Debt sometimes is hard to eliminate, even when you are working. Failure to pay a creditor may result in the creditor pursuing collection via wage garnishment. This is a formal process by which the creditor goes through the courts to force your employer to deduct a portion of your earnings to pay the debt. The amount of time it takes before a creditor garnishes your wage varies by state, but generally, if a creditor sues to pursue collection, wages are garnished within six months.
Credit Agreement
Creditors vary in terms of how lenient they are with delinquent accounts. Some credit agreements, for example, state that a single missed payment is enough to warrant collection action by the creditor. Part of this depends on your credit history and score. Other creditors will work with you, allowing you to have several months of late payments before they start threatening garnishment. The first step in determining how long garnishment will take is looking at the specifics of your credit contract.
Due Process
Under debt collection law, all creditors must follow due process when they try to garnish wages. This means that they first must file a lawsuit against you in court. The lawsuit gives the creditor a chance to prove to a judge that it has a legal right to collect money and that you, in fact, owe a debt. If the creditor can't prove you owe, he cannot garnish your wages. Typically, the time between an initial lawsuit summons and your actual court date is one to three months, but this depends on the statutes in your state, as well as how backlogged the court is with cases. If you have to reschedule your court date due to conflicts, it may take longer for the judge to make a decision in your case.
Judgment Order
If you attend your court hearing and the judge finds in favor of your creditor, you usually have 20 to 30 days to pay the amount you owe, depending on the laws for your jurisdiction. In some cases, you can work out a payment plan with the creditor to stop the garnishment at this point, but the willingness of the creditor to negotiate depends on how much you owe, as well as your current financial situation.
Writ of Garnishment
If you do not pay what you owe in the 20 to 30 days following the judgment, or if you cannot come to an agreement with the creditor, the creditor then goes back to the court to file a motion for garnishment. He provides the court clerk with verification of the original judgment, and the clerk issues a formal writ of garnishment, which the sheriff serves to your employer.
Garnishment
By law, your employer must follow the writ of garnishment once he receives it. In most cases, this means you'll see the garnishment take effect on the paycheck following the receipt of the writ. However, you have two to three weeks in most instances to appeal the order. If you choose to do this, you must file paperwork with the sheriff who issued the writ. The creditor then must file more paperwork to oppose the appeal, and the judge once again must review the filings to determine how much you must pay.
Bottom Line
If all goes smoothly, you may see your wages garnished in as little as two months following the creditor's lawsuit, although it can take as long as four to six months to see an effect if the court is backlogged, you must reschedule court dates or you appeal the garnishment order. Because your finances can be affected so quickly, it is always best to contact your creditor at the first hint of getting behind on an account. In many cases, creditors welcome repayment plans, as pursuing garnishment is costly.
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