What Must You Know About Wage Garnishment?

Posted by Segal, Cohen & Landis, LLP on January 21st, 2020

Skipping credit card debts and failing to re-pay lenders often has catastrophic consequences. If debtors fail to settle accounts, a limited incentive period is given to make appropriate arrangements to return the money. People who are unsuccessful in assembling enough resources have to go through a legal procedure- “the process of garrisoning wages.”

So what does that mean, and how does it actually relate to you? In the simplest sense, wage garnishment is when an employer withholds some of the wages of an employee because of a debt owed for things such as child support, alimony, bankruptcy, or unpaid taxes. With wage garnishment, you are forced out of your paycheck to repay outstanding bills, back taxes, or unpaid student loans, whether you wish or not. You need the help of a wage garnishment attorney to make sure that everything is under the law.

Wage garnishment is a legal process enabling creditors to reclaim their unpaid debt by deducting money from a borrower’s paycheck. It is usually the last resort of a lender after other methods of debt collection, such as letters and phone calls, have been unsuccessful.

How Wage Garnishment process takes place?

The company’s had to go through a legal process to get the debt recovered. They’ll have to sue you first, win the case against you, and get a court order to garnish your salaries. The creditor must send you a written notification of the wage garnishment after obtaining a court order, which includes the exact amount of money that you owe, as well as information regarding your options for the future.

Once the legal process is done, the creditor will forward a copy of the court order, the employer of the person in debt, who will withhold the garnished amount from your next paycheck.

Limitations

When it comes to wage garnishment, there are limits on the disposable income a creditor can take, with disposable income referring to any money in a paycheck left after deductions like taxes and Social Security. In case of child support or you’re supporting a spouse, the credit card companies or any lender can garnish up to 50% of pay only. In the case of federal student loans, the lender is allowed to garnish only up to 15% of pay. While for most credit card and medical costs, personal loans and other personal debts: garnishment is charged at either 25% of the earnings or the sum of your weekly income above 30 times the minimum federal wage, whichever is greater.

So, if you are looking for any wage garnishment attorney, you must browse through different online portals offering the service.