If you fall behind on a debt payment, you can expect your creditor to send you letters and make phone calls to try to recover your past-due amounts. If your debt becomes severely delinquent--usually six months or more--the creditor may also sue you, which gives the creditor the right to pursue garnishment of your bank balances and liquidation of personal property. You may wonder if a creditor can go after your spouse as well. In Pennsylvania, a creditor typically cannot pursue your spouse.
Individual Property
Pennsylvania is not a community property state, in which all assets and debts accrued after marriage belong to both spouses, regardless of whose name appears on the loan, deed or title. If you incur a debt alone in Pennsylvania, without your spouse's name on the debt, the creditor typically cannot pursue collection of the debt from your spouse.
Jointly Held Debt
Although Pennsylvania law typically protects your spouse from collection efforts for a debt that you solely own, the same does not hold true for debt held jointly by you and your spouse. If both your name and your spouse's name are listed on the loan, the creditor can pursue collection of past-due amounts from your spouse. If you refuse to pay a debt or make no attempt to resolve your past-due balance, your creditor may file a lawsuit to obtain a civil judgment against both you and your spouse.
Bank Account Garnishment
Pennsylvania law does not permit wage garnishment in most circumstances, except when the debt involves unpaid taxes or child support. However, a creditor that has obtained a valid judgment against you for a debt may garnish your bank account balances. This means that it may take wages deposited into your bank account, regardless of whether you or your spouse earned the money.
Bankruptcy
If you file Chapter 7 bankruptcy alone, and a debt included in your bankruptcy is jointly held by you and your spouse, the creditor may pursue collection against your spouse to recover the discharged debt. However, if you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Pennsylvania, you or your attorney may file a co-creditor stay, which prevents the creditor from seeking recovery from your spouse as long as you make your bankruptcy payments as ordered by the court.
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