Judgment Balance - Attorney fees?

[ohiodebtor21]

I received judgment against me in the state of Ohio. I've had my wages garnished now for a few months, and am nearing the point where the judgment is about to be paid off. Does the court know, aside from what the original judgment was, how much I have left to pay?

Can the plaintiff add in attorney's fees into the judgment, and continue to garnish my wages? What is a typical % or flat rate number for attorneys fees? I'd imagine that they cannot just make up something. I'm concerned that they will just say they had ridiculous attorney's fees so that all of my wage garnishments are just going to the interest the court set.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

[swirlgirl]

You need to get a copy of the court papers. It will outline the total amount due including the attorney fees.

[ohiodebtor21]

Thank you for your reply swirlgirl, and thank you for all of everyone's help. Here is a break-down of how the judgment is. I asked the clerk several times (not repeatedly, just in a few different ways), what is the judgment for? was there attorney fees added? etc. Her answer was: The judgment is in there; there were NO attorney fees added by the judge to the judgment.

Here is a brief breakdown, I just don't see how the math works. I asked the clerk, and she kind of shrugged her shoulders and said, I guess you'll have to ask the creditor. I asked if they even check the numbers before they send garnishment orders, and she said not really (!?)

Original judgment after all costs = ~$3550 with ~20% per ANNUM interest FROM judgment date

One month later - sent payment via MO(to try to avoid garnishment - it was late due to me being out of town) = ~$330

2 months after judgment - Wage garnishment in amount of $3950 (with an additional $75 cost)

Right there, is a ~ $700 (20% interest in 2 months) increase on a $3550 judgment in only 2 months (should be approximately 3.5% interest ~$125) Hope we're all caught up... Now on to the next 'phase'

4 months after judgment - 1 monthly wage garnishment has taken place ~ $700. At this point, they go after my bank account (already cleaned out - thanks guys). Attachment order is for: ~$3800.

At this point, I supposedly owe $250 MORE than the initial judgment. After ~$1050 in payments

I'm just really confused how all this math works out. I sent a nice letter to the creditor asking for the payoff amount (yes, CMRR if that matters), and how they arrived at that figure, and have gotten no response. Is there a payoff calculator out there that can help me figure out how much the numbers should be? What recourse do I have if they're computing funny math, and the court seems to just pass papers along regardless of the numbers.

Thanks again for all of your help. Reading everything here has helped me get my financial life back on track, and I'm doing much better now. I'm just worried they're playing math games, and nobody is watching out for ME. If the answer is 'get an attorney' let me know - I can do that, but I can also read up and figure a lot out myself (MBA - about to start a new job now - hence the better financial situation ), and would rather not pay a few hours for an attorney to save me what I'd have to pay him anyways.

[looksbothways]

First, ask the court what the court fees were, because those are likely included. Then, you can do the math yourself and find out if they're trying to rip you off. Keep in mind that a bank attachment is usually, but not always, double what they're owed

For example. Say you have judgment for $3550 plus 20% interest plus $140 in court costs (that's $65 for original filing plus $75 for the attachment order)

Be aware that, while the interest is annual, they will add it per month or sometimes even by week when you're paying, in the sense that they would take $3550+ x 20% = $710. Then they take $710 / 12 and add on $59.17 per month while you're paying.

If they add the court fees in before calculating interest, then using the same court costs, it'd be accruing $61.50 a month.

I honestly have no idea who you'd contact if the amount you arrived at were less than what they claimed you owe. If it were me, I'd start by doing the math myself and sending it to them saying "Per my understanding, the amount I owe you is XXXX, which I figured as below. Please advise what your records show as my current amount due, if different, and detail how you arrived at that amount."

Before you send it in letter form, though, just call them and ask what they show as your current amount due and how they're figuring interest. Normally calling is a bad idea, but at this point they already have their hand in your bank account and on your paycheck, it's not like you can give them any extra leverage by saying the wrong thing on the phone, and sometimes talking to a person can get you a better explanation of what's going on.

Edit: How'd they get 20% interest on their judgment? I thought Ohio capped it at 10%? I guess I have a lot to learn yet.