Can my wages be garnished FOR A DOCTORS BILL OF 102.00 ?
By themselves, debt collectors have absolutely no legal power over you., they cannot garnish your wages or freeze checking accounts…only a court can authorize this and they’d have to go through the court system to do this. Debt collectors love nothing more than to pretend to be (or represent) attorneys when this is not the case to scare people into paying them. This is a violation of federal law. If they threaten you with a lawsuit/legal action, then ask for their attorney’s full name and license number in the state bar association. Call your state bar association to confirm this info. If they refuse to give this info to you, then the legal threat is probably a bluff.
They have the right to do so if you won’t pay the bill with a court order. First thing to do if it has been less than 30 days of the collection notice is to send them a certified return receipt letter requiring validation of the debt. They must prove with original paperwork that you owe the debt, so dispute their claim if you don’t. If you do owe it, work with them to pay it, because they will get it out of you via court if refuse to pay. During the validation, they have to cease all collection efforts and respond within 30 days or you can see them for $1,000 for breaking the Fair Credit Collections Act, which collection agencies break all the time.
