CAN WAGE GARNISHMENT BE AVOIDED?

[JACKT]

Here is my situation in a nutshell...

Had a large amount of CC debt when married, as part of a divorce, was saddled with majority of debt... Lost my job approx. 1 year after, stopped making payment on a CC because I could not afford them. Contacted creditor, they gave me reduced payments, but they were still more than I could afford on unemployment... Got a temp job for about a year, which paid very low, still could not make the reduced payments... was served with a lawsuit for approx $10,000 this past November. I filed an answer pro se, and also answered interrogs (Pressler/Pressler). I own no real property and have nothing in bank, I work paycheck to paycheck.

In December, I obtained a new job, working for a State agency, the pay is a lot better than the temp gig, but not very high. I am scheduled for a trial in February, they just filed to have it decided without trial.

PROBLEM IS, if my new employer gets a notice to garnish my wages, in all likelyhood I will lose my job - they don;t want to hear I had a debt go to trial for non-payment. Is there any way to PAY off the judgement WITHOUT having wages garnished on a payment plan? Is there some way to negotiate that?

I did read the 7 page "collecting a debt in NJ" PDF someone posted.

thanks in advance for your reply.

[zelner]

First of all, if you are working for the state then I seriously doubt they will fire you because their payroll people have to do a wage garnishment on your paycheck. (unless you are in some highly sensitive position involving money) In fact, I doubt any private employer would ever fire someone for a wage garnishment. It is a very common occurrence and not a big deal for the employer to comply with.

It should be easy to work out a payment plan with your creditor. In fact, a creditor would have to have its head up its ass not to welcome an offer from a debtor to work out a paymet plan. You should contact the plaintiff's attorney and let them know you are interested in a payment plan. Send them a letter outlining proposed terms of the plan.