I have about 45 days left of ownership on my house due to Treasury garnishing my wages, tax returns, and savings accounts because they have the me mistaken for someone else. I was thinking of throwing a party maybe. What would you put on the cake?
I thought it would be interesting to have a “ask the guy thats getting foreclosed on” thread and see where it goes.
How have they mistaken you for someone else?
How are you gonna prove you’re not someone else?
It started with the events that happened in this thread, but they didn’t stop there. The garnishments are taking most of my money and since, even with congressional help, Treasury’s FMS system has bankrupted me. Since they reported that the debt was Department of Education, my job is letting me go on or after the 1st of this month because I won’t be able to leagally access protected data anymore.
I have already. The Department of Education and the Department of Transportation have both provided letters to be sent to Treasury that I don’t owe any debt. Treasury is refusing to acknoledge the receipt of the letters since the debt has been challeged twice and the garshishments have already started.
I have been working on getting my application ready for the area RV park. They are trying to find me a place to live but since the forclosure stuff has taken my credit from 790 to 420, I might not qualify. That and being unemployed.
It’s kind of mind-boggling that this could happen. Did you get an attorney?
No because I couldn’t afford one. There was one in downtown Dallas that would only take the case with about 5000 dollars up front, and wouldn’t guarantee results, and it was going to take at least a year to get a court date. The only other attorney I could find that would even work out payments represents my current employer and is contractually bound not to represent me.
I don’t qualify for Legal Aid as I make more than $13,167 a year… although I haven’t seen any of the money I make so I am not sure.
I kind of expected Carol Stream or someone to bust up in this thread and tell me I was getting foreclosed on because I wasn’t a responsible citizen or something haha 
Well, it could be worse…you could have had sex with a minor possing as an adult 
But seriously, that does suck. I wish I could offer some helpful advice. Lets hope somebody really smart comes along soon!
Yeah I don’t need to be a castrated man living in a van down by the river.
How and by whom? What was the outcome? I concur with the “mind-boggling” appraisal of your situation— it’s truly difficult to believe it’s been allowed to get to this point, unless you are omitting some key information from your story. (E.g., that you really *do *have an outstanding debt.) Even then, I thought there were limits on garnishment of wages; you claim they’re taking “almost all” of your money? And garnishing your savings? What is the “Congressional help” you say you’re getting?
Never mind the lawyers - it’s time to talk to your local news station. What an incredible clusterfuck!
You need some media attention to get this fixed.
Oprah would be ideal.
When I requested information about the bill I was sent, Treasury states that as the first challenge. When they forwarded paperwork that was false back through the law firm, I responded with the letters stating I didn’t owe the debt. Since they felt the first challenge was answered and it was still proved that I owed. The “second challenge” never got a ruling. The law firm states that they have reported the debt was not mine, but Treasury says that didn’t happen.
I don’t owe any money to the Department of Education nor The Department of Treasury or anyone else, and I have the letters to prove it. Treasury won’t accept them.
I am working with Congressman Ralph Hall’s office, and they have been putting congressional inquiries into the whole matter and pressuring Treasury to substanciate the debt. They set two deadlines to do so which the did not meet. They have kicked the congressional review back to the FMS system, which states that I owe the debt and since the prior challenges were not successful they wouldn’t stop the garnishment proceedings.
Treasury reports that the FMS system can take up to 100% of my net wages since the debt has been deliquent more than 10 years (I would have been 16 at the time at the very least). My federal tax return has been offset, my first time home buyer’s tax credit of $8000 was garnished, and my checking account and savings are completely depleted since I haven’t been getting paid for working.
Interesting fact: Congressman’s office reports that any creditor that has access to the FMS system is supposed to have a six digit ID number, the one that is garnishing me only has two. They don’t know who it is or what the debt is, but they won’t release the debt from my record without proof that I don’t owe anything. Its a stupid circle.
Wow. It sounds like at some point you’ll actually get this cleared up, but not before it damned near ruins your life. You have not fallen between the cracks - you’re being ground to death in them.
Agree that local media may be very interested in your situation. I would approach your newsdailies and local TV news.
Can you report this to police?
Give it time. Some folks steadfastly refuse to believe that it’s possible to get utterly fucked over through no fault of your own.
We walked away from our home a few months ago, simply because we were sick of fighting a losing battle. We had half of a side-by-side duplex, and were told about a while back that we were going to get an additional $600 per month put on to our payment to “correct a mistake” they had made – that our home was actually 5,200 square feet, not the 2,800 sq. ft. we claimed. Ummm, no – the entire original home was 5,200 sq. ft., our half was 2,800 sq. ft.
The bank would hear none of it. Letters, certified copies of the survey, lawyers back and forth – it got to the point where we simply couldn’t afford to pay for their mistake any longer. We had recourse, but their war chest was a hell of a lot larger than ours and they eventually won their war of attrition. We had tried to sell, but no takers – by that time we had gotten so disgusted with everything that we emptied the place out and moved back to our hometown.
We’re a hell of a lot happier here. We have the old place up for sale again (in a now-healthier market and for a cheaper price), and when we get a buyer we’re reasonably sure that the bank will accept a short sale for a small loss (it’ll be a hell of a lot cheaper for them than to try and fully foreclose and sell).
So, some pencil-pusher somewhere found that taking a steaming shit on our credit was preferable than saying “Oh, duh – you’re right, it’s a two-family home”. Ah well…life goes on.
Good luck, TD – hope we both come out of these situations with some justice served.
I’m having a hard time understanding why you didn’t get a lawyer at some point. No family, friends, community support like church- nothing? Dude! Even if you had to represent yourself- ? I remember your original thread about it- we told you to get a lawyer!
The congressman’s office did notify Department of Homeland Security and FBI so I wouldn’t be arrested. Since I have a top secret security clearance from an old job, and accessing the National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS) while not being legally able to do so is a felony. I have literally only done it about 120,000 times.