| Sometimes, people owe debts such as IRS back | | | | than 25% of one's disposable income may be |
| taxes, federal or local state taxes, back child support | | | | garnished unless it is in cases of bankruptcy. |
| or even alimony from a spouse. In this scenario, the | | | | It is also recommended that the debtor make an |
| creditor obtains a court order to attach a portion of | | | | honest attempt to contact the creditor and try and |
| their wages to satisfy that debt. This is what we call | | | | work something out that does not involve the courts. |
| garnishment and it varies from state to state and from | | | | This is an excellent way to avoid wage garnishment. |
| situation to situation. | | | | Fighting wage garnishments |
| Nevertheless, this is done as a last resort. In many | | | | Sometimes, the debtor may be able to fight off |
| cases, other means of contacting the individual and | | | | garnishment or legal holds in certain circumstances: |
| resolving the issue have been attempted and been | | | | 1. If he (debtor) can provide documentation showing |
| found fruitless. This is then where the creditor, faced | | | | that he or she has already settled the debt in full. |
| with no other alternative, approaches the courts for | | | | 2. If the debtor can prove that there is already an |
| help. The courts then determine that the defendant is | | | | agreement in place to pay the debt and the debtor |
| unwilling to voluntarily settle the debt and thus is | | | | has not defaulted on the agreement. |
| subject to a court order to garnish their wages. | | | | 3. The amount of the debt is wrong. |
| There are many other occasions that may | | | | 4. The debt has already been discharged in a |
| necessitate this. One is delinquent student loans which | | | | bankruptcy hearing. |
| is more common than people care to imagine. | | | | Then there are also times when it is impossible to |
| Garnishment is as traumatizing as it is embarrassing | | | | collect. These are: |
| and can wreak havoc especially in tough economic | | | | 1. When the entity owed is no longer in business or has |
| times like these. | | | | ceased operations. |
| The good news is that the law that governs | | | | 2. The death or permanent disability of the defendant |
| garnishments also protects the debtor in many ways. | | | | or in this case the debtor. |
| This is because of the assumption that the creditor | | | | As we have mentioned earlier, wage garnishments |
| has a tendency to harass the debtor or to take more | | | | are only used when all other options have been |
| than is fair. That is why the Consumer Protection Act | | | | exhausted. The creditor may have tried to contact the |
| puts a stipulation that one's wages cannot be | | | | debtor to work out an agreement where he (debtor) |
| garnished beyond a certain percentage. The court also | | | | can voluntarily pay the debt but may have failed to |
| requests the debtor to fill out an income and | | | | gain such an agreement. The creditor then turns to the |
| expenditure assessment form which tells the court | | | | courts. |
| exactly how much to garnish. In most cases, no more | | | | |