Debt collector erroneously garnishes OC lawmaker’s wages

The OCRegister Marketplace HomepageYou’d think if you were about to garnish the wages of a state lawmaker you’d do everything you could to ensure you had the right guy.

So imagine State Sen. Lou Correa’s surprise when he received notice at his State Capitol office last month that his earnings were being seized to pay off a debt owed by man with a different address and social security number.

The order delivered to the Office of Senate Benefits on May 20 says a Luis Correa of 311 Country Club Lane in Santa Ana owes Sears about $4,000. Voter registration records and legislative financial disclosure forms, the later of which are available online, both show that the senator lives on Augusta Way in Santa Ana. His disclosure form shows he doesn’t own the Country Club Lane property. The senator showed the Watchdog proof that the social security number listed on the order doesn’t match his. And the senator’s first name, incidentally, is Jose. He just happens to be known by his middle name, Luis, or Lou for short.

“Weird is not the word. It’s just a surreal situation, it’s a numbing situation,” the senator said. “I get a phone call from the payroll department, they say … ‘Senator, we hate to, we’re deeply apologetic, but your wages are being garnished.’ It was one of those moments where I wanted to ask him, What’s the punch line?”