Debt Collection

Yes, a debt collector could try to collect it. However unless this is a judgment the statute of limitations have expired and they would not be able to sue you or take any legal actions.

They could not even threaten to take any such legal actions or reporting to credit and if they did they would be violating 15 USC 1692e § 807 which forbids a debt collector from use any false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt.

If this is a judgment then that may change the answer, since some states have judgments that last more then 20 years, some even forever.

No, in fact you don't even have to deal with them if you don't want to, they are just tactics they use to get your employment info so when and if they try and sue you and if successful they will file a writ with the courts immediately to garnish your wages. Never give them your bank account info, your credit card number or employment info.

Yes. Motor vehicle violations are so much cheaper to pay if they are paid right away. If not the penalties make the debt grow. Non-payment can also result in a refusal to renew your license to drive.

Yes, in some cases a parent can be responsible for the debts of an adult child. Prime examples are cases where parents acted as a guarantor for emergency medical service, owned a automobile involved in an accident, or co-signed on a loan or credit card for their adult child.

However, if this is just some creditor or collections agency contacting you on a debt you have nothing to do with making a threat to hold you responsible, or even spoke with you in any detail regarding your adult child's debts then they are in violation of 15 USC 1692c § 805(b) for communicating a debt with a third party and 15 USC 1692e § 807 for making false and misleading statements.

I would suggest contacting a FDCPA attorney in your area since your son would be entitled to statutory civil damages for these violations, and you may be also, especially if they attempt to report this debt upon your credit.

Generally IRAs are protected from creditors, and bankruptcy reform back a few years ago put them into the same category as pensions and annuities, which are exempt from seizure under federal bankruptcy law under 11 USC 522(d)(12) up to $1-Million in total value.

On a State level there are some variations on if a Civil Judgment could attach to these types of retirement accounts. I would suggest that you talk with an attorney in your State for the fine details has there are many factors that can effect your defense on garnishing the IRA.

Typically these types of actions can be seen on your credit within 30-60 days. There are no laws or rules that requires a credit reporter to immediately post "closed" or "settled" to an individuals credit. Most just report data to the credit bureaus once monthly.

No they don't, usually the OC hires or farm out their accounts that are in collection status to CA's.

It depends on where you live.

Wages garnishments are obtained by an order of the court after other means of collecting upon a judgment have failed. The limit of how much can be taken in a wage garnishment depends on your state, and you should receive a copy of the Motion for Wage Garnishment that typically lists the percentage of your wages they are seeking to take.

For example, in Florida requires creditors to serve a notice of rights to the defendant upon receipt of the employees answer with a form for the defendant to fill out to claim exemptions prior to anything being touched. If you update your question with your state I can provide you with the rules.

This is America so you can sue anyone for just about any reason you can think about. However, I think that the question you're really asking is have your rights been violated and are you entitled for some damages. Generally speaking, and according or law precedence, you would not win such a lawsuit unless they ignored your dispute and/or proof that the listed debt was not yours.

Anyone that reports information to your credit, regardless of being good or bad information, must do so in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Just to summarize, this sets the requirements to provide "accrete and correct" reporting along with sets the process for disputes. Since we live in an imperfect world it is not uncommon that credit information is incorrectly reported, and this can occasional include reporting to the wrong debtors credit. This could have occurred from a very wide range of reasons from similar names to mistakes in entering the social security number, to more outside problems such as true name fraud.

If there is information reported on your credit that is not accrete and/or correct the best thing to do is send both the listed creditor and reporting bureau a letter disputing the information and/or debt. If this was an active credit line that you had not opened, I would also suggest to contact the creditor by telephone and possibly involve the police because you might be a victim of identify fraud. The creditor and reporting bureau must by law respond to your dispute with confirmation that the information has been verified or removed.

Generally speaking if it was just an error it will most likely be removed upon first dispute, however if it is more of a complex dispute it may take some more hard work to get it removed. You can contact a credit and collections attorney who may be able to help clear up the problem, however I would not suspect that there would be anything you could file suit regarding. To prevent these types of problems I suggest signup with a credit monitoring service, since most would send you alerts when any new information is added to your credit files, and can help with quickly detecting mistakes or fraud attempts.

If you have a job on top of the assistance, that money can be garnished. Anything you might get back for income tax refund can be taken also. The government assistance can't be garnished.

You'll probably have to file bankruptcy. >_> In the USA, legally, nothing can happen to you. You can't be arrested and thrown in jail, or anything of that nature. Debtor's prisons are not allowed in this country.

That is true

Maybe, but no homeowner knows in advance how much a bank will accept or even whether it will consider an offer for less than the total amount owed. The best idea is to speak with the bank about getting the principal reduced in a loan modification or allowing the borrowers to pay less than what is owed in order to sell the house in a short sale.

Passbook

The easiest way to find out if you are in a debt collection process is when a debt recovery agency contact you or the creditor some times handle debt collection inhouse.

Usually collection agencies send a demand letter but that depends after the creditor turn to collections their receivables

A vesting assent is given by a personal representative of an estate in the UK to convey legal ownership of property that is the subject of a bequest or devised to a tenant-for-life of 'settled property'.

'Settled property' is a complex feature of UK property law. You can read more about it at the link provided below.

A judgment lien is good for around 20 years in most jurisdictions. It must be rerecorded every six years in Massachusetts.

One at a time, but that just means that additional garnishments will be done after the first one has expired or is paid in full.

Yes. If someone has gotten a judgment against you & you have failed to pay them, they can file for a wage garnishment also.

As long as the child is not a cosigner on the debt, the child is not responsible for parent's debt. The parent's estate would be responsible for the debt. Technically this could reduce the inheritance the child receives, but it is not the responsibility of the child.

They must respond and send a representative to the hearing. If they lose, they have to pay.

In most cases the debts of the deceased, including credit cards, are the responsibility of the estate. The estate, or its beneficiary should reimburse any valid debtors before giving any of the assets away. Consult a probate attorney in your jurisdiction for help.

Prior to the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 which came into effect on February 22, 2010, yes the banks could over draft your account to pay a debt card purchase and then charge you an NSF fee, or several depending on how many charges posted that night.

The new laws now require customers to "signup" or "opt-in" for that form of "over draft protection" otherwise if you do not have the funds you'll get the decline at the point of sale, but not the surprise fees on your bank statements.