How to Get Out of Wage Garnishment From Credit
Credit card debt, along with other credit debt that's not secured by collateral, can be collected through wage garnishment if the creditor seeks, and is granted, a court order or judgment against you. Multiple wage garnishments, levied through your employer, could cause you to lose your job. Whatever your reasons for not paying off your debt, you can avoid wage garnishments if you know the rules and plan in advance to be what lawyers call judgment proof.
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Instructions
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Attempt to settle the debt. Once you've decided against paying the full amount of your credit card debt, write to the company and request a settlement that's usually a small percentage of the total debt owed. Ask to see proof of the debt.
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Write out a long-term plan to reduce your living expenses. In most cases, debtors who work only one job or get paid by a single employer will need to reduce their take-home paycheck from that employer in order to avoid wage garnishment. This is because any single paycheck that exceeds 30 times the federal hourly minimum wage during a pay period is subject to garnishment. You will probably have to live on less income in the short-term until or unless you can rearrange your employment situation to maintain your current level of income from multiple employers. Be sure to monitor your work-hours so that no single paycheck from any employer nets more than 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage.
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Work multiple part-time jobs to avoid garnishment at any one location. To avoid wage garnishment, your wages at each place of employment must be small enough to meet federal wage guidelines. These guidelines are tied to the minimum wage and calculated weekly or monthly. The minimum wage fluctuates, so be sure you know exactly what the wage is and exactly what your deductions are at all times you're receiving a wage or salary.
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Learn the statute of limitations for collecting unsecured debt in your state. Don't be bullied into making a payment after you've decided to default. The statutes of limitations, usually five to ten years, are state-regulated and begin to countdown with the last payment made. Any new payment, however small, legally reaffirms the debt and resets the countdown clock from the date of last payment.
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Keep your net income, or disposable after-tax earnings, below 30 times the current federal hourly minimum wage for all pay periods. Federal law limits garnishment amounts to the lesser of 25 percent of net earnings in a pay period, or 25 percent of an amount in excess of 30 times the federal minimum wage during any single pay period. If you make less than 30 times the prevailing minimum wage in a pay period, your employer is not permitted to honor the garnishment order.
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Maintain a low income consistently. Many creditors ask for and receive garnishment orders that cover multiple pay periods in a quarter, and automatically renew without additional court action. So a single pay period during which your take-home pay exceeds the federal limits will activate a garnishment.
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Avoid revealing any personal information that will allow a creditor to trace you. Seemingly innocuous databases maintained by retailers and marketers are accessible by debt collectors. Maintain an unlisted telephone number, or use pre-paid cell phones. Never give out accurate personal information or employment information to anyone.
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