That Attorney is Bluffing

Copyright © 2010 John Gliha 

How many people are so terrified of being sued because of a credit account? This is just plain silliness once you understand a few concepts. First, your credit card company for example is charging far more than the state’s legal limit on your interest rate. You can thank a district court appellate judge for his opinion in 1978 that opened the doors to this situation we face today. Do you realize that if your 29% interest rate credit card sues you and wins, it would take then about eight months to complete the process and by the time they obtained a judgment lien, if they did, the interest rate would be reduced to the state’s legal limit, usually about 9%. 

What’s more, the judgment lien creditor can only garnish a small portion of your paycheck, no more than 25% of your take home pay and even less if your state has a law saying so.  But what is even more incredible is that if you compare the amount of money you were voluntarily paying each month on this unfriendly, unfair 29% interest rate account, it would be about three times what you would pay from a wage garnishment two years later. 

And the punch line, that garnishment would legally block every other creditor you have from garnishing your paycheck as well.  And while they can levy on your bank account and encumber the equity in your home (if you still have any), it only takes a couple of hours to prevent this from ever happening, so it’s not even worth talking about. 

So why shop for another voluntary payment plan such as bankruptcy or settlement when you can just let them try and take your wages?  And not every creditor will even try to sue you.  The state already has a payment plan and by defaulting to that plan, you risk far less money than trying to voluntarily work with your creditors and you are then protected from all creditors except one at a time. 

This is exciting enough but when we explain this to clients, they ask, “So if I don’t need any payment plan and you already gave me this information for free, why do I need to pay anyone for help?”  The answer is you really don’t, but the service we provide is walking you through the exact steps to protect your property, banking, small business, cash flow and wages so that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and risk doing something or not doing something that would allow a creditor to take money or property.  We even guarantee the results in writing. 

It’s a bit like I tell my wife when she says I should fix something in the house or paint it myself.  I explain that while I could do that, it’s better to have a professional who does it all the time and who also provides a warranty.  You wouldn’t believe how much of my “to-do list” I’ve gotten out of this way.