Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New Jersey
In New Jersey, if your credit card goes into collections and the creditor (credit card company/bank) sues you, and obtains a judgment against you, can they garnish wages or seize bank accounts to collect on it? Or would the judgment attach to real estate which would need to be satisfied at the time of sale?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Yes, a judgment holder may request a wage execution against your wages. And yes, they may also request a bank levy (you are entitled to assert a $1,000 exemption, however). In addition, a judgment (if and when it is docketed in Trenton) becomes a lien on all real estate owned by the debtor within NJ. It also becomes a lien on any real estate the debtor acquires in the future. When the debtor goes to sell the real estate, the judgment will come up in a judgment search and will need to be resolved in order to convey clear title to the buyer.