish your wages without going through the required legal process. For a third party collector to garnish your wages they first have to sue you. Thus, you should not necessarily believe a collector if they tell you your wages are going to be garnished unless you have a prior judgment entered against you by a court. A judgment is a legal determination made by the court affirming that a particular party owes another party a specified amount of money.
Much like garnishment, judgments do not appear out of thin air. To have a judgment entered against you, a formal written complaint or petition must, first, be issued by a court and served via certified mail or by an official server. To serve the papers, the creditor may hire a process server or have a local sheriff serve the papers. If you receive a complaint, you will be required to answer the complaint within the specified time period by completing a response explaining why you want to contest the lawsuit. If you do not complete a response to the complaint or if you do respond to the complaint but do not appear for the court date, there is a risk of having a default judgment placed against you. If you call the creditor, you may be able to negotiate a repayment plan and the creditor may agree to suspend the lawsuit. After responding to the complaint, a court date will be arranged and you will be required to appear and give information to support your situation. It is often helpful for a consumer to demonstrate, to the court, that there was a particular hardship that caused their inability to pay on the debt. It may also be helpful to show that you have, proactively, made efforts to make payment arrangements, such as enrolling with a credit-counseling agency (see credit counseling) or establishing a repayment arrangement with the creditor.
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