Debt Collectors Calling You?

Are you getting phone calls from Debt Collectors who say that you owe this or that? Do they call and say there is a judgement against you from your local court house?

We all have had a call sometime in our life, some are legit and some are scams. Some are things that we have totally forgotten about in most cases.

The best thing to do is ask for all legal proof that the debt is yours and advise them to put everything into writing and send to address that they have on file for you, DO NOT Provide your mailing address to them.. If they are legit they already have all of your information. Also Advise them to no longer call you at your phone number or your employers phone number..

What to do if the debt is legit, contact the original lender or company and pay them if they are still in business, make sure if you do send a check or money order that you put in the memo section on the check (account number and payment in full no other debt is owed) I would send a money order and send it certified mail.

Check your credit report (you get 1 free report each year) or join credit karma and check and make sure that this debt is not on your report several times, if it is dispute it. What collection agencies do is they sell your debt to other companies every few years or so, that makes it a new collection if it has to been paid yet.

What if you owe it and cannot pay it..? Being threatened with wage garnishment or taking of your home?

Look into these things.. in the state that you live in..

Judgment proof is a description of a person who does not have enough assets for a creditor to seize when a court order requires debt repayment. A debtor who is broke and unemployed is judgment proof. A debtor who only has certain legally protected types of assets or income is also judgment proof.

Generally, you are judgment proof if you:

1. do not own any assets such money in a bank account or real estate.
2. are not working or have a very low-paying job, and.
3. any other source of income is exempt from seizure by judgment creditors.

Each state has its own terms for this, check with your state

Some Information for California:

• The first party to achieve a garnishment order has priority if you have more than one wage garnishment order against you.
• The maximum that can be garnished from your paycheck is 25% of disposable earnings, or the amount by which your weekly disposable earnings exceed 40 times the minimum wage — whichever is less.
• As much as 65% of your disposable earnings can be deducted if you owe money to support a child.
• If you owe taxes to the state of California, they can garnish up to 25% of disposable earnings.
• You can object to a wage garnishment on the basis of hardship under California law.

This link is helpful if you want to file an wage garnishment exemption in California

https://saclaw.org/wp-content/uploads/sbs-claim-of-exemption-wage-garnishment.pdf

I am not in any way or form giving any type of legal advise, I am just giving you information and avenues to explore in the event you have debt collectors calling you.