Credit card debts can be garnished from wages. In fact, credit card debt, along with alimony and child support, is one of the leading uses of wage garnishment.
Wage Garnishment
Wages garnishment is when a judge orders an employer to withhold part of an employee's wages to help pay off a creditor. For an entity or individual attempting to recover a debt, garnishing the debtor's wages is a last resort tactic, and the credit card company must typically prove to a judge that they have tried other methods.
Types of Debt
Any person or entity that is owed money by an individual earning regular wages can petition a judge for a court order to garnish a percentage of the debtor's wages. Credit card companies can recover credit card debts through garnishing wages, as can a former partner, a personal loan company, a bank---even a person's parents.
How It Works
The credit card company or collections company must petition a judge for an order to garnish a debtor's wages. If the order is granted, a sheriff or other law enforcement agent presents the order to the debtor's employer. The order requires the employer to withhold a specified portion of the employee's wages from every paycheck, and send the amount to the credit card company.
Limits
No matter how much the debtor owes, creditors cannot garnish more than 25 percent of the debtor's wages. Furthermore, no order can push the debtor below the poverty line or leave the debtors with less than 30 times the minimum wage of the debtor's state per week. Different states have different laws, and some protect consumers more than the federal guidelines with regards to consumer debt.
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