Punishing Garnishments
By Raymond V. Gessel | Published on August 9, 2011 | 0 Comments
What kinds of events could be blamed as the catalysts that lead people toward bankruptcy? Raymond V. Gessel, Attorney at Law, a Kent, WA, bankruptcy attorney, offers the following as most-likely answers: A loss of a job or a significant cut in salary leaves people unable to pay their bills, including mortgages, and that can lead them to bankruptcy. Unexpected medical expenses, too, can turn a budget upside down. But those are conditions that lead people to bankruptcy. What, in another sense, are the effects of these conditions in Kent? According to Gessel, the effects of such conditions themselves are punishing garnishments brought against debtors.
In an ailing economy, many in Kent, Washington, are affected by foreclosure and the possibility they may lose their homes. When people can’t pay their loans, foreclosure isn’t the only thing they face—although that’s a big part of the effects of not being able to pay home loans. But with other debts, creditors will bring a lawsuit against a debtor who isn’t paying up. This is what leads to garnishments.
As a Kent, WA, bankruptcy attorney, Gessel can define garnishments in this fashion: A “garnishment” is when the creditor obtains a judgment against a debtor that involves an employer or the debtor’s bank. As a result, the employer will withhold non-exempt wages from the debtor, and the bank could withhold significant proceeds and funds from the account-holding debtor. It’s certainly not pretty, because garnishments mean the tough just got a whole lot tougher for the debtor. Basically, the creditor is imposing harsh conditions on the debtor to make him or her pay up.
To review, the “writ of garnishment” results from lawsuits against a debtor in which the debtor cannot pay the terms of the creditor’s lawsuit. Sometimes, these garnishments call for the debtor’s banks to turn over all the debtor’s funds to the creditor. Or, conversely, a garnishment could demand that an employer turn over a quarter of the debtor’s earnings.
But bankruptcy can stop garnishments from going through, says the Kent, WA, bankruptcy attorney. If the garnishments have already started, then bankruptcy could end up forcing employers or creditors to return money that was withheld from a debtor as part of the garnishment. Bankruptcies can also stunt the process of foreclosure if it has already begun. For example, if a debtor is way behind on house payments, there’s no reason to wait until the creditors sue. Bankruptcy can help get the payments caught up, says Gessel. Bankruptcies could even end up removing a second or third mortgage, ultimately allowing the homeowner to stay in their house.
The lesson here is that people have options in bankruptcy. They don’t have to let their debt crises get so far that employers are withholding pay and banks are freezing access to funds. There’s a way to avoid crushing garnishments. According to a bankruptcy attorney in Kent, WA, residents can keep their homes by leveraging their own power and influence through the legal means of bankruptcy.
*Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.