When a person finds his debt to be unmanageable -- it becomes so bad that he can no longer pay it off without suffering severe cutbacks to his quality of life -- he may wish to receive counseling from a debt counselor. While a debt counselor has no legal authority to stop wage garnishments, it may be able to head them off by helping the person reduce his debts.
Consumer Debt
Many consumers choose to go into debt by taking out loans. An individual having a loan is not necessarily a bad thing. Most people with houses take out mortgages to pay for their homes. However, when people are late repaying these loans, they may face legal action to secure repayment. This can include the garnishment of wages.
Debt Counseling
When a person receives debt counseling, he receives advice from the debt counselor about how to manage his debts better and potentially pay them off. A counselor may recommend a number of solutions. This can include shifting the debt burden so that he pays off late accounts. In addition, the counselor may suggest that the individual attempt to settle debts with his creditors for less than he owes, to head off a lawsuit.
Debt Garnishments
If a person fails to pay back a loan on time and allows it to go into default, the creditor has a right to sue him for recovery. Many states will also allow the creditor to seek garnishment of the individual's wage. Most debt counselors have no legal authority to stop such garnishments. The only debt counselor who could do this would be on who also practiced law and was working as the debtor's legal counsel.
Considerations
While a debt counselor cannot stop current garnishments or file legal motions that will prevent future garnishments from going forward, it can offer advice that will minimize the chance of garnishment. It can do this by providing advice that allows the person to come up to date on his current debts. If a debt is not late, the creditor cannot sue for its recovery and the debtor cannot have his wages garnished.
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