Wage garnishment - What is it and how can you stop it?

Joined: 03 Nov 2007 Posts: 3927 10 Magic Points

This all depends on how much the debt is, some attornies won't take it on unless it is a crazy amount like $10,000 or more. crazy huh

Joined: 26 Feb 2008 Posts: 4285 127 Magic Points

Yes I seen those commercials.."if you are $10 000 in debt or more call us". I guess we should feel priveledged if we only owe $9998.

Guest · 0 Magic Points

I have a judgment against me for my credit card debts and my wage will be garnished. Can anybody tell me the wage garnishment laws and how can I survive the wage garnishment.

Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1240 28942 Magic Points

If you want to survive wage garnishment, all that you need to do is to make the full payment of the debt within 10 days of the judgment date and produce the receipt to your employer. However, there are some states in US like PA, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas which do not allow wage garnishment. However, even in these states wage can be garnished for the recovery of federal tax debts. Moreover if you file bankruptcy, you may be exempted from wage garnishment. You can visit http://www.creditmagic.org/repair/about4181.html for more details on how filing bankruptcy can help you from wage garnishment

Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 686 17396 Magic Points

As per the wage garnishment laws, the creditor can start garnishing your wages only after the local sheriff presents the garnishment order to your employer. However, as per the US Federal laws, there is a limit upto which your wage can be garnished and it varies from one state to another. If the maximum wage that can be garnished is 25%, then this 25% of your income shall be the maximum amount that can be deducted from your wage irrespective of the number of wage garnishment orders. The wage garnishment laws also protect you from being fired by your employer only because of the garnishment.

Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 516 13571 Magic Points

As per the wage garnishment laws, garnishment is made on the net disposable income, i.e, your income after payment of Federal and other taxes. Most of the states in US allow upto a maximum of 25% of your disposable wage to be garnished. Before your wage is garnished, you will be provided with a wage withholding order by the employer with instruction for filing an exemption. You will also find the address of the clerk's office where the exemption needs to be filed. It is always advisable to file a claim for exemption as soon as possible as you will find a gap of about two months for hearing, within which you can settle the debt with the creditor and avoid wage garnishment.

Joined: 26 Feb 2008 Posts: 4285 127 Magic Points

Thats funny...my brother has his wages garnished for child support and they take his income before taxes. I thought this was absurd since the amount they take for taxes is pretty high due to his being single. Then he still has med. pay, union dues and so on. At one point he wasn't even left enough to pay all his house bills.

tanganyikaj · Guest 0 Magic Points

what can i do to stop my wages from being garnished immediatley

Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 1307 29555 Magic Points

Hi Tanganyikaj
Your wage is being garnished, this means that a judgment to garnish your wage has been brought against you by your creditor or the collection agency as the case may be. Wage garnishment cannot be stopped until and unless you file a motion to vacate the judgment, but there is a fair chance of the motion to get rejected you actually owe the debt. So the best thing is to get in touch with your creditor and come to a settlement plan to repay off the debt and settle it outside the court. But you should get it in writing before you start making the payment.

Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1240 28942 Magic Points

You should file a motion to vacate a judgment only when a default judgment has been passed against you either because you have not file a response to the summon or because you were not present on the court date. You need to file the motion in the same court which issued judgment against you. You need to file a motion with the court clerk and once you fill in the form you will get a court date where you will get a chance to defend yourself. But if your wage has been garnished and you were present on the court date but could not avoid the judgment, I don't think that there is any use in filing a motion to vacate the judgment. In such cases either you can make them agree to a one time payment on the outstanding debt and stop garnishment or your wage will continue to be garnished till the time the debt has been settled in full.

Joined: 26 Feb 2008 Posts: 4285 127 Magic Points

Tanga...was there a court date for you to appear in court for this garnishment? Could you leave us some more information on this debt so thsat we may help you a little better?

hopeful1 · Guest 0 Magic Points

my wages are being detached for overpayment of food stamp benefits, I forgot to set up payment arrangements. Once they start taking from my check can I go back and try to set up a payment plan?

jenny · Guest 0 Magic Points

how do i find out what the garnishment againt me is about? i noticed they took my check but i dont know who did this.

Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 686 17396 Magic Points

If there is a garnishment, there must have been a judgment against you and if it is so, you can find it in your credit report. Now, can you tell me whether there has been garnishment in your bank account garnishment in your wage, so that I can try to help you out.
You can also visit the court which has issued the garnishment order and get a copy of the judgment order from the clerk's office in the court.

Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 1307 29555 Magic Points

Yes, Mary is right because there cannot be garnishment until there is a court judgment against you. If you are not aware of the judgment, it means that there has been a default judgment against you for any of your past debts by the creditor. You should therefore visit the court as Mary said and pull out a copy of the judgment order. If you do not agree with the debt for which there is garnishment, you can file a motion to vacate the judgment.

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