Hi everyone! So it’s never easy to ask for help- but I’m feeling a little stuck at the moment. To give a little back story- as most of you know I’m a single mom with two young kiddos. Over the last couple years I have been working hard to make things right in my life- including financially. I have been able to pay off all the debts I had in collections & significantly improved my credit score.

However, this last week (Friday, 4/5) I received court documents in the mail. I owed $400 to my old apartment from 2018, & they sold my debt to a collection agency who took me to court & filed to have my wages garnished to repay the debt. The total is at $2,690.97 after interest & court fees. This means not only will approximately 20-30% of my wages be garnished, but every 60 days a new order has to be filed with the courts if the balance hasn’t been completely paid off, which ultimately means more interest & court fees every time.

I have reached out to a lawyer as well as the debt collector, who have both said the only way to stop the garnishment is to pay the balance before the court starts the garnishment. The lawyer said generally the collection agency will be willing to accept approximately 80% of the total debt owed, which would be about $2,200. When I asked the debt collector if they would be willing to accept 80%, they weren’t willing to give me a straight answer & instead said I needed to “get as close to the total as possible, then they will let me know if they can accept the offer.”

This brings me back to the point that I am a single parent household, I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to afford my bills if 20-30% of my wages are garnished for several months moving forward. However, I also don’t just have a couple thousand dollars laying around to pay off the debt in full & stop the garnishment.

Although I’m several years into my recovery journey, I am still paying for bad choices I made while in addiction. I have been working hard to take responsibility & repair every aspect of my life. I know most of us are just barely getting by with the cost of living today, & I’m feeling incredibly stuck. Having to publicly ask for help is a last resort, & I’m beyond grateful for any help that would allow me to pay off this debt & stop wage garnishment.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.