Encino Credit Card Debt Lawyer
The collection calls started months ago, and now there is an envelope from a law firm you have never heard of, or a summons with a court date printed on it. Wadhwani & Shanfeld is a consumer bankruptcy and debt relief law firm that handles credit card debt, Chapter 7, Chapter 13, debt settlement, wage garnishment, and creditor lawsuits for people in Encino and across Los Angeles County and Southern California.
Finding a Encino credit card debt lawyer usually comes down to one question: what is the right move for this particular pile of balances? Sometimes it is bankruptcy. Sometimes it is a negotiated settlement. Sometimes the debt is old enough that the creditor’s right to sue has expired, and the best move is a properly filed answer. Which of those applies depends on dates, income, and what you own, and those details are what a first conversation with an attorney sorts out.
Credit card cases tend to follow a pattern. Minimum payments stop covering interest, balances get sold to debt buyers, and a lawsuit eventually follows. A judgment turns a collection headache into a legal enforcement problem, with garnishments and bank levies that can reach a paycheck or checking account. The sooner the right strategy is chosen, the more options you keep.
Why Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for Credit Card Debt Relief
Wadhwani & Shanfeld has helped more than 30,000 individuals and families resolve debt, and the firm serves clients throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, including Encino and the rest of the San Fernando Valley. The firm is led by two Board-Certified Specialists in Consumer Bankruptcy through the American Board of Certification, with more than 90 years of combined legal experience. Clients get direct access to an attorney from the first call, free consultations, and the option to handle everything by phone, email, video, or online chat, including 100% virtual consultations.
Raj Wadhwani, a founding shareholder and partner, is a Southwestern Law School graduate who helped pilot the Best Case Bankruptcy software in 1998 and was the first attorney to file a bankruptcy case electronically in the Central District of California. Greg Shanfeld, also a founding shareholder and partner, earned his law degree from the University of Southern California and has handled more than 10,000 bankruptcy cases over three decades. The firm files in every division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.
That breadth matters for credit card debt because the best answer is often not the same for two neighbors. The firm handles bankruptcy and its alternatives, so a recommendation is based on what fits your income, property, and goals rather than the only service a firm happens to sell. When a garnishment, levy, or repossession is days away, the firm acts fast.
Credit Card Debt Situations We Handle for Encino Clients
- Maxed-Out Cards and Minimum Payment Traps: Balances that grow faster than you can pay them down often point toward Chapter 7 if income is limited, or a negotiated settlement if you can fund a lump sum or structured payoff.
- Debt Buyer and Collection Agency Lawsuits: Accounts get sold, and the plaintiff in your suit may be a company you never did business with. Whether to answer, negotiate, or file bankruptcy depends on the claim and your deadline.
- Medical Bills Mixed In With Card Balances: Medical debt, credit cards, and personal loans are generally unsecured and can often be addressed together in a single Chapter 7 case.
- Income Above the Chapter 7 Limits: Higher earners may fail the means test, which compares household income to the California median for a household of your size. Chapter 13 reorganizes debt into one payment over three to five years.
- Wage Garnishment After a Judgment: Once a creditor wins a judgment, it can seek a garnishment from your employer. Filing bankruptcy stops most garnishments when the case is filed.
- Frozen or Levied Bank Accounts: A bank levy can lock up your checking account. California protects a set amount in deposit accounts automatically, without a claim of exemption, but the protection has limits.
- Old Accounts That May Be Time-Barred: Some collectors pursue debts past the period in which they can sue. That expired deadline is a defense, but only if you raise it properly.
- Collector Misconduct: Harassing calls, false statements, and improper threats can violate California’s Rosenthal Act, which applies to original creditors as well as collection agencies.
What to Do When Credit Card Collectors Come After You
Start by gathering paper. Collect every statement, collection letter, and court document you have, and write down the date of your last payment on each account. That date drives the statute of limitations analysis, so it matters more than most people realize. Do not ignore anything with a court caption on it.
If you have been served with a lawsuit, the response deadline is firm, and the stakes of missing it are high. An expired limitations period is a defense that you must raise in a written answer, and if you do not respond, the court can still enter judgment against you. In California, a creditor generally has four years to sue on written contract debt, which includes most credit card accounts, and two years on oral contract debt. A payment on a debt that is already time-barred does not bring it back to life, and only a signed written acknowledgment can restart the clock. Be careful with collectors who push for a “small good-faith payment” on an old account.
Where your case lands depends on the amount claimed. Many credit card suits against Encino residents are heard in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, which is divided into geographic districts, and the court that handles a given case depends on the filing. Check the summons for the courthouse and department rather than guessing. If bankruptcy is the right path, Encino is among the communities served by the San Fernando Valley Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, which sits in Woodland Hills. The filing division is set by your home zip code, so it is worth confirming before anything is filed.
A few mistakes come up again and again. People ignore a summons hoping it goes away, pay a collector on a time-barred account and unknowingly weaken their position, or drain a retirement account to pay unsecured cards when those accounts are generally protected in bankruptcy. Do not move assets or favor one creditor right before filing without talking to an attorney first. Both can create problems in a case.
How a Judgment Gets Enforced in California
If a creditor wins a judgment, it can enforce it through wage garnishment, bank levies, and liens. On an ordinary judgment, the garnishment is capped at the lesser of 20% of your weekly disposable earnings or 40% of the amount by which those earnings exceed 48 times the minimum hourly wage. Biweekly, semimonthly, and monthly paychecks use 96, 104, and 208 times the minimum wage in that calculation instead, and a higher local minimum wage replaces the state figure where it applies. You can also ask the court to exempt the portion of your earnings that is proven necessary to support you or your family. Your employer is not allowed to fire you because your wages are garnished on a single judgment.
A California money judgment is enforceable for 10 years from entry, and the creditor can renew it. For personal debt judgments with unpaid principal under a statutory limit, renewal is now limited to one time, for five years only. Because a judgment can follow you for a long time, resolving it through bankruptcy or negotiation often matters more than waiting it out.
Bankruptcy, Settlement, or Fighting the Suit: Choosing the Path
Chapter 7 wipes out qualifying unsecured debt, including credit card balances, and most cases finish in roughly four months. Although it is sometimes called liquidation, the vast majority of the firm’s clients keep everything they own. California has opted out of the federal exemptions, so filers choose between two state systems: the CCP 704 system, which includes a homestead exemption for homeowners, and the 703.140(b) system, which carries a flexible wildcard that often suits renters. You must choose one system for the whole case, and you generally need to have lived in California for at least 730 days to use these exemptions. Choosing correctly is one of the biggest decisions in a filing.
Chapter 13 fits people with steady income who need structure, or who earn too much for Chapter 7. Your debts are reorganized into one monthly payment over three to five years. Debt settlement is the non-bankruptcy route, where the firm negotiates directly with the creditor to settle for less than the full balance. It can make sense when the debt is manageable and you can fund an offer, but it does not carry the automatic stay protection that a bankruptcy filing provides. The firm will tell you honestly when bankruptcy is not the best answer.
Credit Card Debt Questions Encino Residents Ask
Can bankruptcy eliminate all of my credit card debt?
Most credit card debt is unsecured and can be discharged in Chapter 7. Exceptions can arise in unusual situations, such as charges that a creditor challenges as fraudulent, so a candid review of your recent spending is part of a good consultation.
How fast does the automatic stay stop collectors?
The stay takes effect the moment your petition is filed. It halts collection calls, lawsuits, wage garnishments, and bank levies. In an emergency, the firm can often prepare and file a case very quickly.
I was sued by a debt buyer. Should I just ignore it?
No. If you do not respond, the court can enter a default judgment, which opens the door to garnishment and levies. Even a strong defense, such as an expired limitations period, only works if it is raised in a written answer.
How long can a credit card company sue me in California?
Four years on a written contract, which covers most credit card agreements, and two years on oral contracts. The clock generally runs from the default, and it is why your last payment date is such an important piece of information.
If I make a payment on an old card, does the clock restart?
Not if the debt is already time-barred. A payment cannot revive an expired debt, and restarting the clock requires a signed written acknowledgment. Collectors often blur this point, so get advice before paying on an old account.
Will bankruptcy cost me my house or car?
Most clients keep their property. In Chapter 7, the question is whether your equity is covered by California’s exemptions. If you are behind on a mortgage or car loan, or have more equity than the exemptions cover, Chapter 13 lets you keep the property and catch up over time.
Can the bank take everything in my account if a creditor levies it?
No. California automatically protects a set amount in your deposit account on a levy by a judgment creditor, and the bank applies it without you filing a claim. That protection does not apply to levies for wages owed to others, support, or debts owed to the state, and it covers only a limited amount.
Do I need to worry about my employer finding out?
Your employer is not automatically notified. They may learn of it if wages are being garnished or if Chapter 13 plan payments come out of your paycheck. Labor Code protections bar firing you because wages are garnished for one judgment, and employers cannot fire you solely for filing bankruptcy.
Can I sue a collector who harassed me?
Possibly. California’s Rosenthal Act lets a consumer recover actual damages, plus an additional $100 to $1,000 where the collector acted willfully and knowingly, along with reasonable attorney fees. The suit must be brought within one year, and a collector can avoid liability by correcting a curable violation within 15 days of learning of it. Because the window is short, raise any harassment concern early.
How long does a judgment against me last, and can it be renewed?
A California money judgment is enforceable for 10 years and can be renewed. For personal debt judgments under the statutory principal limit, renewal is allowed once, for five years. That is why a judgment is worth addressing instead of ignoring.
Do I have to come into an office to start?
No. The firm handles cases fully by phone, email, video, and online chat, and offers 100% virtual consultations, so you can get answers from home.
Serving Encino Credit Card Debt Clients Across Southern California
Wadhwani & Shanfeld represents clients in Encino and throughout the San Fernando Valley, including Sherman Oaks, Woodland Hills, Reseda, Northridge, Granada Hills, North Hollywood, North Hills, Mission Hills, Van Nuys, San Fernando, and Sylmar. The firm also serves the Westside and nearby communities such as Hollywood and Santa Monica, along with Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, Long Beach, Lakewood, Torrance, Compton, and Inglewood.
Beyond Los Angeles County, the firm helps clients in the Antelope Valley, including Lancaster, Palmdale, and Acton, and across the Inland Empire in Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Fontana, San Bernardino, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Claremont, Glendora, West Covina, Riverside, and the Coachella Valley. In Orange County, clients come from Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Westminster, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Tustin, La Habra, Placentia, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Niguel. Wherever you live, the same credit card debt strategies apply.
Talk to an Encino Credit Card Debt Attorney Today
You do not need to sort out which letter matters, which deadline is real, or whether bankruptcy fits before you pick up the phone. Call Wadhwani & Shanfeld for a free consultation, and an Encino credit card debt attorney will walk through your balances, any lawsuit or judgment, and your income and property. You will leave with a clear recommendation, whether that is Chapter 7, Chapter 13, settlement, or defending the case. If a garnishment or levy is close, tell us right away so we can move quickly.
