What is Garnishment?
What is Garnishment? It is the taking of your wages each pay period to satisfy a judgment obtained against you. A credit card company or toher creditor filed a lawsuit against you and obtained a judgment. They are now enforcing the judgment by garnishing your wages. Filing bankruptcy will stop garnishment of your wages and discharge your debts once and for all. Schedule a FREE PHONE CONSULTATION or FREE OFFICE CONSULTATION and find out if bankruptcy is right for you. 1-877-963-9543
Meet our attorneys: Kitty J. Lin and Ryan C. Wood
We are committed to providing you with the best bankruptcy experience for a reasonable fee.
Your wages can no longer be garnished as soon as your bankruptcy case is filed. The automatic stay prevents creditors from continuing any type of collection action including garnishment. If the bankruptcy case is filed soon after your wages are initially garnished the money will be returned to you. To file bankruptcy we will need all of our attorney fees paid in full before a Chapter 7 case is filed and a portion of the attorney fees paid upfront if a Chapter 13 case is filed. We will also need a number of documents from you such as pay statement or proof of income, multiple years of tax returns, bank account statements, credit card statements and other applicable documents depending upon your financial circumstances. It usually takes us seven to ten days to draft your bankruptcy petition. Once the petition is drafted and you have completed the credit counseling course it is time to set an appointment to review and sign the petition for bankruptcy protection. Now the case can be filed. Once the case is filed we will then fax the notice of bankruptcy filing to your payroll department, levying officer for the wage garnishment and the law firm being used to enforce the judgment or who originally sued you. This will stop any further garnishment of your wages. We will then provide the trustee assigned to your bankruptcy case with the required documents. After the case is filed we will also now know the date and time of the 341 meeting of the creditors. This should be the one appearance you need to make. The meeting of the creditors is administered by the trustee assigned to your case. It is not with a judge or in a courtroom, but there are a number of formalities. You will be sworn it under penalty of perjury and the meeting is tape recorded. Of course we appear with you to make sure everything goes smoothly and if the trustee needs any additional information they are provided it as soon as possible. After conclusion of the meeting of the creditors the deadline for any creditors to object to discharge of their debts must pass and then the bankruptcy court can enter the order discharging your debts and close the case.
With offices in Redwood City, San Francisco, San Jose, Fremont and Oakland we represent clients throughout the Bay Area including San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Burlingame, Daly City, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Millbrae, Pacifica, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Mateo, South San Francisco, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Concord, Danville, Martinez, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, San Pablo, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, Berkeley, Dublin, Hayward, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Leandro and Union City.