Sherman Oaks Lawsuits & Judgements Lawyer
Getting a creditor’s lawsuit dismissed, a judgment neutralized, or a garnishment stopped is the outcome most people are after when they search for a Sherman Oaks lawsuits & judgements lawyer. Wadhwani & Shanfeld is a consumer bankruptcy and debt relief law firm that handles creditor lawsuits, judgments, wage garnishment, bank levies, and the bankruptcy and settlement options that can end them, for clients in Sherman Oaks, the San Fernando Valley, and across Los Angeles County and Southern California.
A summons from a debt buyer or collection firm starts a clock. In California, the response deadline is short, and a defendant who does nothing can lose by default. Once a judgment is entered, the creditor gains tools that reach your paycheck, your bank account, and in some cases your real estate. What you do in the first weeks after service, and again after a judgment, often decides how much of that you keep.
What a Creditor Judgment Can Reach in California
A money judgment in California stays enforceable for 10 years from the date it is entered, and a creditor can file to renew it for another 10 years. For medical expense judgments with unpaid principal under $200,000 and personal debt judgments with unpaid principal under $50,000, recent legislation allows only one renewal, and only for five years. Interest keeps accruing in the meantime, which is why a judgment that looks manageable at entry can balloon.
The two most common enforcement tools are wage garnishment and bank levies, and each has its own limits. On an ordinary judgment, a 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 instead of 48. If the local minimum wage is higher than the state’s, the local rate controls. You can also ask the court to exempt the portion of your earnings you can show is necessary to support yourself and your family.
Bank levies work differently. California protects a set amount in your deposit accounts automatically, and the bank must apply that protection before it turns money over to the levying officer. You do not have to file a claim to get it. That protection does not apply to levies for wages owed to someone else, child or spousal support, or debts owed to the state. Anything above the protected amount can be taken unless another exemption applies, such as funds traceable to exempt sources like certain benefits.
Why Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for Lawsuit and Judgment Defense
Together the firm’s attorneys bring more than 90 years of combined legal experience to clients throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. 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 Southwestern Law School graduate, 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. That matters when a levy or sale date is close and a petition has to be prepared and filed quickly. Greg Shanfeld 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, including the San Fernando Valley Division, which hears cases from Sherman Oaks.
Because the firm handles both bankruptcy and the alternatives to it, the advice you get about a lawsuit is not tilted toward one tool. Sometimes the right answer is a written answer to the complaint. Sometimes it is a negotiated settlement. Sometimes it is a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 filing. A Sherman Oaks lawsuits and judgments attorney who only does one of those will tend to recommend that one.
Common Lawsuit and Judgment Situations We Handle
- Credit Card Collection Suits: Banks and debt buyers file in Los Angeles County Superior Court, often with thin documentation about who owns the account. Making them prove it is a standard first move.
- Time-Barred Debt Lawsuits: Written contract and book account claims carry a four-year limit, and oral contracts two years. Expiration is a defense you must raise in a written answer; the court will not raise it for you.
- Default Judgments: Many judgments are entered because a defendant ignored the summons or never received it properly. Depending on the facts, they may be challenged or set aside.
- Wage Garnishments: A garnishment after judgment takes a capped share of each paycheck. Your employer cannot fire you because of garnishment on a single judgment.
- Bank Account Levies: A frozen account can stop rent and bill payments overnight. The automatic deposit protection and any tracing of exempt funds are the first things to check.
- Judgment Liens on Real Property: A recorded judgment can attach to a home, and bankruptcy can sometimes remove liens that impair your exemption, particularly where the homestead exemption applies.
- Auto Repossession Deficiencies: After a repossession, a lender may sue for the balance. Deficiency claims depend on proper notice, and Chapter 7 can discharge what remains.
- Medical Debt Judgments: Hospital and provider collection suits are common in Los Angeles and can be eliminated in bankruptcy or negotiated.
What to Do After You Are Served or After a Judgment Is Entered
Read the summons the day it arrives and find the response deadline. Do not ignore it, and do not assume a phone call to the collector pauses anything. A written response filed with the court is what preserves your defenses. Call us before the deadline passes, because the choice between answering, negotiating, and filing bankruptcy should be made with the full picture of your income, property, and debts. Cases from Sherman Oaks are generally heard in Los Angeles County Superior Court, and the Van Nuys courthouse is among the Superior Court locations that serve the Valley.
Gather everything you have: the summons and complaint, any letters from the creditor or its law firm, account statements, your last few pay stubs, and bank statements. If a judgment has already been entered, collect the judgment itself and any notice of garnishment or levy. The documents show who is suing, how much they claim, and whether the numbers add up.
If a garnishment is hitting your pay, ask us about a claim of exemption based on your family’s needs. If a bank account has been frozen, check whether the protected deposit amount was applied. And if the pressure is heavy and your debts are broad, filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 triggers the automatic stay, which stops most garnishments, lawsuits, levies, and foreclosure and repossession activity the moment the case is filed. Sherman Oaks residents file in the San Fernando Valley Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, sitting in Woodland Hills.
Common mistakes: paying a small amount to a collector on an old debt, which can lead them to claim you revived it; signing a written acknowledgment of a time-barred debt, which can restart the limitations period; and moving money around before you talk to an attorney. A payment alone cannot revive a debt that is already time-barred, but a signed written acknowledgment can. Do not guess; ask first.
Bankruptcy as a Response to Lawsuits and Judgments
Chapter 7 can wipe out qualifying unsecured debt, including the credit card, medical, and personal loan balances behind most collection suits, and most cases finish in roughly four months. A judgment on a dischargeable debt is eliminated along with the debt. California filers choose between two exemption systems for the whole case. One offers a large homestead exemption that is tied to county home prices and adjusted annually, and the other has a flexible wildcard that often suits renters. You must have lived in California long enough to use these exemptions. Choosing the right system is one of the more consequential decisions we make, and the vast majority of our clients keep everything they own.
Chapter 13 fits people with steady income who need structure. Your debts are reorganized into one payment over three to five years, and creditors are bound once the court confirms the plan. It can stop a foreclosure sale, let you catch up on a mortgage or car loan, and deal with priority debts that Chapter 7 cannot.
Collector Misconduct: The Rosenthal Act
California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act covers original creditors as well as third-party collectors, which makes it broader than the federal law. A consumer can recover actual damages, a court can add $100 to $1,000 when the collector acted willfully and knowingly, and a prevailing consumer can recover reasonable attorney fees. The deadline to sue is one year, and a collector can avoid liability by correcting a curable violation within 15 days of learning of it. If a collector has called your employer, threatened actions it cannot take, or misstated the debt, tell us. That conduct can become leverage in settlement.
Sherman Oaks Lawsuit and Judgment FAQs
How long do I have to respond to a debt collection lawsuit?
The summons states your deadline, and it is short. Missing it risks a default judgment. Bring the papers to us as soon as they arrive so we can calendar the date and decide on the right response.
Can a creditor still sue me over an old debt?
They can file, but the claim may be time-barred. The limit is four years for written contracts and book accounts and two years for oral contracts. The court will not apply the expired deadline on its own; you must raise it in a written answer.
Does making a small payment restart the clock on an old debt?
A payment cannot revive a debt that has already expired. A signed written acknowledgment of the debt can restart the period, so do not sign anything a collector sends you without talking to us first.
How long is a judgment good for?
A California money judgment is enforceable for 10 years from entry and can be renewed. Recent law limits renewal to one time, for five years, on medical judgments with unpaid principal under $200,000 and personal debt judgments under $50,000.
How much of my paycheck can be garnished?
On an ordinary judgment, the cap is the lesser of 20% of weekly disposable earnings or 40% of the amount your earnings exceed 48 times the minimum hourly wage. Other pay periods use 96, 104, or 208 times the minimum wage. A claim of exemption can reduce it further if you can show the money is needed for your family’s support.
Can my employer fire me because of a garnishment?
No. California law bars an employer from firing you because your wages are garnished for a single judgment.
Will bankruptcy stop a garnishment or bank levy?
Filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 stops most garnishments and levies through the automatic stay, effective when the case is filed. In an emergency we can often prepare and file quickly.
My bank account was frozen. Do I lose everything in it?
No. California protects a set amount of deposit funds per judgment debtor, and the bank must apply it automatically without you filing a claim. It does not cover levies for wages owed to others, support, or debts owed to the state. Other funds may be exempt if we can trace them to protected sources.
Can a judgment against me be removed from my home?
Sometimes. If a judgment lien impairs your homestead exemption, bankruptcy can in some cases avoid it. The result depends on your equity, your exemption system, and the timing, which we review before you file.
Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the lawsuit is for a few thousand dollars?
Often yes. Small suits become judgments with interest, and a judgment can reach wages and bank accounts for a decade. A lawyer can raise defenses like expired deadlines or missing proof of ownership, negotiate, or advise whether a broader filing makes sense. The consultation is free.
Can I sue a collector that harassed me?
Possibly. The Rosenthal Act allows actual damages, a possible additional $100 to $1,000 for willful violations, and attorney fees, with a one-year filing deadline. Individual actions only; class actions are not allowed under that statute.
Do I have to come into the office to resolve a lawsuit?
No. We handle cases fully by phone, email, video, and online chat, and virtual consultations are available.
Serving Sherman Oaks and the San Fernando Valley
We represent clients across Sherman Oaks and the surrounding San Fernando Valley, including Van Nuys, Encino, Woodland Hills, Reseda, Northridge, Granada Hills, North Hollywood, North Hills, Mission Hills, San Fernando, and Sylmar. Many of these communities fall within the San Fernando Valley Division of the bankruptcy court, which is the division we work with most often for Valley residents. We also serve Hollywood, Santa Monica, and the Westside.
Our reach extends throughout Los Angeles County, including Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, Long Beach, Lakewood, Torrance, Compton, Inglewood, Lancaster, Palmdale, and the Antelope Valley community of Acton. In Orange County we serve Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Westminster, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Tustin, La Habra, Placentia, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Niguel. In Riverside and San Bernardino Counties and the Inland Empire, we work with clients in Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Riverside, the Coachella Valley, Fontana, San Bernardino, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Claremont, Glendora, and West Covina. We also serve Norwalk, Bellflower, Paramount, Gardena, Cerritos, Cypress, Signal Hill, and Huntington Park.
Talk to a Sherman Oaks Lawsuits and Judgments Attorney Today
If you have been served, hit with a garnishment, or found a levy on your account, speak with a Sherman Oaks lawsuits and judgments attorney before the next deadline passes. Call Wadhwani & Shanfeld for a free consultation and talk directly with an attorney about answering the suit, negotiating, or filing bankruptcy. We will give you a plain-English recommendation based on what actually fits your situation, and we can start by phone or video today.
