How to Respond to a Wage Garnishment
A wage garnishment enables creditors to obtain a court order requiring that up to 25 percent of a debtor's wages be given to the creditor until the debt has been paid. It is a two-step process in which a creditor obtains judgment from the court stating that he possesses a right to garnish the debtor's wages. Then the court orders the employer of the debtor to pay a portion of the debtor's wages to the creditor. Even if a creditor has obtained a garnishment order, a debtor can still stop its enforcement.
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Instructions
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1
Contact your creditor after you have received notice that he has obtained a garnishment against you. Let him know that you are unable to pay the debt that you owe and explain why.
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2
Offer the creditor a reduced monthly repayment plan. This may permit you to avoid a wage garnishment because when there is an agreement between the debtor and the creditor regarding a modified repayment plan then the wage garnishment will not be imposed on behalf of this creditor.
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3
Submit a claim of exemption petition to the court that issued the wage garnishment, asking the court to exempt the debtor's employer from having to pay the debtor's creditor pursuant to the garnishment order. A claim of exemption argues that if the employer obeys the garnishment order this will deprive the debtor of such basic necessities of life as food, water and housing.
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Bring to the court hearing on the claim of exemption petition documents showing your income as well as your monthly expenses in order to show the court that the arguments you have made are valid.
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Tips & Warnings
The documents showing your income and expenses that you will submit to the court at the exemption hearing should have information about your rent or mortgage payments, payments for utilities as well as groceries. But payments made for unnecessary items should not be included.
A garnishment order may negatively impact your relationship with your employer so it would be wise for you to do everything possible to avoid a garnishment.
