Is there any legal action that can be taken against the debtor and/or credit union for garnishing my my account for my fiance’s debt?
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Is there any legal action that can be taken against the debtor and/or credit union for garnishing my my account for my fiance’s debt?
My fiance was joint on the account until 4 months ago when she was taken off. The debt was incurred prior to us even meeting and is no part mine.
Asked on December 24, 2011 under Bankruptcy Law, Michigan
Answers:
MD, Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
What you will need to do is probably close this account with your credit union and move to another financial institution while this is sorted out. If she is still your fiance, you may need to enlist her help in fighting the garnishment from your bank account (this is why you never become joint bank account holders before marriage). You need to contact the debtor and explain that what they did may border on illegal if they took proceeds that were more than her deposits in total. You need to pull all three of your credit reports and find out what is on your credit report. If the original debt or garnishment is not on your credit report, the creditor may not have done anything illegal since your fiance was on your account. If the credit report shows these garnishments, then you need to dispute this with every single credit report it is on. Also continue the agency that may handle the regulation of that creditor and/or the prosecution or consumer complaint processing of that entity. These are some methods you can use to fight it but keep in mind, if the garnishment is reversed, your fiance will have to pay it.
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