Hi

This is a difficult situation.

When you received the summons from the attorney, you were legally obligated to respond to the summons as demanded. Usually, that means filing a written response with the court and sending a copy to the plaintiff.

The fact that you wrote the plaintiff's attorney a letter does not excuse your legal duty to formally answer the summons and complaint.

If you did not file an answer, the plaintiff can win automatically in what is know as a default judgment.

After the judgment is secured, the plaintiff can use any legal means to collect, including garnishment.

Your best option is to try to overturn the default judgment. This is hard to do because judges are very reluctant to overturn a default when the defendant did not have a good reason for the failure to file an answer. Good reasons may include an extreme medical condition that prevented the answer from being filed.

The fact that your letter to the attorney was ignored is probably not enough to overturn the default judgment.

Is possible, you should retain a local attorney to assist you in your motion to overturn the default judgment.

If you need an attorney referral, please see this resource:

http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/lris/directory/

I hope my answer helps with your understanding. Good Luck!