Wage Garnishment & Bank Levies Services in Eagan, MN
Wage garnishments and bank levies are just a few negative effects from owing debt in addition to creditor harassment. If you owe a creditor, there is a chance that some money will be deducted directly from your wages or the bank. That can create a huge impact on your ability to pay bills and live day to day.
Creditors hire collection law firms to sue clients who have not paid. Usually a client is hand-served papers which begins a lawsuit. If you do not answer within 20 days of receiving the paperwork, the creditor will be able to acquire a judgment against you and start garnishing. Sometimes they will garnish even before they get the judgment!
An answer to a lawsuit is a very specific legal document. The Minnesota Judiciary website explains what an answer consists of and how to use it to defend yourself.
If the creditor gets a judgment or you have not answered, they will look for ways to collect on the judgment. This is when they can force you to pay against your will. Forcing you to pay through a wage garnishment is the most typical method.
Before the creditor can garnish, they have to send you a garnishment exemption notice. The notice will contain information about qualifying for an exemption so that none of your wages are taken. It will also explain how much will be garnished.
The law protects 75% of your net wages, meaning that creditors can garnish up to 25% of net wages. For example, if you bring home $1000.00 every two weeks, $250.00 could be garnished. This would mean your take-home pay becomes $750.00. Wage garnishment can continue until the debt is paid in full.
Both Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy will stop a wage garnishment from being taken. It doesn’t matter if the wage garnishment has been happening for several months, years, or hasn’t yet begun.
In most cases, bankruptcy will recover and return any funding that has been garnished within the last 90 days before your case was filed!
Creditors can also levy bank accounts and clean them out, leaving you penniless. One day, your checks could bounce because all your funds have been sucked out by a bank levy. As with wage garnishment, bankruptcy can stop a bank levy before it happens. If you have already been levied, you should file bankruptcy as soon as possible. Once again, like wage garnishment, it is highly likely that whatever was levied within the last 90 days before your case was filed can be recovered and returned to you!
Filing bankruptcy is not difficult with the help of an experienced lawyer. The bankruptcy process can come to an end within 90 days of filing. It all begins with an initial consultation during which I will assess your budget, debts, and all of the particulars surrounding your financial situation. I will not pass judgement on the state of your finances or your reasons for filing.
I will give you information regarding your options and how you can meet your end goals. No matter which type of bankruptcy you decide on during your initial consultation, I will guide you through the process step by step. We will go through the paperwork and exemptions together. You will have the opportunity to ask questions and receive knowledge about your debt and credit so that you can go forward with a fresh start!
I am recognized as a debt relief agency, and provide bankruptcy relief using the laws of the State or Minnesota and the United States Bankruptcy Code.
To set up an initial consultation, call today at 651-454-0007.