Q: I have received a summons for a debt that I am responsible for. I am not sure what I need to do?

A: I would contact a lawyer, preferably one that deals with bankruptcy and debt issues. I know you want to take care of this debt but before you do pay it, you might want to know if bankruptcy is a better option which it might be if you have a lot of other debts. I see people struggle to pay one debt only to finally file bankruptcy when other creditors later show up. All they money the paid for the first debt is just gone and they still file bankruptcy. Economically you usually come out ahead if you file bankruptcy and clean up all your debt. A chapter 7 will be an easy process and take about 4 months from start to finish. If for some reason you have property that might not be protected from creditors in a chapter 7 proceeding, a chapter 13 payment plan can be filed instead and while it takes longer, 3-5 years of monthly payments, the payments can be set low and you don't have to pay 100% of the debts. You will be discharged from the balance that isn't paid when you complete the payment plan. You get to keep any property that wasn't exempt and otherwise would have been attached by the creditors. So if you have more than one debt, even if the other debts aren't actively pursuing you at the moment, get legal advice as to a bankruptcy alternative.

As for this debt if it is your only debt, the creditor is likely to proceed to garnish your wages if you can't offer to pay them more than they would get garnishing you per pay check. So I don't think you will gain anything by trying to negotiate with them. The only way to certainly prevent garnishment is to file a bankruptcy. Garnishment is not the end of the world. If you have only this one debt, you will essentially pay it off by allowing the garnishment which will only be 25% of your after tax wages, and you can't be garnished until you have earned at least a minimum amount, roughly equivalent to minimum wage. The only draw back to paying off a debt through a garnishment is that the Judgment will include interest, either the default interest for Oregon Judgements which is 9% or a higher interest if this debt is for something like a credit card that listed an interest rate in the contract. People sometimes find that the garnishment doesn't quickly reduce the debt because the interest keeps increasing it. The only way to cut of interest is to pay of the principle debt in one payment. (If you can find funds to pay off the debt you could pay it now before a judgment is finalized. There are a couple of ways to do that but I would direct you to consult with a lawyer. It can be tricky and you want to get this over with.)

A: Your Summons will tell you how long you have before you must file an Appearance in court or be subject to having a default judgment taken against you. Yes, you need to clearly and actively address the matter if you wish to avoid garnishment. Your first step should be to consult with a collections or consumer law attorney to determine if you have defenses to the debt or to see if some sort of a compromise or settlement can be reached with the plaintiff. Alternately, if you have substantial other debt or if this one is large enough to justify it, you may wish to consider filing bankruptcy as an option. If so, consult with a local bankruptcy attorney - their initial interviews are usually free. Depending upon your credit record, the size of the debt, and a variety of other factors, plaintiffs, particularly collection agencies, may well settle for less than payment of the entire amount owed if you are willing to voluntarily pay a substantial part now or perhaps a payment plan can be established. My experience is a bit different than Ms Reisman's in that I have found many creditors, like collection agencies, may well agree to a voluntary payment plan that pays them less per month than garnishment would get them though in those cases they likely will insist upon being paid in full in the end. The fact that you will voluntarily send them a check every month rather than make them go through the hoops of having to issue a writ of garnishment, hope they are the first or only current Writ, and then re-issue it every 90 days assuming you don't change employers, is often worth a reduction in the amount of monthly payment. Bottom line - at least review everything with either a collections/consumer law attorney or a bankruptcy attorney or both to be able to make an informed decision as to how to best proceed and to see if you have potential defenses you may not even be aware of. Good luck.