Daniel Martinez9
Member
38 messages
joined Jan 2013
I won't drag this out. I promised to outline some basic steps once someone receives a garnishment notice.
Here’s how it works:
If you’re certain it’s an actual garnishment notice (if you know your local mail carrier well enough, just ask them to let you see the envelope), tell the carrier to take it back to the post office instead. Ask them to leave the slip saying you can pick it up within 7 days, then go grab it on Saturday. Why bother? It’s purely practical—it buys you time to draft an objection and get some solid advice, since you generally have about 7 or 8 days to contest a garnishment order.
A lot of people here have a flawed mindset, thinking that if they don't pick up the notice, it won't become legally binding. That is completely wrong. In reality, the notice will be delivered to your address at least twice (I'll explain why below). After that, the creditor asks the Department of Justice for your registered address, and the notice gets sent there at least twice more.
If it still isn't picked up after that, the notice is posted on the court's bulletin board. After 8 days, it becomes final, and the IRS starts freezing your accounts.
Why "at least"? It's not uncommon for courts or notary offices to use a little trick where they write a surname in messy handwriting that a mail carrier might misread, resulting in a delivery note stating "recipient unknown." In those cases, the post office stamps the legal document claiming the person doesn't exist at that address. They won't try delivering it a second time; they just ask the Department of Justice for your last known residence. If you have a registered address, the process repeats there, though the creditor will likely try their luck with that messy handwriting again. If the package is returned the same way there, they skip the second attempt and go straight to the court's bulletin board. On top of that, you have kids, elderly neighbors, or random people picking up mail who have zero clue what a garnishment notice even is. This makes the excuse "My account was frozen based on a garnishment I never received" perfectly believable. Lawyers who claim this is impossible are LYING (to put it mildly). Why? Just look at who writes these laws. Most people in Congress have someone in their family running a law firm, so we're talking about a massive conflict of interest. In America, we have private companies that handle official mail, but here, we unfortunately rely on guys like Jim from the post office.
Anyway, getting back on track. Once you've picked up that notice, your absolute obligation is to file an objection. Regardless of whether you plan to pay the debt or have already paid it, file an objection to the garnishment order. Why? To quote a recent post from a forum member:
"On June 15th, I received a garnishment motion and paid the debt plus the law firm's fees the very next day. Two days ago, my account was frozen because of that exact same garnishment.
What am I supposed to do now? Take proof of payment to the IRS and call it a day, or is there something else I need to do?"
I hope that quote makes the purpose of an objection crystal clear. Don't play games or trust the sweet talk from law firms promising they'll let you pay in installments. FILE AN OBJECTION!!! Avoid all the nonsense regarding whether or not the garnishment will become final. Also, keep in mind that filing an objection costs money through the court system (since the local court decides on the objection), so you will need to pull a tax certificate proving you aren't a registered tax debtor to waive the court fees, along with the original REQUEST for fee waiver. Furthermore, take a good look at how much notaries and lawyers charge.
Notary fees:
Notary costs are set by the Notary Chamber in their regulations, which can be found at this link:
On the right side, you'll find a link to a .doc file titled
Regulations regarding fees and expenses for notaries during collection proceedings
Make sure to study whether the notary's fees exceed what the law allows. If they do, you absolutely need to file an objection against those notary costs.
If you pay the debt immediately, you aren't required to pay for certain items—like the "finality clause" and one other thing I can't recall right now , so look it up or ask someone.
Lawyers:
Attorney fees are set by the Bar Association through their own regulations; you can check them here:
The relevant rates fall under Article Tbr. 7.
If the attorney's fee exceeds the legal limit, draft an objection against the attorney's fees as well.
You can find templates for all these objections online.
Also, try contacting as many advocacy groups as possible. Most won't offer much, though maybe the American Red Cross might have some leads—they’re the only ones I’ve heard of providing solid support to their members. You'll find a phone number on their site, and they should be able to help you out.
Furthermore, the collection request must CLEARLY separate the principal from the interest. Why does this matter? An attorney can't just bundle interest into the principal and then charge interest on top of that. The law is explicit: interest is calculated ONLY and EXCLUSIVELY on the principal. If the costs are lumped together, write in your objection that you are contesting the entire collection due to "inaccurate data" (there's a technical term for this, but I can't remember it offhand, so look into it—I'm learning as I go too ). A collection notice is essentially a bill where it MUST BE CLEAR AND PRECISE about exactly what you are paying. That means the principal, interest, attorney fees, notary fees, etc., must all be listed separately.
Once your objection is accepted (which it should be if filed promptly—don't wait until the last minute), you will receive a decision from the local court at your home address stating that the collection is suspended and the case is moving to civil litigation. You've won the first round, but don't think it's over. Expect a hearing date for some distant year.
And there is NO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For ongoing proceedings, there IS NO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS!
Get that through your head.
Ultimately, I always say people should pay their debts.
If you do pay, make sure to state that clearly in your objection; the opposing side will likely drop the dispute. However, if money is tight, I recommend paying only the principal and noting that in your objection. This will significantly cut down extra costs, especially the interest that keeps piling up on the principal. Once the principal is paid, interest cannot be charged to you because interest on interest doesn't legally exist.
If the collection amount is massive, there are ways to get rid of the debt forever, but that involves involving a high-level contact and using legal maneuvers that could be considered fraud—or more accurately, an abuse of rights. I won't discuss or dwell on those for your sake. Even lawyers have families to feed.
And please, don't flood me with questions like "is it past the statute of limitations," "how do I appeal," or "what do I do." I'm pulling this information from the law and from precedents involving people who won collection disputes, just like you. I'm just providing the legal tools to protect yourselves from being ripped off when you pay your debts.
