Wage garnishments and collections

Laura Gonzalez50 said:You should have been notified about the garnishment; you're supposed to receive and sign a notice. If you didn't sign it, it's usually treated as if you never received it, so the garnishment shouldn't have started... though there is a rule where they try to deliver it twice, and if they can't find you, they leave a notice, and after 15 days, you're legally considered served.

Yeah, I still haven't received any kind of official notice at all... The only thing that actually showed up was a letter from that debt collection agency back in April, and since then, it's just been total silence...

I went ahead and paid that first installment just like we agreed, but I don't see myself paying anything else until I get some actual paperwork showing that I owe roughly $1000... I mean, how am I supposed to know exactly what I'm paying for if I don't have anything in writing? The lady told me that once I finish these ten installments, I'd need to check back in so they could tell me the interest amounts I'd still owe after that... but what on earth is that interest for if I'm already paying off my balance with T-Mobile
...
Just to be clear, I'm definitely not trying to dodge my bills with T-Mobile, and I was more than happy to settle that part of it, but now it feels like I'm being hit with all these extra fees that don't even seem legitimate...

An interesting little situation here?

So, after I filed an objection regarding the statute of limitations on the account, I got a summons from the court for a civil lawsuit.
I also received a filing from the prosecutor—which they’ve since amended—where they actually concede the statute of limitations, but now they're trying to claw back their own legal fees!

My question is—can I actually demand that the plaintiff covers my legal costs during the pretrial hearing, just because they're the ones who dragged this whole mess into court in the first place?

Brian Morgan25 said:An interesting little situation here?

So, after I filed an objection regarding the statute of limitations on the account, I got a summons from the court for a civil lawsuit.
I also received a filing from the prosecutor—which they’ve since amended—where they actually concede the statute of limitations, but now they're trying to claw back their own legal fees!

My question is—can I actually demand that the plaintiff covers my legal costs during the pretrial hearing, just because they're the ones who dragged this whole mess into court in the first place?

Well, the whole thing was kicked off because you weren't meeting your payment obligations... though, you can certainly argue to have those costs reduced based on how much you won in the dispute... for instance, if the Visa balance was $667 and $1,000.00 was written off, you might end up only owing 50% of the legal fees.

Brian Morgan25 said:An interesting little situation here?

So, after I filed an objection regarding the statute of limitations on the account, I got a summons from the court for a civil lawsuit.
I also received a filing from the prosecutor—which they’ve since amended—where they actually concede the statute of limitations, but now they're trying to claw back their own legal fees!

My question is—can I actually demand that the plaintiff covers my legal costs during the pretrial hearing, just because they're the ones who dragged this whole mess into court in the first place?

In plain English... if there's no legal basis for the collection because the entire debt is past the statute of limitations, you can demand the creditor pays all costs, including your objection fee which is $33. And if they send you a formal notice, you'll be hit with an extra $33...
If part of the debt isn't expired, then you follow John Clark6's rule...

So, I could really use some advice here. I just received a garnishment proposal from T-Mobile. The balance is $350, the initial costs associated with the proposal are $150, and the projected enforcement costs come out to $167. It says if I pay those first two amounts within 8 days, I won't be charged the $167 fee. My issue is, how am I supposed to settle this right away if I want to contest their decision? I'm worried I won't even get a response before that 8-day window closes. If anyone could give me some insight on this as soon as possible, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

I also wanted to ask how many people actually end up facing formal charges against those telecom companies, regardless of whether they have a valid case or not. Basically, I'm wondering if it’s even worth filing an appeal. In my specific situation, they basically told me that both they and I are technically in the right, so I'm really not sure what to make of it.

Look, if you file a reasoned objection with the notary, you don't owe anything right now. The whole thing gets kicked up to the court system, where it turns into a full-blown lawsuit under the Civil Procedure Code. They basically treat it like a standard civil suit where they have to actually prove the debt exists first. Once the dust settles at the end of the trial, all the costs get tallied up. You'll still be on the hook for the original enforcement fees, but then you’ve got the added layer of legal fees from the actual litigation process thrown into the mix.

So, what exactly is the issue with this claim? Give me the details so we can figure out if fighting this is actually worth your time or just throwing good money after bad.

Rebecca White4 said:Look, if you file a reasoned objection with the notary, you don't owe anything right now. The whole thing gets kicked up to the court system, where it turns into a full-blown lawsuit under the Civil Procedure Code. They basically treat it like a standard civil suit where they have to actually prove the debt exists first. Once the dust settles at the end of the trial, all the costs get tallied up. You'll still be on the hook for the original enforcement fees, but then you’ve got the added layer of legal fees from the actual litigation process thrown into the mix.

So, what exactly is the issue with this claim? Give me the details so we can figure out if fighting this is actually worth your time or just throwing good money after bad.

So, here’s the situation: I signed up for high-speed internet, but the service just wouldn't work. The kicker was that I was still getting billed regularly for three or four months while having zero connection. I filed complaints, and every two weeks a technician would show up to troubleshoot, but nothing changed. It turns out the issue was actually with the building's infrastructure. Basically, the local provider had taken over the space in the junction box, and all that was needed was to reconnect a few wires to get everything running. The problem is that this specific junction box is located right outside a neighbor's window, and you can only reach it by going through their apartment. Since they're never home, and it's positioned too high to reach safely with a ladder, nobody could get to it. Neither the technicians from my ISP nor the guys from the main service provider would fix it; instead, they just kept blaming the old wiring in the building. I even had an electrician come out to inspect the lines, and he confirmed the wiring itself was fine—the fault lies entirely with that inaccessible junction box near the neighbor's unit. I ended up talking to some other techs from my provider, and they mentioned this is actually a common headache in older apartment complexes where all the telecom companies fight for space in the same boxes. They told me straight up that the fault wasn't mine. After four months of paying for internet I couldn't even use, I finally decided to just cancel the contract. Now, I'm dealing with the cancellation fees. $250 I’ve already filed two separate appeals regarding my H1 status, but they rejected me both times. Now they’re insisting on collecting the payment for the bill. To make matters worse, my wife—who actually works in an office over at H1—told me that from a legal standpoint, both she and the company are technically in the right. I guess it’s just one of those things where their attitude is a bit more blunt than what I'm used to back home in a place like Seattle.

It’s impossible to call the outcome of a lawsuit before it actually happens, but honestly? It’s worth a shot. You should lean hard into the fact that they completely failed to deliver the service you actually paid for. Seriously, go grab their Terms and Conditions and give them a deep dive—see what they actually promised you in writing!

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I’ve been scrolling through these forums for ages, just hoping someone might actually have an answer for me. I’d be incredibly grateful if anyone could help... Back in 1995, my husband shut down his small business and, predictably, he stopped paying his taxes. Well, last Tuesday, we got hit with a formal warning from the IRS regarding seizure proceedings at $19667. We don't have any money, and my husband isn't working right now. What happens next? Is there any chance the statute of limitations has kicked in by now? Who do we even talk to about this? If anyone has any insight at all, I would truly appreciate it...

Patrick Doyle70 said:I’ve been scrolling through these forums for ages, just hoping someone might actually have an answer for me. I’d be incredibly grateful if anyone could help... Back in 1995, my husband shut down his small business and, predictably, he stopped paying his taxes. Well, last Tuesday, we got hit with a formal warning from the IRS regarding seizure proceedings at $19667. We don't have any money, and my husband isn't working right now. What happens next? Is there any chance the statute of limitations has kicked in by now? Who do we even talk to about this? If anyone has any insight at all, I would truly appreciate it...

Well, if they haven't actually initiated the seizure yet, the statute of limitations for those contributions is five years—though it jumps to ten years absolutely (if the seizure process has already been started)—and for taxes, it's three years... so, I guess you'll just need to invoke the statute of limitations if they do decide to move forward with the seizure.

John Clark6, thanks for getting back to me. What’s the move now? Do I actually need to hire an attorney, or can I handle this mess on my own... I have no clue how to even trigger a statute of limitations defense. I don't know who to contact or what to say... honestly, I feel completely lost here... sorry for being so clueless.😵

quietpuma21 said:Greetings
I assume many of you were hit by an enforcement notice for some forgotten parking ticket from 2010. Usually, these things should have expired after five years, but I am curious about something. I actually called our dear friends at Berkshire Hathaway because the notary's paperwork doesn't even list an address, a license plate, or a timestamp. They told me the last warning was sent back in 2012 and nothing happened since. Between the interest, the daily fine which was $67 in that zone at the time, and the service fees, the total is roughly $200. Has anyone actually managed to win against this robbery through an appeal or a formal objection? Even the guy at Berkshire Hathaway just shrugged and said, "It's probably best to just pay the 😵
." Thanks

The key is when the case was handed over to the notary. You need to see if five years have passed since the violation occurred. While you might be able to argue it under three years, five is the standard statute of limitations in the US.

Brian Morgan25 said:An interesting little situation here?

So, after I filed an objection regarding the statute of limitations on the account, I got a summons from the court for a civil lawsuit.
I also received a filing from the prosecutor—which they’ve since amended—where they actually concede the statute of limitations, but now they're trying to claw back their own legal fees!

My question is—can I actually demand that the plaintiff covers my legal costs during the pretrial hearing, just because they're the ones who dragged this whole mess into court in the first place?

No. You can't claim representation costs because you don't have a lawyer. You aren't represented. You might be able to get the filing fee for your objection back, maybe postage if you sent everything via certified mail, or potentially travel expenses if you had to drive to the courthouse—but you'll need receipts. Go look up the definition of "litigation costs" under the Civil Procedure Code. Good luck.👍

Elizabeth Rodriguez7 said:So, here’s the situation: I signed up for high-speed internet, but the service just wouldn't work. The kicker was that I was still getting billed regularly for three or four months while having zero connection. I filed complaints, and every two weeks a technician would show up to troubleshoot, but nothing changed. It turns out the issue was actually with the building's infrastructure. Basically, the local provider had taken over the space in the junction box, and all that was needed was to reconnect a few wires to get everything running. The problem is that this specific junction box is located right outside a neighbor's window, and you can only reach it by going through their apartment. Since they're never home, and it's positioned too high to reach safely with a ladder, nobody could get to it. Neither the technicians from my ISP nor the guys from the main service provider would fix it; instead, they just kept blaming the old wiring in the building. I even had an electrician come out to inspect the lines, and he confirmed the wiring itself was fine—the fault lies entirely with that inaccessible junction box near the neighbor's unit. I ended up talking to some other techs from my provider, and they mentioned this is actually a common headache in older apartment complexes where all the telecom companies fight for space in the same boxes. They told me straight up that the fault wasn't mine. After four months of paying for internet I couldn't even use, I finally decided to just cancel the contract. Now, I'm dealing with the cancellation fees. $250 I’ve already filed two separate appeals regarding my H1 status, but they rejected me both times. Now they’re insisting on collecting the payment for the bill. To make matters worse, my wife—who actually works in an office over at H1—told me that from a legal standpoint, both she and the company are technically in the right. I guess it’s just one of those things where their attitude is a bit more blunt than what I'm used to back home in a place like Seattle.

Look, there’s definitely enough here to build a case, but you really need to hire an attorney. Find someone you trust—maybe a friend in the business if you have one—and work out a deal on their fees. Trying to navigate this legal mess on your own is a suicide mission. From what I can see, you’ve got all the documentation needed to make this stick. They signed a service agreement with you without doing their due diligence to see if their infrastructure could actually handle the job. That’s on them, not you. Good luck! 👍

Hey there,

We just got hit with a collection notice from the municipal waste management service. Here’s the deal: more than half of the bill they're trying to collect is actually past the statute of limitations. I’m planning to file an objection regarding those outdated charges while paying off the valid ones, but I'm stuck on how the added fees work. They’ve tacked on $100 in extra costs. If I file an objection, does the whole thing get tossed, or am I still on the hook for those fees—or maybe just a portion of them? The predictable costs come out to $296... does that mean those are definitely going to be charged if they move forward with forced collection?

Go ahead and give your mouse a little scroll upward—you’ll find the answer right here on this page!

John Clark6 said:Well, the whole thing was kicked off because you weren't meeting your payment obligations... though, you can certainly argue to have those costs reduced based on how much you won in the dispute... for instance, if the Visa balance was $667 and $1,000.00 was written off, you might end up only owing 50% of the legal fees.

If that’s what you're referring to—I saw that, but we're already talking about an actual court proceeding now, not just a seizure proposal.
I'm wondering if there's a specific legal term or something for this situation. A long time ago, we filed an objection regarding part of the bill being past the statute of limitations, but we never heard back—no response, no court summons, nothing. I really don't want us getting hit with all these extra costs after a hundred years of waiting...

ruggedmaker2 said:Look, winnings from sweepstakes or whatever aren't off-limits when it comes to garnishments. They aren't protected. You won't see that money sitting in a protected account. Just check out Article 172 of the Bankruptcy Code if you don't believe me.

And even if you try to make deposits, the cash isn't going to stick. (The only way people can deposit into a protected account is if you personally registered them with the IRS, and then the IRS logs their Social Security number into the system and clears them to pay into that specific account). You’ve got to give this quiz your regular checking account number. And once you do, the garnishment is just going to swallow it whole.

My boyfriend gave me power of attorney over his account, so my prize didn't get eaten by the garnishment. I knew there had to be a way. I didn't want to send it to my regular one, just the one where I'm authorized. So yeah, if you've got garnishments and frozen accounts, that’s how you actually have an account where money can land without the IRS touching it.

Daniel Reed68 said:If that’s what you're referring to—I saw that, but we're already talking about an actual court proceeding now, not just a seizure proposal.
I'm wondering if there's a specific legal term or something for this situation. A long time ago, we filed an objection regarding part of the bill being past the statute of limitations, but we never heard back—no response, no court summons, nothing. I really don't want us getting hit with all these extra costs after a hundred years of waiting...

Well, it won't just stay as it is—it turns into a full-blown lawsuit (civil litigation) once you file your objection... and as for not getting a response to your objection, honestly, why should you worry? As long as you filed that objection on time, you're in the clear!