Bankruptcy Could Prevent Wage Garnishment
When a creditor is taking money out of your paycheck automatically, it can be difficult to manage multiple debts at once or simply earn enough for a livable take-home pay. Wage garnishment can put a significant strain on families.
As an Orlando bankruptcy attorney at the Law Offices of K. Hunter Goff, P.A., I have helped hundreds of clients over the years stop wage garnishment and eliminate the underlying debt. Filing bankruptcy remains an effective way to deal with the potentially devastating effects that wage garnishment can have on residents of Florida.
How Creditors Gain Access To Wages
The debt collection process that can ultimately lead to wage garnishment often uses the following rough timeline:
- The original creditor will call you, your family or your workplace nonstop for about 60 to 90 days trying to get you to pay something over the phone. Sometimes, creditors may threaten how they are going to ruin you financially unless you pay them immediately.
- After 90 days or so, the account will be sold to a third-party debt collector who will repeat the constant phone calls.
- After about 180 days since you stopped paying, you may get a call from a creditor’s attorney trying to collect on the debt who will repeat the actions listed in 1 and 2 above.
- Finally, the creditor’s attorney may file a lawsuit against you seeking a judgment that would allow the creditor to attempt to collect on the judgment. Only then can your wages be garnished.
It is important to match the power of the creditor’s legal team with an experienced attorney of your own. At any point in this process, including after a court orders wage garnishment, I can step in to represent you and protect your interests.
Options To Protect Your Income
Wage garnishment takes place only after you have been sued by a creditor, the creditor has obtained a final judgment against you, and a writ of garnishment has been executed. While this process can take a number of months to complete, once the garnishment is in place, it becomes extremely difficult for you to do anything financially.
Of course, preventing a potential problem before it becomes a full-blown catastrophe is always wise, and this is no different when it comes to stopping wage garnishment in Florida. However, if you face wage garnishment, I can help you evaluate whether filing for bankruptcy could offer relief.
Get Your Finances Back On The Right Track
The sooner you contact me to explore your options with regard to filing bankruptcy, the sooner I can put a plan in place for you to prevent the wage garnishment altogether. Call 352-432-7003 or email my office to schedule a free consultation.
The Law Offices of K. Hunter Goff, P.A., is a debt relief agency. The firm helps people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.