Debt and Collection
Articles across the publication that deal with debt and collection.
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Courts & Civil Litigation
Small Claims Court: Dollar Limits, Filing, Hearings, and Collecting
Small claims court trades procedure for speed. Limits, rules on lawyers, and appeal rights are set entirely by each state, and winning is only half the job.
7 min readGuide -
Employment Law
Protected Concerted Activity: Speech and Group Action Without a Union
Federal labor law protects employees who act together over pay, hours or safety even where no union exists. The protection is real, narrower than it sounds, and easy to forfeit.
8 min readAnalysis -
Employment Law
Wage Garnishment at Work: Employer Duties, Limits, and Priority
A garnishment order makes the employer a collection agent with real liability. The federal cap is only a floor, and support orders, student loans and tax levies each follow different rules.
8 min readGuide -
Family Law
Dividing Debt in a Divorce: Joint Accounts, Mortgages, and Creditors
A divorce court can decide which spouse pays a debt. It cannot tell the creditor to stop looking at the other spouse, which is why account clean-up matters more than the wording of the decree.
7 min readGuide -
Consumer & Personal Finance
Auto Repair: Estimates, Authorization, and Liens on a Vehicle
Repair disputes usually come down to three documents: the estimate, the authorization, and the final invoice. State law, not federal law, sets what each must contain.
7 min readGuide -
Consumer & Personal Finance
Student Loan Default: Collection, Administrative Remedies, and Rehabilitation
Federal student loans are collected with administrative powers no ordinary creditor has. They also come with notice rights, a hearing, and two defined routes out of default.
7 min readGuide -
Consumer & Personal Finance
Bank Account Freezes and Garnishment: Exempt Funds and How to Claim Them
Some money in a frozen account is protected without you doing anything. Most of it is only protected if you file the right claim before a short state deadline runs out.
7 min readGuide -
Property & Housing
Property Tax Exemptions and Homestead Relief: Who Qualifies and How to Apply
County assessors do not hand out property tax exemptions on their own. Here is what the main relief programs actually do, who they tend to cover, and how the filing and appeal windows work.
8 min readGuide
