Example of Section Blog layout (FAQ section)

You have the right to sue a collector in a state or federal court within one year from the date the law was violated. If you win, the judge can require the collector to pay you for any damages you can prove you suffered because of the illegal collection practices, like lost wages and medical bills. The judge can require the debt collector to pay you up to $1,000, even if you can’t prove that you suffered actual damages.  Furthermore, in some states, such as California, you will receive additional damages.  You must also be reimbursed for your attorney’s fees and court costs. A group of people also may sue a debt collector as part of a class action lawsuit and recover money for damages up to $500,000, or one percent of the collector’s net worth, whichever amount is lower. Even if a debt collector violates the FDCPA in trying to collect a debt, the debt does not go away if you owe it.

Many federal benefits are exempt from garnishment, that is, they cannot be taken by a debt collector or creditor, including:

• Social Security Benefits
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Benefits
• Veterans’ Benefits
• Civil Service and Federal Retirement and Disability Benefits
• Service Members’ Pay
• Military Annuities and Survivors’ Benefits
• Student Assistance
• Railroad Retirement Benefits
• Merchant Seamen Wages
• Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Death and Disability Benefits
• Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Benefits
• Compensation for Injury, Death, or Detention of Employees of U.S. Contractors Outside the U.S.
• Federal Emergency Management Agency Federal Disaster Assistance

But federal benefits may be garnished under certain circumstances, including to pay delinquent taxes, alimony, child support, or student loans.

If you are concerned that your wages are about to be garnished, that your bank account is about to be attached, that a lien is about to be placed on your home or some other piece of property, you need to contact our office immediately so that we can discuss your situation.

If you don’t pay a debt, a creditor can generally sue you to collect. If they win, the court will enter a judgment against you. The judgment states the amount of money you owe, and allows the creditor or collector to get a garnishment order against you, directing a third party, like your bank, to turn over funds from your account to pay the debt.

Wage garnishment happens when your employer withholds part of your compensation to pay your debts. Your wages usually can be garnished only as the result of a court order. Don’t ignore a lawsuit summons. If you do, you lose the opportunity to fight a wage garnishment.

If you are concerned that your wages are about to be garnished, that your bank account is about to be attached, that a lien is about to be placed on your home or some other piece of property, you need to contact our office immediately so that we can discuss your situation.

Absolutely. If a debt collector is trying to collect more than one debt from you, the collector must apply any payment you make to the debt you select. Equally important, a debt collector may not apply a payment to a debt you don’t think you owe. Furthermore, you do not have to pay debts that you do not believe you all. For example, suppose someone says you all $300 for a debt plus $25 as an overcharge fee. If you believe that you do not owe the overcharge fee you do not have to pay that. Be sure to tell the creditor, in writing, that you do not want any money applied towards the overcharged fee. If the debt collector or creditor applies any of the money you send them after that to the overcharged fee that violates the law.