CAN A MORTGAGE INSURER GARNISH YOUR WAGES

by successfaith2 » Thu Dec 23, 2010 03:43 am

IF YOUR LENDERS INSURER LIKE UNITED GUARANTY INSURED THE LOAN AND IT WENT INTO DEFAULT, CAN THIS INSURER HAVE YOUR WAGES GARNISH IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Total Comments: 5

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 06:00 am Post Subject:

Please go through your agreement papers so that you're prepared to handle it in a better way. You should also be aware of your state laws.

California allows wage garnishment following a judgment. The debtor has to be sued so that the creditor's right to money gets established. Wage garnishment is certainly a common form of garnishment and California is no exception.

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 06:12 am Post Subject:

CAN THIS INSURER HAVE YOUR WAGES GARNISH IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA



No. You paid a premium to the lender's "Private Mortgage Insurance" (PMI) company to cover any loss the lender incurs in the event of your default.

Before anyone may garnish another person's wages, there must first be a civil suit filed and a judgment rendered in favor of the plaintiff. You ("defendant") would have to be notified about the trial and the cause of action ("served") and given an opportunity to defend yourself.

Has anything like this happened?

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 02:58 pm Post Subject: served

yes, but i didn't see a court date on paper work. maybe I
should have called the court itself? Because now they are garnishing my check. While I'm pulling out of foreclosure with a 3 month trial period. When the mortgage lender ask for my check stubs again 3 months from now. Could they deny my loan modification because of the $520 garnishment twice a month?
I filed for exemption, waiting for response in 20 days. What are my chances of getting an exemption through the court? Any advise on what to do ?

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 03:05 pm Post Subject: served

But not by mortgage insurer that is....but by 2 credit card collection agencies I meant to say. That have garnished my check for $520 could this prevent my modification from goint thru after the 3 month trial period, this garnishment happened after the process of modification so in 3 months when the mortg lender as for recent paycheck stubs they will see another decrease in paya garnishment of $520 twice monthly. Any advise on what I should do?
Thank you.

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 03:22 pm Post Subject:

But not by mortgage insurer that is....but by 2 credit card collection agencies



Well, there you go!

If you were the "victim" of a default judgment for failure to appear at the trial/hearing, you can petition the court to have the order vacated and the matter reheard.

Prior to obtaining wage garnishment, there should also have been another hearing known as an "examination" of the judgment debtor (you) -- to see if there is a way to collect the amount due without such drastic measures as a wage garnishment. That hearing requires additional notice to you. Frequently, the plaintiff files fraudulent paperwork with the court to show that service was made, when in fact there was no such service of the notice of hearing. Default judgment results -- wage garnishment occurs.

yes, but i didn't see a court date on paper work. maybe I should have called the court itself?



That certainly would have been advisable.

Now, you mention that the suit(s) were filed by "credit card collection agencies". Normally, the collection agencies do not have "ownership" of the debt and have no legal standing to sue. You may have been sued by a collections attorney on behalf of the credit card company. but if you were actually sued by a collection agency, it could be that there was no valid claim -- but the fact that you did not appear to refute the complaint leaves the judge with no alternative but to grant the motion for judgment.

There are some real collection attorney jerks out there, like Mark Walsh in California who sues on behalf of Capital One. Walsh has an office in San Diego, files BOILERPLATE complaints in courts all over California, and mostly obtains DEFAULT JUDGMENTS when defendants fail to appear. But, in many cases, when defendants do appear, the cases are tossed because the debts are actually old (more than 4 years and uncollectable), or because defendants demand arbitration and Walsh will not arbitrate. In fact, he never even appears for trial -- he hires "specially-appearing" counsel, and merely sends them a list of cases, dates, and courtrooms in which to appear.

Those minion jerks come to court with a "script" of motions and legal mumbo-jumbo, but no knowledge of the case itself. Usually a different attorney at each hearing. When asked by the judge, "What is YOUR familiarity with this case?" the specially-appearing attorney must admit, "I just show up where I'm told to be." And when asked if they are ready to go to trial, they beg for a continuance "to prepare for trial" -- even though the original complaint was filed months prior.

They are never prepared for trial. They just keep asking for a continuance, which the court typically honors, hoping that the day comes when the defendant fails to appear, then WHAM! . . . default judgment. That's the entire strategy. Wear the defendant down by hearing after hearing after hearing. Motion after motion after motion. Miss one court date, and you're toast. But force them to go to trial, and Walsh is more likely to dismiss the matter than be heard.

So get an attorney or contact the Legal Aid Society in your jurisdiction and file a MOTION TO VACATE the judgment, to stay the garnishment, and have a new hearing on the matter. Don't try to do this on your own. You've already goofed it up severely, and you need someone who knows the proper case law to cite to get the court to agree to vacate its earlier order.

It may be possible to file the motion to vacate and obtain the stay of garnishment as an "ex parte" matter -- without the need for an appearance by the opposing party due to the immediacy/urgency of the matter. Your attorney/legal adviser can tell you if that's possible.

But if you are subject to a wage garnishment of $1000+ per month, you may already be overextended when it comes to your ability to pay a mortgage, even without the credit card judgment. You may need to reevaluate your entire financial situation.

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