Wage garnishments and collections
in Law ·
I really need some advice here. Today, March 23, 2016, I went to the post office to pick up a letter containing a writ of execution based on a certified document regarding item 4, which basically mandates the forced collection of debt from three unpaid bills for my PBS license fees (specifically for January, February, and March 2007 plus interest; totaling $226.16 as of January 16, 2008). This writ was issued on behalf of PBS by the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Radaković & partner. On top of that, they’ve tacked on $416 in legal costs, $20. The whole thing was signed and certified in Washington, D.C., back on February 21, 2008. So, yeah, it took them eight whole years to finally serve me with this enforcement proposal and writ of execution!
I never received a single warning or notice from PBS about owing anything; this is the first I’ve ever heard of this debt. I suppose since I was moving from a rental into an apartment I actually owned at the time, any notices probably got lost in the shuffle or sent to the wrong address. Fine. I accept responsibility. Mea culpa. I don't have any payment receipts from 2008 tucked away, because my habit is to keep things for a couple of years and then toss them. Fair enough. Message received. From now on, I guess I’ll be hoarding every receipt from birth until death.
Here is the situation: I owe Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom a grand total of $416.60 + $226.16 = $642.76. I can probably swallow that amount, but what happens if they try to retroactively charge me interest for the entire period while this case was just sitting there gathering dust in their offices!!!
Is it actually worth filing an appeal, or will that just drag this whole mess out even longer? Is it better to just pay this predatory bill and put it behind me, or am I opening a Pandora's box by fighting it...?
I never received a single warning or notice from PBS about owing anything; this is the first I’ve ever heard of this debt. I suppose since I was moving from a rental into an apartment I actually owned at the time, any notices probably got lost in the shuffle or sent to the wrong address. Fine. I accept responsibility. Mea culpa. I don't have any payment receipts from 2008 tucked away, because my habit is to keep things for a couple of years and then toss them. Fair enough. Message received. From now on, I guess I’ll be hoarding every receipt from birth until death.
Here is the situation: I owe Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom a grand total of $416.60 + $226.16 = $642.76. I can probably swallow that amount, but what happens if they try to retroactively charge me interest for the entire period while this case was just sitting there gathering dust in their offices!!!
Is it actually worth filing an appeal, or will that just drag this whole mess out even longer? Is it better to just pay this predatory bill and put it behind me, or am I opening a Pandora's box by fighting it...?