Re: Stop impending garnishment with another garnishment?

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> I'm in a predicament. I have some outstanding student loans which have
> been dormant for some time. Today, however, I got a call from the
> guarantor's legal services department. The call would not concern me
> much, but it came to my work. I'm afraid a garnishment might be coming
> soon.
> 
> I don't want to be garnished for obvious reasons, but I have another,
> as well. Due to the bad loan debt, I was not able to qualify for the
> place I'm renting. A family member did it for me, and if I start
> getting garnished, it's highly unlikely I can afford to pay the rent.
> I don't want to put this person in the position of defaulting on a
> lease.
> 
> Can I ask this person to sue me and get a judgment against me? If so,
> she could then request garnishment to shield that income. I don't know
> enough about legal maneuvering to be sure, but I'm guessing that with
> judgments and garnishments it would be first come, first served.
> 
> Anyone feeling an urge to preach about accountability, please spare
> me... It's a bad economy, and the degree I got comes nowhere near
> paying for itself. If things improve, I'll pay up then.Thanks for any
> help or advice.

Garnishments are first come, first served, pretty much. Some states
(California is apparently one) allow only one garnishment; the first
one received must be honored by the employer and the second one sent
back. If these were legitimate garnishments, and you could arrange for
the less painful one to be received first, you could conceivably work
this to your advantage.

But this is a creative scheme to manufacture a fraudulent conveyance.
You obtain a judgment for a "debt" you have no obligation to pay, so
that your fraudulent creditor can protect your wages from your real
creditor. Because you're getting the money back under the table
(whether in cash, or by your relative paying the rent), it also smells
of abuse of process, fraud, and various other charges a creative
plaintiff could come up with.

I don't know whether defrauding a creditor that way is a crime in your
state. Whether it is or isn't, it would still be vulnerable as a
fraudulent conveyance. Your real creditor could disregard the
fraudulent garnishment, by getting it vacated or by getting a
creditor's bill against your relative, or any of a number of tactics.

-- 
Not a lawyer,

Chris Green