Posted on June 10, 2009 at 9:14 pm They've been calling me frequently for a debt they say I owe them. All i know is I owe my original creditor, not the agency. They've also been threatening to take my disability away. I do not think that is possible, i highly doubt their statements, but i need some insider input on this. Thank you for your help

Posted on June 10, 2009 at 10:09 pm Disability payments cannot be garnished at all. However certain exceptions apply, especially if you still owe taxes, alimony, child support, or student loans.

Posted on June 10, 2009 at 10:37 pm Ok, but up to what extent can these be garnished? what are the other Exemptions?>

Posted on June 11, 2009 at 12:55 am Other exemptions include Social Security, SSI, veteran's benefits, civil service benefits, service members' pay, student assistance, military annuities, railroad retirement benefits, merchant seamen wages, longshoremen's and harbor worker's death and disability benefits, foreign service retirement and disability benefits, US contractors benefoits, and federal emergency managment agency federal disaster assistance.

Posted on June 11, 2009 at 1:23 am thank you very much,,...... i want to sue these debt collectors for calling me, because i want these calls to stop. i also want to ask, is it possible for them to tamper with my bank accounts? how do i keep from from doing that?

Posted on June 11, 2009 at 1:40 am on the line:They will not have access to any of your accounts unless they have won a judgment against you. When that occurs, they will be contacting your bank and inform them that they will be garnishing whatever amount that is in it, in order for the debt to be paid. Since you are on disability, they cannot "tamper" with that 100%.

Posted on June 11, 2009 at 1:47 am you've also mentioned that the debt collectors claimed they can take away your disability. That actually is a violation of federal law; the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act states that debt collectors are prohibited from making statements that they do not intend to carry out or follow through on. They have actually misrepresented themselves by doing so. You may file a complaint with them on the Better Business Bureau, or with your local Attorney General.

Posted on June 11, 2009 at 2:27 am Besides that, you have the right to sue the collector, either in state court or federal court. You have to do that within one year that the incident occurred. If the odds are in your favor, the judge may require the collection agency to pay for damages against you, because of their illegal collection practices. Even if you aren't able to prove that you did suffer actual damages, the court will still require the agency to pay you $1000 anyway. Other fees like attorney fees & court costs can also be reimbursed.

Posted on June 11, 2009 at 3:11 am I think what Purple Cow is referring to is suing the company based on the misrepresentation on the statements they made about your disability. Just so you know, the company can call you from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m at your time zone. There is no clear rule on the FDCPA as to how many times a collector can call in a day, but as long as the company does not have the intention to harass or annoy you, they are authorized to contact you.Since you did mention that you wanted the calls to stop, an action plan for you is to write them a Cease and Desist letter simply stating that you no longer wish to receive calls from them. We've had numerous guests on this forum stating this problem. We always advise them to not just make verbal requests for calls to stop because these simply aren't enough. What you need to do on your end is to write the aforementioned letter to them. Make sure the letter is sent via certified mail. As soon as they receive the letter, they no longer should be calling you. Some debt collection agencies may stop the calls for fourteen days for the request to be processed accordingly; at least that gives you enough time and space to be rid of these calls :)

Posted on June 11, 2009 at 3:36 am Are you receiving a form of alternate income aside from the disability? Like your monthly salary for example? Because if you do, the that fund may stand a chance of being garnished. You need to prove why your exempt funds (like disability, or the other examples illustrated above) shouldn't be garnished.