You are subject to collection activity if you have a money judgment against you in Ohio. A judgment is an amount awarded to one of your creditors in court that gives the creditor the right to use legal avenues to enforce payment. State laws restrict how much a creditor can take from you and what notices you must receive beforehand.
What Can the Creditor Do?
A creditor in Ohio with a valid money judgment can garnish your wages and seize your bank accounts. Garnishment is the interception of your money before you are given your paycheck, and a bank account seizure blocks you from accessing your account until the restriction is lifted by the creditor. All the funds in your account can be taken to satisfy the debt depending on how much you have and what you owe, but the creditor cannot take anything from an account containing less than $400. A creditor can file a lien against property you own, such as your home, in the county land records.
How Much of My Wages Can Be Taken?
A private creditor in Ohio can take 25 percent of the amount that remains from your earnings after your taxes and any child support you must pay are deducted. After a creditor has garnished your wages, another creditor cannot attempt to do so until at least one month has passed. A federal or state creditor, like the Internal Revenue Service and child support collection agencies, is able to take a larger percentage of your income depending on how much you owe.
Will I Be Notified?
Ohio law requires you be notified of any wage garnishment actions, bank account seizures or judgments filed against you to collect a debt. You are notified by mail of the entry of a money judgment by the court, and the creditor typically follows up with a letter asking for payment. Your employer is then served with the wage garnishment papers, and you must be given a copy. The Notice to Judgment Debtor gives you information about the debt and the creditor's identity, and the Request for Hearing form gives you the opportunity to challenge the action. You must complete the form and return the paper to the court within five days of receiving the notice to challenge the garnishment.
Can I Be Fired Because of Wage Garnishment?
Although you are protected from termination if you have one wage garnishment in 12 months, the law does not apply if you receive a second garnishment in the same year in Ohio. Your employer can fire you if you have two or more garnishment orders in the same year. Ohio law permits a judgment debtor to ask the court to appoint a trustee to handle creditor payments; you pay the trustee and he pays your creditors. Your creditors cannot garnish your wages if you have been appointed a trustee in the Ohio court.
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