I am being sued by a credit card company in Georgia. Can they take my car

Question

I am being sued by a credit card company in Georgia. Can they take my car

Answer

Once they get a judgment, they can go after your car, your home, your pay and your bank accounts. I assume since you have been sued that you immediately went to see a lawyer as you have a very short period to act, be it an answer, counterclaim, bankruptcy or whatever. That lawyer will tell you what your best option is.

Answer

It depends. Credit card companies can do nothing until they get a judgment. Once the judgment has been entered (and they do not have to give you notice as to when that will be) they can do nothing for 30 days until the judgment becomes final.

Once filed they can get a writ of execution called a fieri fascias (latin) or "FiFa."

They will then use the FiFa to have the sheriff look for any bank accounts that you have or any other assets that are owned free and clear. If your car is worth more than $3500 and is owned free and clear it is at risk. If the car is still being financed, then it cannot be seized.

Judgment creditors look for easy sources of money to pay the judgment. They don't really want your stuff as it costs money to have the sheriff seize, store and sell your things. And sheriff's sales do not bring in anywhere near what the car or other assets would be worth.

The easiest sources are (a) wage garnishment and (b) levy on bank accounts. Unless you are are retired or self-employed, they can garnish up to 25% of your disposable pay, There is a handy chart that you can use at the US Department of Labor - here is the link:

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs30.pdf

If you have over $10,000 in debt, then maybe consider filing bankruptcy. Scott Riddle and Glen Ashman are attorneys at Law Guru who may be able to assist, but I am sure there are others in your area.

If you have just been served and if you have any valid defenses, then maybe you should get a litigation lawyer who specializes in credit card defense. Valid defense are generally that: (1) collection of the debt is barred by the statute of limitations (the statute is 6 years in Georgia; it begins with the last payment on the debt); (2) its not your debt because of identity fraud/theft; (3) you don't owe as much as is claimed (them adding interest since the delinquency has occurred does not count as a defense) or (4) that you already paid.

If this is your debt and you have no options and if bankruptcy is not right for you and you are interested in resolving this debt in a non-litigation/non-bankruptcy context, I can help for a reasonable fee. Please contact me at [email protected]/* */ if interested.