Fast money (temp employment)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m not sure if this should go here, or IMHO.

Due to some very poor financial decisions I made (getting credit cards while in college) and a soon-to-judgement as a result of action on part of a collections agency, I will need to earn some money relatively fast. (Please note, I am NOT asking for legal advice!) The collection agency is suing me over an old credit card debt and will soon have a judgement against me. Although in the state of Pennsylvania, they cannot garnish my wages, they can freeze my back account and take every red cent in there. As it stands now, my paycheck is directly deposited, and once this happens, all the money from my paycheck will (I assume) go directly to pay off the collection agency. This mean that I will have absolutely no money for rent, food, heating oil, etc. that was all paid for from my “regular” paycheck. (I cannot get a “check” from my employer, as they require all employees to have direct deposit.) I am not suggesting that I not pay the debt–I have intended to do so, but have never had the “lump sum” that the collection agency demanded (even their “partial payments” were several hundred dollars, which I didn’t have).

I’ve cut out all expenses that I possibly could (newspaper, cable, etc.) and am now down to bare bones to support Hallboy and I, but it’s not going to be enough once they freeze my checking account and take my whole paycheck (depending on the final amount awarded–original debt, plus interest fees, plus court fees, it could be several thousands of dollars), I’ll not have money to pay the rent and utility bills.

I will need to get another job, at least for the next few months, but working $6 per hour isn’t going to cut it. (I have to figure out how much they’ll take out in taxes, and after taxes, it will be almost nothing.) Because the holidays are coming upon us, I know there will be a lot of places hiring seasonal work, but I don’t know where to begin. My usual job is during the day, so I’ll have evenings and weekends available. And here’s the kicker–I’m fairly well recognized professionally (by name and face) in my small community, so if I were, say a cashier at the local chain store, chances are great that I’d see a LOT of people who know me in my day job and it would be very awkward (for both of us). So, I guess I’d need a job that doesn’t necessarily deal with the public.

I have no clue where to begin looking for a job like this, or how to determine rather working at store X would be more beneficial than working at store Y, or even if there’s another option. I’d be interested in hearing experiences working seasonal work from anyone who has done so.

2

Call Social Services and tell them what you told here. Maybe even call the collection agency and tell them the same. Quite likely, they are happy to hear from you and willing to negociate a deal that is more likely to get them their money, albeit a little slower then they might like to. After all, if you can’t pay the rent and lose the car, you’ probably lose your job too and how are they going to collect their money then? It is their best interest to find a mutually acceptable way you can pay them without you being strangled financially.

3

I’ve already tried to negotiate with the collection agency, but I simply cannot pay what they’re demanding, and quite honestly, if I could come up with a couple extra hundred dollars a month, I wouldn’t be in this situation now.

I got my summons this morning for a December court date. If I had the money to hire an attorney to help me, I’d have the money to pay off collections. :smack: Where’s the irony in that?

4

Okay IANAL and this is based on my experience only - if you are paying ANYTHING to the collection agency (or, preferably the original debt holder) - say 10.00 every two weeks if that’s what you can afford they will NOT get a judgement for more - the judge will see that you are making an effort.

That is my two cents based on my past financial problems (now, thankfully over).

5

Just an update–I went and put in an application at a local pharmacy close to my house for evening and weekend work. Here’s hoping that I can get it so at least we’ll have SOME money.

6

Can you have your paycheck deposited into someone else’s account?

7

Just between you and me and a thousand of my closest internet friends (who am I kidding? My threads sink like a freaking rock…) that’s exactly what I’ll be doing. Hallgirl2 has an old account she never uses anymore.

8

I’m shooting good, karmatic feelings at the screen. You getting em? Yeah…those…NO, NOT THOSE!..yeah…those…
You’re rather welcome. And good luck, you’re doing what you’ve gotta do, and that’s admirable sometimes.

9

I went through this in February. A collection agency bought an old debt from Chase and started hounding me over it. It took a visit to a lawyer, who then wrote a letter telling the collection agency to buzz off. (It worked; I haven’t heard from them since.)

In Pennsylvania, there is a four-year statute of limitations for debt collection. If the debt is older than that, the collection agency can’t pursue it. Also, collection agencies generally use fear and intimidation as a tactic. They know that they can bully most people into making bad arrangements. The lawyer I saw only charged $150 for the visit and the letter, which is certainly less than what the collection agency wanted. The fact that a lawyer was involved also raised the stakes for the agency because it made it riskier and more expensive to lose, so they had more incentive to go away.

If you like, I can give you the name of the lawyer I used. E-mail is in my profile.

Robin