Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

how long do i have to settle afieri facias in dekalb county georgia


Asked on 10/08/11, 6:16 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

I don't understand your question. A fieri fascias or fi.fa. is just a fancy Latin term that directs the sheriff to seize and sell your property. The existence of a writ of fi.fa. means that a judgment has been entered. Judgments can be revived after 7 years which means the creditor who got the judgment can keep on trying to collect on it by having a new fi.fa.

Georgia also allows wage garnishment.

I don't know your circumstances, when the judgment was entered, when the fi.fa. was issued or what assets you have. The answers would dictate what you do next.

Generally, you have the following options: (1) file bankruptcy, especially if you have over $10,000 or more in debt. (2) If you cannot file or don't want to file bankruptcy, then what are your circumstances? If you have exempt assets like Social Security and rent, maybe you don't need to worry about the judgment. In such case, save up and you can try to resolve it. (3) If you are working, then you need to worry. You need to get the judgment resolved in some fashion. To prevent creditors from executing on a fi.fa. or garnishing wages, most creditors will accept between 2% and 4% of the debt as a monthly payment. Depending on what the creditor will take and depending on what your pay is and if there are prior garnishments, sometimes they will get less with the garnishment. If you are able to resolve this now, know that most creditors accept between 60% and 80% of the balance in settlement of the judgment. If you don't quite have the full amount, do you have at least 50%? If so, then see if you can use that as a down payment and pay the balance of the settlement over 1-6 pays if the creditor will allow it. If you can't get that done, then you will have to pay on the full balance and get an agreement whereby the creditor will promise not to levy on your assets or bank account or garnish your wages provided that you pay them an agreed upon sum per month. Get all this in writing BEFORE you pay them a dime.

I can help work out a settlement if you have the funds. Please contact me at [email protected] if interested.

Read more
Answered on 10/11/11, 9:35 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Credit, Debt and Collections Law questions and answers in Georgia