I just received a date for a court hearing about a debt I can't pay

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How much is the debt? The collectors will have already run an asset check on you to determine what you own (home, autos, land,etc.) and if it's determined you own any of the above they can put a lien on what you owe aside from garnishing your wages.
A lien on any property prohibits you from selling it without the collections agency signing off on it.

Make sure you go, if you don't they will think you don't care and the judge will make the harshest decision possible. This happened to me. Don't let it happen to you.

If its small claims court they usually tell you and the people you owe to go outside and try to resolve it first. If you can promise to pay even a small amount per month and stick to it, and the other party agrees then they put it in as court order. If they do the court ordered you better do it as agreed or there can be worse trouble. Depending on the debt and size of it they usually only garnish wages as a last resort.

hope everything goes OK for you.

They will garnish your wages at a max of 10%. If you owe a million bucks then you will be paying for the rest of your life, but only 10%.

they ask if you work and do you have a checking account or a saving account . than they order a judgment to garnish your wages

When I went it was because I got caught for underage drinking. Along with us in the courtroom were others that got caught for driving offenses. When the judge tells you that you have to pay such and such amount, he will also ask you if you will be paying today. You can either tell him or answer him saying you don't get paid until a certain date, or that you need to be set up with some sort of financial plan where you make payments. I know our judge was fine with that. Hope that helps. This is also in New Hampshire...I dont know how it would work where ever you are.

Studly gave some excellent advice.

I just wanted to say that I also agree that Kristin gave you some bad advice by telling you to say yes to the judge.

The second that yes comes out of your mouth, the next thing you will hear is the judge saying "judgment granted" !!!!!!!
You will be given NO chance to defend yourself after that.

I also wanted to mention that you might want to check with Legal Aid and see if they can help you.

Depends on locality and judge. Usually, you are in a room with a lot of other people in court for the same thing. You wait until your case is called, you and a person from the company taking you to court will go before the judge. The judge will ask you if you owe the money. You say yes. The judge will ask when the last payment on this debt was made. If it was recently the judge may through the whole case out saying that you are trying to pay them back. If its been never or a while since the last payment was made, the judge issues a jugdement which is a court order that you pay the money. Then you and company can make arrangements to pay the bill (usually before you leave the courthouse). If you dont keep with those arrangements the company can decide to garnish your wages which requires another court date. They can garnish up to 25% of your wages.

Figure out what you can afford even if its $10-$15 a week. Its better than nothing and the company will take what it can get. Just keep with the payments you set and dont over extend yourself. If for some reason you cant make the scheduled payment call and notify the company. They will work with you and as long as you are making some sort of payments they cant take you back to court.

My advice is to call the company now and work out payment arrangements and make a payment (even if it is small) before the court date. This will look better in court and will usully end up in the judge not issuing a judgement. Judgements will show on your credit for up to 10 years.

I read Kristin's response with great amusement. As soon as I got to the part "The judge will ask you if you owe the money. You say yes."...I knew she was a collection agent. You of course, are a deadbeat! Pay your bills (that's pretty much the rest of her response.

OK, lets start again.

Gather up all of the material you have about your case. Contracts, bills, receipts, everything.

Did you attempt to pay this bill? Was the payments "reasonable"? In other words, if you owe $2000 and you were only making $10 a month payments, that is NOT a reasonable attempt to pay the debt. $150 is much better.

Bring along a record of your finances. Depending on the state you live in, the judge has the authority to order installment payments. If you lose your case, you can argue your case for payments, and have the financial records to back up you claims.

Now, when you go to court, you may have to "check in" with the court clerk. Every court I've been to seems to be differant, so don't be afraid to ask. If you fail to check in, they could award a default judgement against you. Or you may end up sitting in the courtroom all day, because they don't know you are sitting there.

Be on time! They are usually going to be running late and never call your case at the exact time, but if you are not there when it's called you automatically lose. Be prepared to sit around an hour or two if the cases in front of you take a while.

Don't dress like a slob! You are in a courtroom, so respect that fact.

When called, just present the facts, and answer the questions the judge asks. Don't volunteer any information. Remember, it's the plantiff's job to prove you owe the debt. It's not your job to prove you don't!

You may want to have time to examine the evidence that the plantiff has against you. You are allowed to see it prior to your trial. You may have to file a "discovery motion" prior to your hearing. At best they will simply reschedule your hearing. If it's a simple judgement argument it's probably not necessary.

If you lose, what happens next will depend on your state court rules. I'll use Michigan as an example.

You will be givin a judgement order from the judge. You have 28 days to pay this debt, or make payment arrangements with the plantiff. At this time you should file a "motion for installment payments" and ask the judge to fix payments at whatever you can afford (attach your financial statements as proof).

After 28 days, if the plantiff has not been paid, he can file a "judgement debtor" motion, where you are summoned to court to testify about your finances, bank accounts, work location and property. This information is given to the plantiff to assist in recovering from you. Failure to appear will result in a bench warrent to be issued against you (you don't want that!).

Next the plantiff must go to court and get an order for garnishment (if he's going after your wages or bank accounts) or a lien or seizure order. You are given this order and have 15 days to file an objection with the court. After that the money is garnished and sent to the plantiff.

You don't say if you owe this debt or not. If so, you may wish to try one last time to negotiate an arrangement with the creditor. This will avoid any further court costs or legal fees. If you don't owe it (or part of it) then obviously fight it.

Hope this helps you out.

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