No one is going to garnish your pay for $200. The court costs to get a judgment would be more than they would receive back.

I have a detailed article on my blog detailing this scenario -- http://receivableaccounts.blogspot.com/2011/02/collection-agency-legal-department-fact.html

However, they could put the balance on the credit bureau. Best contact Trans Union and Equifax to see if it is there.

Hopefully this helps you.

I have a question .I collector lady called me at work and said that she will garishee my pay .How long would that take her to do? Can I do anything before that happens?I am from Alberta.

So my husband went to the dentist last fall and was told his treatment may not be completely covered. He was surprised and they told him not to worry about it, it should be fine but they would let him know. Never heard that all treatment wasnt covered, so he proceeded. A month later we get a bill for almost two hundred dollars! Unfortunately instead of dealing with it right away he left it. Then we moved and didnt receive any of her bills. the short of it is that she has now sent us to collections-after i sent her an email asking she meet us halfway, we would pay half and she would cover the rest. Collections is now telling us it is out of the dentist's hands and the full amount has to be paid with interest. My question is how far can they push us? I know he will go into the credit bureau but his credit is crap and that doesnt make a difference to us. Can they try to garnish his wages(he is on disability right now)? take him to court? I tried to work out payment with collections but will not pay all of it. I thought once we get their formal letter to send a cheque for half the amount and a letter stating that's all we can afford and if they want to take us to court, go ahead. So I guess the next question would be are the repercussions going to be worse later on if we dont pay all of it or are we within our rights here?

You wages can only get garnished if you default on a judgment order arising from a trial. Not before! It takes time. Trust me!

I don't know why you want to send them a registered letter, but if you do, go to any post ofice and say "I want to register this letter and fork over....it used to be $7.50; I don't know what they jacked it up to now.

I would tell them to take the $175.00 or leave it. Otherwise, let them know you'll see them in court. If they bug you any more, give them your best impersonation of Dana White in a bad mood.

I'm not saying you should want them to take you to court, nor should you try to get them to. But if they so wish, tell them to go ahead because surely you will come out ahead.

After all, they, and more importantly, the judge at the pretrial conference and possible trial will know that you're already under a heavy debt repayment plan with other creditors. Highly unlikely they'd get $175 a month order with interest in those circumstances if you present yourself responsibly in Court.

I know if I was a creditor in their shoes, I'd be happy to take the $175 as opposed to laying out the time, cost and effort necessary to go to court. And all for probably a lot less than what they are getting now. But who knows, the collection agency will do whatever, the creditor tells them.

Ray

Also, how do you send a registered letter? What should be its content?
Will the collection agency continue to call? What will be the next step after they receive the letter?
sorry for all the questions.

Thanks for the information.Should i tell them to seek legal action than? All i need is untill income tax time and i can pay a settlement amount. I will continue to pay 175.00 a month to show i am paying what i can afford.
I just wanted assurances that i will not be garnished without legal action on their part.

They can't garnish your wages without taking you to Small Claims Court. But before it comes up for actual trial, there's a mandatory mediation conference for the plaintiff and defendant. If no pretrial settlement is reached, it goes to actual trial. Then - and only then - if the plaintiff gets a judgment, and you default on the payment order, can they make an application to have your wages garnished up to about 20%. But if that's too much you can also apply for a garnishment hearing to have the terms reduced. As you can see, all that would take at least 6 months to 12 months depending on where you live.

But Wells Fargo would be pretty stupid to do any of that. If the person shows the court they are labouring under difficult circumstances, payment orders of $10 to $20 dollars a month are common with no interest while not in default. I'm not saying you'll necessarily get something that low, but if you can show the court your circumstances are onerous, the chance of them getting the $175 a month they are receiving now is small.

So what the hell; your credit rating is already screwed so tell them to sue away if they want. You can only come out ahead. The collection agency will have already done several searches on you, and if they see your financial situation is not good, it is quite likely they are only bluffing.

Remember Christmas is coming and there's a lot of pressure on the collection agencies to meet Christmas bonus targets so they can buy bigger yachts. Obviously, I have know way of knowing if they are bluffing but I would think they probably are. But I do know, if they sued, you would almost certainly come out with more favourable terms.

Ray

Hello, im from ontario. I have a 6000 dollar debt with WellsFargo that went into collections with Alliance One a year ago. Wells Fargo refused to go into a debt mangement program that i am in. i agreed to pay monthly payments of 175 to alliance one untill i am able to have a lump sum to pay it all off. They now claim that i must pay a settlement amount of 4600.00 or they will start garnishing my wages. Can they start garnishing my wages wiytout a legal judgement? How long would it take for them to get one? What is my best plan of action?