Creditor Claims I broke temp 3 month agreement

by Matt
(Kansas)

I confessed judgment on a medical bill I owed. Sit down with the creditor to discuss payments. I told them I could only afford $25 per month, but if I could pay more later on, I would do so. My fiance is a wittness to my exact statment. There was no contract, it was verbal. Since that day I have been paying twice that amount; $50 per month instead of $25. Never missed a payment once since Dec 2010. Here it is late october and I get a wage garnishment order. I request a hearing to fight this because I have not faulted the agreement, and have actually been paying twice the amount agreed upon! The creditors attorney replyed back pretty much calling me a lier saying "debtor has not been paying twice the agreement amount because there is no agreement. He broke that when the temp agreement expired back in March" Suposably according to him it was only temperary!!?? No I never agreed to only a temp agreement. I said if I could afford to pay more than $25 per month, I would and have been ever since the agreement was made & have witness to that statement. If it was only temperary then why havent they called me and notified me? Got a late notice back in August because money order got delayed in the mail then recieved a week later. If the agreement suposably expired, how can a payment be past due? I requested a hearing to dispute it, because I honestly cant afford to have 25% of my check garnished. Am I just screwed?

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Dec 24, 2011
 Creditor Claims I broke temp 3 month agreement
by: Debtcollectionanswers

Matt:

When you negotiate an agreement with a creditor or a debt collector, always get the terms of the agreement in writing before you begin paying any money on the agreement. Otherwise, you are apt to find yourself in the situation you are in, where the parties to the agreement have very different versions of what was agreed to and there is nothing on paper that they can refer to to resolve their dispute.

If the creditor took you to court and got a judgment against you it is entitled to enforce the judgment by garnishing your wages. You were able to avoid garnishment by negotiating the payment agreement, but you really do not have much leverage with the creditor at this point. It wants its money; it claims you violated the agreement (and there is nothing to prove that the creditor is wrong); and the court gave the creditor the right to garnish. However, you may want to talk with a consumer law attorney about the possibility of appealing the garnishment. It may be difficult to find an attorney who will help you however, given that you have no written agreement, but it's probably worth at least talking to an attorney, esp. since your initial consultation will be free. Go here for afree consultation with a consumer law attorney.

Another option to consider depending on the overall state of your finances is to file for bankruptcy, which will stop the garnishment and give you an opportunity to figure out what to do about your debts. Depending on the type of bankruptcy you file, it could even wipe out the judgment and most if not all of your other unsecured debts. However, you will need to meet with a bankruptcy attorney to find out if filing is a good move for you or not. If you would like to set up a free consultation go here, a free consultation with a bankruptcy attorney.

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