How to Stop a Wage Garnishment

Once a creditor obtains a judgment against you their next step is to try and collect on the judgment.  The options the creditor typically exercise are (1) file for a wage garnishment, (2) file for a bank attachment, and (3) file a certificate of judgment.  If you are employed the garnishment of your wages is the most secure way for your creditors to collect the debt, and it will continue until the debt is paid in full

When a wage garnishment is in effect your employer will be given notice from the court and they will be responsible for withholding the wages and sending the garnished funds to the court.  You are given a 15 day notice that a garnishment will take place, and you can explore other options to pay the debt in order to avoid the garnishment.  If the wage garnishment begins then the creditor is allowed to garnish up to 25% of your income after standard deductions are applied to your pay.  Also, interest typically continues to accrue on the underlying judgment even though payments are being made.

One of the main advantages of filing bankruptcy is that it will stop the wage garnishment at once.  This will keep more money in your pocket!  The creditor will be listed on the petition and given notice of your case filing.  The automatic stay goes into effect upon the bankruptcy filing, which stops all collections actions against your property.