Can Your Work Garnish Wages if You Owe Rent?
A rental lease is a legally enforceable contract. If a tenant violates the terms of the lease by not paying the agreed rent on time and in full, then the landlord can seek redress in the courts. If the landlord prevails in the claim, then (in most states) he can proceed to enforce the court's judgment through garnishment of wages. State laws set down the procedures; the states of Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Pennsylvania do not permit garnishment of wages for private debts.
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Complaint Procedure
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The laws of each state govern the procedure for civil court actions. For payment of overdue rent, a landlord would normally file a complaint in small claims court. The state law sets the form of the complaint and the requirements for service on the tenant/defendant. Most states accept service of the complaint either in person or by certified mail with return receipt. If you are the subject of a small claims action, you must file an answer or appear at a hearing; if you fail to do so, the plaintiff can request that the court enter a default judgment against you.
Hearing and Judgment
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The defendant will have a minimum time period to either answer the complaint or remedy the dispute by paying the past due rent. State laws may also set an arbitration procedure so that payment can be worked out between the landlord and tenant without a court appearance. If the court sets a hearing date, then the landlord and tenant must personally appear for the hearing. If the landlord prevails at the hearing, the court clerk will file the decision or judgment against the tenant. The landlord then has the judgment entered into the public record and files a writ of execution with the clerk. State laws allow wage garnishment for plaintiffs who prevail in small claims court, but set maximum amounts as a percentage of your gross pay. Consult Reference 3 for the laws of each state concerning wage garnishment.
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Writ of Execution
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The clerk then will process the writ of execution, which the landlord must submit to the local sheriff. Each state has a specific procedure for the next step: wage garnishment. In California, for example, the landlord must file an Application for Earnings Withholding Order, which carries the name and address of the tenant as well as the employer, and must pay the sheriff's fee for service.
Garnishment
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The sheriff then serves the writ and garnishment order on the garnishee (employer), who is legally obligated to disclose details of the defendant's salary, deduct the statutory maximum amount from the tenant's wages and submit the monies to the sheriff's office. In Michigan and other states, the law sets down rules for these "periodic" garnishment orders (as opposed to one-time, non-periodic orders). The garnishment amount, if it is substantial, will likely come out of the tenant's wages in installments until the judgment is satisfied.
Objections
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You may object to the garnishment order or request installment payments if you do not want your wages garnished. The law will normally protect your wages if: 1) you are in bankruptcy; 2) a court has issued an installment payment order; 3) you already have the maximum statutory amount garnished pursuant to another order; 4) you have paid the court judgment; or 5) the writ of execution is invalid or the landlord has otherwise failed to meet the legal requirements for wage garnishment.
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