How can I stop a garnishment of money in my bank account?  I live in
Georgia.  Is my social security exempt from garnishment in Georgia?  A
credit card company has a judgement against me for over $5000.  I
dispute their claim since I never did business with them, and because
nobody's name nor social security number (certainly not mine)appears
on any of their so-called "evidence".
   My only income is social security which is direct deposited to my
checking account each month.  Presently about there's about $300 in my
checking account.  I do not have a job, and I do not own property.
   If my social security income is exempt from seizure, what else
should I worry about?   Thanks very much

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Request for Question Clarification by aceresearcher-ga on 29 Oct 2002 08:15 PST

jzt,

If you do not yet know why this company thinks you owe them money,

YOU NEED TO FIND OUT RIGHT AWAY.

If this is really NOT your debt, it is entirely possible that you have
become a victim of IDENTITY FRAUD. Even if it is only a mistake on the
part of the credit card company or the credit reporting agency, it can
destroy your credit rating and make your life extremely difficult --
for months, or perhaps even years.

When did you find out that this credit card company had a judgment
against you? What evidence, if any, have they presented to you? Do you
have any idea why they think you owe them money?

The worst thing you can possibly do is just ignore this company
because you don't believe you have anything to seize. I realize you
may not be in a position to hire an attorney, but at the very least
you should find a Legal Aid organization who is willing to represent
you to try to clear up this mess.

aceresearcher

Hi,

The good news for you is that Social Security funds are not subject to
garnishment except in very specific circumstances, namely to pay
past-due federal taxes and to pay for child support.

The law is explained in the following page from the Social Security
Administration:

Levy and Garnishment of Benefits
http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/rulings/oasi/41/SSR79-04-oasi-41.html

The prohibition applies even after the benefits have been transfered
into a bank account.

Social Security benefits exempt from legal process
"In 1940 Congress added Section 407 to the Social Security Act to
provide that Social Security benefits are not transferable or
assignable and that none of the monies paid to recipients are subject
to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment or other legal process. In
a variety of federal court opinions over the years, this provision has
generally been construed to mean that social security benefits are
exempt from legal process both before and after they are received by
the recipient and whether or not they are commingled with other funds.
"In most of these cases the process involved state court action such
as a garnishment by a judgment creditor. In those cases, the courts
routinely hold that Congress intended to protect social security funds
from creditors, whether or not they are commingled with other funds of
the debtor."
http://www.idahocul.org/Leagueinfo/cameron/2000/oct00.htm

It is unclear from your question how far the legal process has
advanced.  If the credit card company has not yet filed a lawsuit
against you to collect the money, you should contact the credit card
company immediately and explain what is going on.  Like
Aceresearcher-ga states, you may be a victim of identity fraud, and
the credit card company doesn't want to suffer losses from fraud any
more than you do.  The longer you go without acting, the more reason
the company has to think you actually do owe the debt.

If the credit card company doesn't back off at that point, at the very
least you should explain your position in writing to the company.  In
any case, you should document every action you take.

If the company already has a court judgment against you, things are
more complicated.  There are legal papers you could file with the
court to indicate that the money in your account is made up of Social
Security proceeds and thus can't be garnished.  This matter would
probably be handled best by an attorney.  The action should be fairly
routine, so it shouldn't cost you much in attorney fees.

If you don't have any assets and your only income is from Social
Security, you should be safe from any legal process to collect the
judgment.

Best wishes,

mvguy



Google search term: garnishment "social security"
://www.google.com/search?num=25&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&q=garnishment+%22social+security%22

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Request for Answer Clarification by jzt-ga on 29 Oct 2002 11:34 PST

The lawsuit against me began with a Civil Action showing the court
certain material facts: Exhibit A is actually evidence of an agreement
of assignment between the credit card company and the plaintiff
(Calvary Investements assingee of KEY BANK. Exhibit B is a standard
credit card agreement.  Exhibit C is an affidavitmade by a VP of
Calvary Investments swearing that "there is justly due and owing" by
the Defendant a principle sum of $2,897 plus interest.
As mentioned, NO ONE is identified in Ex.A and B.  The plaintiff moved
for a summary judgement.                                              
                     Legal Aid told me to reply to the court to deny
indebtedness and that the Plaintiff's motion did not contain material
fact of any indebtedness, other than the VP's affidavit, said to be
uncontradicted.  The court found "no material issue of fact to be
decided" and entered the Plaintiff's motion for Summary against the
Defendant.
    Thankfully my social security income is safe, but how can I get
this court ruling off my record for good?

---

Clarification of Answer by mvguy-ga on 29 Oct 2002 14:30 PST

Since you have an official court judgment against you, the only thing
you can do to get the judgment off your record is to get the judgment
reversed.  That can't be done without court action, and it would be
difficult to do that without hiring an attorney.

In a summary judgement, what happens is that the court makes a ruling
on the basis of the evidence it has without holding a trial.  The bad
news, of course, is that the ruling went against you.  The good news
is that any appeals court will have the full record of the case and
thus can get a firsthand look at the evidence.

So what you will need to do to get the judgment off your record is to
appeal the summary judgment.  Like I said, this will probably require
a lawyer.  In the appeal, you would have to show that AS A MATTER OF
LAW the facts presented were insufficient for there to be a ruling
without a trial.

Usually, there's a deadline for how long you have to appeal after a
judgment is entered.  It may be stated on the court papers themselves,
or an attorney could readily tell you.  You MUST appeal before that
deadline, or you will likely miss your opportunity.

If the facts are as you present them, I think there's a pretty good
chance you could win on appeal.  If the only evidence presented to the
court was a signed statement from a bank and you deny that you had any
business to do with the claimant, then it seems that there is a
dispute over the facts.  That's what trials are for.  A trial might
end up in your favor or it might not, but the point to be decided in
an appeal is whether a trial was needed to decide what the facts are.

If you are successful in your appeal, it wouldn't necessarily mean
that you're home free.  It would probably mean that the dispute would
go back to the original court, which could then hold a trial.  What
the appeals court would say is that the court should have considered
whether the vice president made a mistake, or whether this was a case
of identity fraud, which certainly seems possible under the facts you
presented.

The bottom line, then, is that you need to talk to your attorney, and
as soon as possible so you don't miss any deadline.  The only way you
can get this judgment off your record is to appeal it to a higher
court.

Best wishes,

mvguy

Thank you all for the information provided.  I'll follow your sage advice.