Tim
Valparaiso,#2Consumer Comment
Fri, March 23, 2007
Armanda, You seem to have two issues here, and it's odd that you treated the more pertinent issue with less explanation than the other. Your first issue is whether the debt was legitimate, or were you a victim of identity theft? The wording of your report insinuates that you were defrauded by someone else, the result of which is a judgment against you. But you never really directly said that, nor do you seem too concerned about finding a way that you can make that judgment go away. The other issue, the one you addressed more in-depth, is whether they can garnish your social security benefits. I'll attempt to help you a bit with each. As for the default judgment, there are various reasons and procedures that can make these go away. You will need to file a motion to set aside a default judgment, and you will have to explain how the circumstances of your case fit squarely into one of the reasons for which a default judgment can be set aside. The most common reasons are 1) the manner of notice was in violation of court rules, and 2) excusable neglect (i.e. you were hospitalized on the date of the hearing). If you file the above-referenced motion without the assistance of an attorney, you are not likely to succeed. With a solid case of lack-of-notice, along with a good attorney, you MAY have a good shot at it. As for the garnishments: each state exempts various forms of money and property from being used to satisfy a judgment. Exactly what is exempted, and under what circumstances, can probably be found in your state's statutes and/or court rules. If you indeed find that your assets are exempt, a decent lawywer can probably halt the garnishments with little trouble, and probably without any court involvement. Bottom line: you need a lawyer. I think there's at least a couple of them in New York. Again, however, you will pr