How to Avoid Wage Garnishment by Creditors
Staying on top of your debts by making regular payments should keep your creditors satisfied. If you find yourself unable to make payments, creditors are likely to begin contacting you. For the best outcome, do not ignore creditors when they write to you or call you. Creditors who feel ignored may escalate a nonpayment situation by suing you to garnish your wages. Avoid wage garnishment by creditors by communicating with them honestly and quickly.
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Instructions
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Respond to creditors quickly if they contact you by letter or by telephone. Find a contact telephone number in the letter or call the creditor back if he leaves a voice-mail message.
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Explain your financial situation honestly and openly with the creditor. If you recently lost your job, tell the creditor what happened and what you're doing to find work.
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Ask the creditor if you can reduce monthly payments for a time until your financial situation improves.
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Pay your reduced monthly payments according to the agreement you make with the creditor. If you have additional hardships, contact the creditor again and try to make new payment arrangements.
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Stay in close contact with the creditor, keeping her updated with your financial situation. If your situation improves--you get another job, for example--contact the creditor to change your reduced monthly payments back to the original payments.
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Tips & Warnings
Wage garnishment requires a court order to take money from a consumer's wages. A creditor may not garnish wages until the creditor gets a judgment (called a writ of garnishment), which requires a lawsuit. Due to the expense required for this process, creditors generally wish to avoid this by working with consumers to pay down debts.
Never ignore a creditor's attempts to contact you. When you ignore a creditor, the creditor has no choice but to sue you to garnish your wages.
References
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