Wage Garnishment Procedures

One of the most dreaded debt collection procedures is wage garnishment. In wage garnishment, your employer deducts a previously agreed-upon portion of your wages and pays it to the requesting creditor. Wage garnishment procedures must be followed precisely for the order to be valid. If you suspect improper wage garnishment procedures, you can contest them in a court of law.

Beginning Garnishment

Your creditor first seeks a court order, or injunction, to garnish your wages. The creditor provides a detailed summary of the debt you owe, any payments you have made toward the debt and the payment dates. The court uses this information to decide whether garnishment may be appropriate. According to Fair Debt Collection, no more than 25% of your total wages or 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage can be taken from each paycheck. Your employer will receive a letter detailing the intent to garnish your wages should no action be taken on your part.

If the garnishment motion is successful, you will receive a notice in the mail detailing your debt, how much of your wage will be garnished plus any exempt funds and what happens should you fail to make payment arrangements.

Serving the Notice

If you fail to make payment arrangements within 30 days, your local sheriff will deliver the wage garnishment notice to your employer, who will then send you paperwork informing you that a garnishment order has taken effect. Your employer must give you these notices before taking money out of your paycheck. Among the garnishment notices should be a piece of paperwork entitled "Request for Hearing" or a similar phrase. From here, you can contest the amount being taken from your check.

Taking Wages

Your employer notifies the payroll department of your garnishment. After taking out state, federal and local taxes in your paycheck, the payroll department writes a check for the amount specified in the garnishment notice to the debtor and issues you the remainder. The garnishment continues until the debt has been paid in full. Keep records of all check stubs and tally them against the original debt to ensure that your wages are not garnished beyond the amount you owe.