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Locked Bank account

Last activity 13 October 2020 by beppi

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JonnyVo

I've written a law firm before this but it also makes sense to ask this here.

Our bank account is blocked for collections currently(leave judgment here) and from what my wife says it won't open until the full balance of what's owed is payed. This results in us not being able to do basic stuff like buy food etc. Also with jobs not being available and I'm disabled and unable to work it makes things complicated. My income is from disability so paying for my medication also will be a problem if we have to pay off this full amount. My wife says they will not negotiate. We are a family of 6, 4 children and 2 adults. The amount they are requesting is more than we get in a month so that equals over 2 months of no food, diapers, regular bills paid, medication and Healthcare etc. Any advice you guys??? Yep this one's a doozy

beppi

If I interpret your message correctly, you have a problem with unpaid debt and the debt collectors blocked your bank account, which makes you unable to pay for daily living expenses.
If so, several things went wrong, whoich you should have corrected before they happened:
- Necessary living expenses (at a very low, survival-only level) can be exempted from blocking by debt collectors. It seems you did not apply for this (and I don't know if it can be changed retroactively).
- There is lots of aid available for the poor in Germany. Have you applied for HartzIV or other programmes (especially easy for the disabled)?
- Debt collectors only go to such lengths if the debtor does not cooperate. Did you contact debt restructuring agencies (often run by charities and free of charge) and attempt to find mutually agreeable solutions like repayment in (small) installments?
If not, you should do so now! Google a "Schuldnerberatung" in your vicinity. Also, a lawyer can help with the legal aspects - and after getting a "Beratungshilfeschein" from your local court ("Amtsgericht") you can engage one almost free of charge.
For help with taking care of the kids, you can approach the local "Jugendamt".

JonnyVo

Ok so we(She) gets the money for the kids, they're taking that as well. As far as legal advice and debt counseling the crazy thing is it's not a lot of money, 3200 bucks (Facepalm) However no work means no ability to pay. I have zero experience seeking out loans to consolidate all of this together. Currently my pension is more than what the average income is for a household here. Combined our income isn't terrible. However the times i've tried to get a loan its been an automatic denial. Honestly I just want to pay this mess off and be done with it so we can live our life. The reason I am seeking out a lawyer is to open the account. From my wifes understanding we won't be able to access anything in there when our deposits hit. That means that until next month we have zero means of survival. I don't see the logic in that. As for the people placing the hold on the account I believe its the government and they refuse to open it. How exactly are people supposed to survive when something like that happens? We have 4 kids....like wtf???

beppi

It seems you are confused and overwhelmed by the situation, but that is normal.
I suspect that, once the account is locked by the authorities, it would be very difficult to get it opened again. You should have taken appropriate action to prevent this, or at least secure your access to survival level funds, long ago - the process of blocking an account takes several months as far as I know and there are opportunities to appeal.
You should really consult a debt counsellor ("Schuldnerberatung") to restructure the debt (just paying it off by taking another loan is probably not a good idea and the banks were right in rejecting this!), and the social security and youth authorities ("Jobcenter" and "Jugendamt") to secure means to survive until then.

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