Refusal to Pay, Debt Collection Agency and Bank Account Information
I really need help fast and I don't know what to do; I'm hoping you can answer a question for me. I only have one more day left to make this decision and I'm running in circles trying to get it resolved. For the moment I need to know if a "Law Firm Engaged in Debt collection" can demand my checking account number, and if so, will the bank freeze my account? They were granted a judgement against me because again, I could not get an answer as to how I was to respond to that. I paid a debt relief company to help me but now that I really need them, I' can't reach them. I've been trying for almost two weeks, and just sit on hold, until I give up, sometimes more than hour. I live in Pennsylvania.
Can a debt collector demand my checking account number and freeze my bank account?
—Help in PA
Short answer
State law limits how much a judgment creditor can take from your bank account, caps how heavily your wages can be garnished, and protects some of your personal property from seizure.
Key points on this page
- State law limits what amount of money can be levied or taken from your bank account to pay a judgment
- State law protects you from heavy wage garnishment
- State law limits a debt collector seizing some of your personal property to satisfy a judgment
- When asking about your own situation, include the creditor or debt buyer, the collection agency if different, your state, and whether there is a judgment or active court case
The above debt collection question and below comments with additional responses are from an email exchange with a reader yesterday.
State law limits what amount of money can be levied or taken from your bank account in order to pay a judgment. State law further protects you from heavy wage garnishment, and from a debt collector seizing some of your personal stuff in order to satisfy a judgment.
Anyone with a related question can post it in the comment for feedback. Be specific with what you have going on. It helps when you include:
- The name of the credit or debt buyer involved.
- The name of the collection agency involved if different than above.
- The state you live in.
- If there is a judgment or an active court case.
- What your goals are for resolving the debt.
Including those details (use an anonymous screen name if you like), often helps me offer more detailed feedback to readers.
If you want to talk offline you can reach me at 800-939-8357, choose option 2.
About Michael BoveeMichael started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed debt and credit help and education. Michael has participated as an expert panelist in federal consumer protection rule making, collaborated on state law changes governing debt consolidation, has worked as an expert witness in court matters related to the debt relief industry. He is available to speak with you about your financial struggle and helps people resolve their debt problems daily.
I’m in ny, I owe 5600 on a charged off account, I have 1500 in my bank account, can that be frozen or taken?
Only if you have been sued and a judgment entered in court.
Who is the creditor?
When did you stop paying?
Portforlio Credit Recovery has frozen my husband’s bank account with Chase. Chase says the judgement is for $2200 but they’re holding over $4000 causing his account to be negative. We have rent and other bills due. We are in Florida, what recourse do we have?
You typically have to contest any of this with the court, as they are the ones that sign off on the bank levy. It can take a couple of days for the freeze to thaw and the money – that is more than what the bank levy listed – to be available.
We also found out that the name on the order is incorrect. The judgement is for Michaela instead of Michael A. The bank says the SSN matches though. Who should he raise that issue to? The bank or the collector?
I would raise any issues with the court if it were me.
I live in pa and wondering if I have a $2,500 judgement against me and I only have $200 dollars in the bank can they still freeze my account and if they do how long can they freeze the account for ? Secondly can they withdraw my account for the remaining $2,300 dollars leaving me with a negative total account and satisfying their collection efforts for judgement ? If they take nothing how long can my account be frozen ?
Pennsylvania has no exemption for bank accounts, but you cannot have your wages garnished.
Talk to an experienced debt collection defense attorney in PA and get your questions about how long your account can be frozen, as I am not sure. They should not be able to take in excess of what you have on deposit.
Hi – We are in PA and our bank accounts were frozen by a civil judgment from a past landlord who sued us for rent for the two months he was unable to rent the property and for repairs and carpet cleaning. He also kept our security deposit. We were also sued for his attorney fees and legal fees. The judge awarded him $3008. We have made some payments but other financial demands caused us to not be able to continue. They have now frozen our bank accounts and have over $1000. Can they take our entire bank account. My husband’s paycheck is direct deposited and that money was to pay our rent. While I understand it is legal – Can they take it all.
You cannot garnish wages in Pennsylvania, but you can levy bank accounts and lien property. There is a small $300 exemption that you can petition the court to be returned to you, but that has to cover some other property too, so it may not be effective fro you.
In PA it is often better for people with judgments against them to take steps to keep their money out of a bank that is associated with their own name and social security number, until the judgment is resolved.
Is the judgment against both of you, or just one?
I defaulted (I think, back in 2009 due to lost job and a baby) on a credit card w a balance of $800 to Capital One. Patenaude and Felix, APc has since taken over the debt. Last week when I looked at my bank account there was a court ordered levy for $2800.00. I had no knowledge of this debt and would think that it was out of statue, also, was never served anything… What if any options do I have?
Are you in California?
If you were never served, or knew about the lawsuit, you have at least a little bit of a chance to get the case vacated. Let me know if you are interested in pursuing that and I can email you some contact details of an attorney in CA that regularly helps with that sorta thing.
Yes, I am run California. As I read on, the bank account garnished is also in my husband’s name however he had nothing to do with the debt… I would like the name of someone in Ca who deals with this stuff at your convenience. Thank you and I hope you have a great day!
I sent you an email with the info you will want to follow up on. Let me know how the situation develops.
Hi Michael,
I know that in PA wages cannot be garnished for a civil judgement. Can a creditor from a civil judgement garnish your bank account? How could I prevent this?
The creditor has already threatened to tag property & take what he wants.
Thank you.
You have little to no bank account protections in PA. Check out this video about delaying judgment collections.
I found out I had my bank account frozen because of a judgement from discover. ( Long ago debt) The attorney is trying to unfreeze it because he didn’t know it was a joint account, the bank told him it was only mine, but my spouse is not the one at fault. The bank is having a hard time faxing over info to the attorney proving that the account is a joint account. I gave them the fax number. So I faxed over a bank statement to attorney but that wasn’t good enough because it had the word “or” between our names on statement. My question is will my husband’s money be frozen aso and future direct deposits? I want to make arrangements to pay for the debt do I talk to the attorney who is handling the debt? The attorney wasn’t real clear as to what to do,. Or do I have to call the court house to get this resolved?
Who is the collection law form involved?
What state are you in?
Swicker & Associates, I’m in Pa
Talk to one of the attorneys in PA that I am sending you contact details for. Most offer a no cost initial consult and can readily answer the question about your joint account being levied.
Also found out that my husband’s direct deposits will be available. And the bank said it is a joint account. Attorney said i can make arrangements with the collection after account is unfrozen
How much is owed on the Discover judgment?
6700.00.
The bank account is unfrozen but found out that there is a levy on my property. Do I have to contact a lawyer or can I continue to work with the collection agency referred to me by the plaintiff’s attorney? I already talked to her & she is giving me little time to come up with the balance. As far as making payments she asked for way too much a month! I read that I could go to the clerk of court to fill out a form with amount I can afford to pay & that they will send that to the creditor. Is that true? I’m thinking about withdrawing my retirement to pay off the balance. I’m worried about the time frame for it being settled. I don’t want to lose my house. Thank you for helping.
Check out this video I did about bank levies and liens.
You do not need an attorney to help you resolve the Discover judgment with Zwicker. You can often negotiate a lower lump sum pay off. I have a page up about negotiating with Zwicker and Associates.
You cannot have your wages garnished in Pennsylvania. Setting up a monthly payment through the court is a reality, but I would opt for saving up half-ish in order to settle.
They have the lien on your home as a guarantee they will eventually get paid, and not to take your home from you.
I hear you on tapping into retirement money in order to tackle a stressful situation like this, but try to avoid that if you can. Try to pull the money together a different way, and over a period of time if necessary.
I’m not sure if my property is levied now. I think they referred to my bank as ” property”. I read the page on Zwicker. They said I owe 8,000 & told me they would bring it down to 7000. if I paid in full. Or they will accept 732.00 payment a month. I can only afford 100.00. Do I have to agree with what they want or will they eventually come to terms with what I am able to pay?
You do not have to agree to the amount they want you to pay each month. But you cannot, per say, force them to take $100 a month.
Keep your name off bank accounts and know that a property lien is common. Come up with a strategy to get half or more of the balance owed and negotiate a pay off that you get documented by them first before you pay. It could happen next month or next year.
My wife has a summary judgement against her for a credit debt from 2008 before we were married. I remember back in 2010 or 2011 she received letters from a debt collection agency, Mapother and Mapother, stating they were trying to collect and I disputed the charges and whether they actually where legal owners of the debt and we heard nothing more until now.
Then a summary judgement was awarded in Lexington Kentucky to a different debt collector and we never received anything about until two weeks ago. We received the order for summary judgement dated June 28, 2013 from debt collector from Louisville Kentucky named Fenton and McGarvey and then yesterday we received a wage garnishment. My wife does not work and left the business the wage garnishment was sent to over 4 years ago. The original debt shows $4500 but they are claiming she now owes $12000 after interest fees and etc.
My big question is if they can levy our joint bank account even if she incurred the debt before our marriage and she has not contributed to the account for over 4 years. Should I remove her name from the joint checking account or close the account while I fight this action and try to vacate the summary judgement? How would be the best way to fight this debt?
Thanks.
Jeff
If you can get her removed from the account it will prevent the next bank levy. Opening a new account at the same, or a different bank, can work well too (just in your name).
Who is the named plaintiff on the lawsuit? Who does Fenton and McGarvey say they work for now?
Kentucky caps judgment interest. I cannot see how they got from the balance then, to what they assert is owed now.
What is your goal for resolving the judgment?
I live in NYC and have a lot of old credit card debt. All have been sold to law firms & are over the statute of limitations, and only the one I’m paying off currently was actually served according to law. I did not receive any notice of the other 2 lawsuits until recently (several years after they was filed, allegedly in 2010), but unfortunately i never went to court on any of them.
My bank account was frozen from one of them, so i had to negotiate a payment plan of $100/mos., even though that is beyond what i can afford. Ive been paying it for over a year. The firm would not take less, even after explaining my financial hardships.
Now I rec’d another Notice to Judgement debtor re: a different debt stating I owe $3,744.29 & if not paid they may freeze my account.
I cannot afford to pay ANOTHER $100/mos., but don’t know how to negotiate with them for less. I can offer a lump sum of $1000 to settle but not anymore than that. Will they accept that little? How do I do this & what if they won’t accept? Also, what about having to pay taxes on remaining bal. & damage to my credit? Where am I s opposed to get all this money from?
Would appreciate any help you can provide.
Who is the collection law firm you are paying the $100 a month to, and who are they collecting for (name of the plaintiff that sued)?
Who is the law firm trying to collect on the new balance, and who are they working for? You said you were not sued properly on this one. Post some more details on what you meant by that.
Here is an article about paying taxes after you settle a debt for less. Do not let tax implications side track you from resolving this stuff. If you do end up owing (many people don’t), it is better than the alternative.