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that a levy will not be placed on your exempt funds, but taking these steps should offer you at least some level of protection. If a creditor does place a levy on a bank account containing exempt funds, you will likely need to file a notice of exemption with the court, and attend a hearing to request that the funds be released back to you. If the court determines that the funds are exempt from attachment, it should release the money back to you.

You should keep in mind that a creditor generally cannot attempt to levy your accounts until it has obtained a judgment against you, so you should have some time to take the steps mentioned above to protect yourself. Since I am not an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of New York, I cannot provide you with legal advice, and you should understand that the information I am providing is general information based. I do not know enough about your situation to offer any specific advice. I encourage you to consult with an attorney licensed to practice law in your state to determine what action you should take in regard to the lawsuits that have been filed against you, and what steps you need to take to protect your assets from your creditors. Because you are disabled, you may be able to find an attorney willing to represent you at little or no cost to you. Visit the Legal Aid Society of New York's website at Legal-aid.org.

Appearing in court is better than simply not showing up, as appearing will at least provide you with an opportunity to express your side of the story. If the debts in question are justly owed, the court is likely

to enter a judgment against you for the amount owed. From there, it is up to the creditor to try to collect on its judgment, but if you have no non-exempt assets, then the creditor will probably be unable to collect on its judgment. Discuss the situation with your attorney to determine specifically what steps you need to take to best defend yourself against these lawsuits.

From what you describe in your question, it sounds like you have enrolled with a debt settlement or debt negotiation firm. These companies work with you to save up money , and then negotiate lump sum settlements with your creditors for less than the full amount of the debt. However, to effectively negotiate, these firms generally need a lump sum to offer to the creditor; since you have only been enrolled with the company for four months, you have probably not accumulated sufficient savings to effectively negotiate with your creditors. In this situation, you can either allow the court action to proceed, which will likely result in a judgment being issued against you, allowing your negotiations firm to settle with your creditors once you have sufficient funds to do so, or you can consider alternative options to resolve your debt, such as bankruptcy.

Given the fact that you have few assets and a fixed income, I think that bankruptcy may be a good option for you to resolve your debt problems. If you would like to read more about bankruptcy in general, I encourage you to visit the Bills.com bankruptcy information page.

I hope that the information I have provided helps you Find. Learn. Save.

Best,
Bill
www.bills.com

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