Posts by Rachel Diaz8

Kevin Newman3 said:So, I was in a fender bender the other day. Some French guy in a rental car rear-ended me because he completely ignored a stop sign. We ended up waiting around for three hours for the police to show up, but when they finally arrived, they didn't even bother filing an official report. They just glanced at the standard exchange of information form we filled out, confirmed everything looked fine, and told me to just deal with his insurance company directly.
The guy actually admitted fault, so on Monday, I’m heading over to State Farm to hand over all my documentation.
Since this is my first time dealing with anything like this, I'm still figuring out how the whole process works. The damage isn't massive, but I am curious—will they cut me a check for the repairs, or will they actually handle getting the car fixed myself?

I once got hit by a guy who was insured through CO.
We didn't bother calling the cops.

Instead, we went down to the CO office together, filled out the standard accident reports, and an adjuster
took a look at the damage to my car and wrote up a report right then and there.

We grabbed a coffee, and then we both went our separate ways.

A few days later, I received a letter from CO with a settlement offer based on their estimate.

I had the choice to either take the cash payout or have them cover the repair bills if I took the car to a shop myself.

I decided to take the money—I managed to pick up some parts almost for nothing,
so I actually had enough left over for a nice steak dinner and a few beers.
🙂

And honestly, I have to give CO credit; from the initial assessment to seeing the funds in my account, it took less than ten days.
The amount involved was roughly $2333.

ruggedmaker2 said:First off, a letter alone doesn't cut it. A random letter isn't a court order or any kind of valid legal instrument.
It has to come with actual documentation attached: a court judgment, a notarized decision, a signed voluntary wage garnishment agreement—you know, stuff that follows strict federal and state guidelines—or some other official ruling.

You don't seize anything based on just a piece of paper. It’s all about what’s attached to that paper.

If an employee thinks they're being overcharged, or if money is being docked for something that isn't a legitimate garnishment, they need to file a formal written grievance with their employer. If the boss ignores them, then they take it to court. Simple as that.

That particular company pops up on this forum all the time. They buy up distressed debt.
Buying debt is perfectly legal under standard contract law.

But look, whoever sold that debt was likely trying to collect it for a long, long time before giving up.
Why didn't the debtor try to settle the deal early on? Why not offer a payment plan or just do something proactive?
Why wait until the creditor dumps the debt onto a collection agency and then deal with all this chaos?

The simple truth is that some people just DON'T HAVE IT.

They’re struggling to cover their basic utility bills, let alone make structured repayments on a loan.

Sometimes things were fine, but then life happens—an unexpected crisis hits—and suddenly, the money is gone.

Often, these folks were already facing financial hurdles long before the debt was sold off, but the bank just stays silent.

They only send formal notices through the mail or via legal channels.

And since the American legal system can be incredibly slow, years can slip by in the meantime.

So, when those debt collectors finally show up and start the relentless calls or aggressive tactics, people act surprised.
They're caught off guard.
Because they aren't used to that kind of intense, high-pressure interaction.
Deep down, they know they owe the money; they're just looking for a little bit of dignity in the process...

Don't worry, most of them would pay every cent if they actually had the funds.
The vast majority would.

It is definitely strange that it feels so slippery, I agree.

The real question isn't that, though—it's where exactly this is coming from.

See, they tend to track down the debtor's neighbors and relatives just to harass them,
so it's pretty clear these kinds of dirty little tricks are right up their alley.

ruggedmaker2 said:Why would a company even bother going after a paycheck directly?
It’s way easier for them to just go after every cent in an account through Goldman Sachs.

Look, if an employee already has a garnishment hitting their account via Goldman Sachs and they’ve got a protected account set up, the employer basically has to step in. If they get hit with a new order, they need to tell that first firm, "Hey, this person already has a legal portion of their pay being diverted, so you can't just jump in and take more."

The employer then asks that firm whether they’re going to wait their turn in line or if they’re going to pivot and just go after all the liquid assets through Goldman Sachs instead.

But at the end of the day, you can't legally garnish more than what the law allows. Period.

So, basically, you're asking what happens when an employee already has a protected account due to an existing garnishment, but then the employer gets slapped with a brand new one.

Because they’re vultures—they thrive on ambiguity. They basically mislead employers, knowing that if they went through the FIN, they’d be stuck at the back of the line behind anyone else who already has an active garnishment, child support, or freeze on their accounts.

In short, their whole game is to target smaller companies—the ones without a dedicated legal department, or those that just don't know any better—to ensure the money hits their pockets first before anyone else gets a cent.

Trust me, I've seen plenty of these attempts, and they actually work quite often.

I definitely agree—this is clearly predatory behavior.

JP Morgan Chase is the same way—it’s all just the same old story.

It's just that, if my foreign currency account ever dipped into the negative by even a single cent due to maintenance fees, some lady from the bank would give me a call to warn me... so I honestly can't tell
whether this is standard procedure across every branch, or if I just happen to have a really sweet lady looking out for me, or if your folks are just being exceptionally mean! :-)