The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap Highlight

So how do you collect money from a cardholder who doesn’t answer his or her summons? That’s easy: you take it! The laws are different from state to state, but in most places in America, once the bank or debt buyer has that default judgment in hand, it can legally do just about anything to the cardholder. It can put a lien on his property, it can attach her salary, it can even take his car or her office furniture. A bank or debt buyer’s collection powers aren’t as elaborate as, say, the federal government’s powers to reseize money owed by student borrowers. But they’re a lot broader than you would think.