Garnishments/Frozen Accounts

You know that your paycheck was just automatically deposited into your checking account, so you go to the ATM and try to take out some cash.  But the ATM reports “insufficient funds” as you attempt a withdrawal, and you cannot take anything out.  Puzzled, you call the bank, and they inform you that your account has been restrained, or “frozen” by a creditor.   Your bank account with the money that you need to pay all your bills is not accessible.  What do you do?

Perhaps you are confronted with another scenario:  you receive a letter from the Sheriff’s Office saying that a portion of your paycheck is going to be garnished to pay off a creditor.  This can be potentially crippling to someone who is living week to week, as a garnishment typically takes 10% of your gross wages.

Both situations have come about as a result of a default judgment that was entered against you some time before.  Creditors, except in extremely rare cases, cannot garnish your wages or freeze an account without suing you first.

However, once you are faced with either garnishment or the restraint of an account, you need to take action to address the situation.  At a free meeting with Simon Haysom, our attorneys will let you know what you can do to regain control of your financial destiny, whether it is filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy (which ends bank freezes and garnishments) or litigating against abusive creditors who may have been behaving improperly.