How to End a Wage Garnishment

A wage garnishment can be a court-ordered judgment or one that a legal entity, such as the Internal Revenue Agency or a state taxation agency, imposes. Notably, the IRS calls a garnishment a levy. Your employer is legally required to withhold a certain amount of your pay to satisfy the wage garnishment; therefore, it cannot stop the garnishment unless the issuing agency tells it to. However, you can take specific steps to stop the garnishment.

Instructions

1

Contact the garnisheeing party and inquire about a payment plan. The garnisheeing party uses a wage garnishment as a last resort to get you to pay your debt. Prior to the garnishment, it sends you notices requiring you to pay the debt or contact it to set up a payment arrangement. If you ignore the notices, the garnisheeing party seeks collection with a wage garnishment. The IRS, for example, can set you up on an installment plan based on the amount of back taxes you owe. It stops the wage garnishment if you agree to --- and keep --- the payment arrangement.

2

File a hardship claim with the garnisheeing party if the garnishment is preventing you from affording life's basic necessities, such as food, rent or mortgage payments. Contact the issuing agency to determine how to file a hardship claim. For example, if a wage garnishment for a federal student loan is causing you extreme financial stress, request a hearing by completing a request for hearing form. Complete a financial disclosure form and include proof of your earnings and expenses. Mail the forms to the department's hearing branch. If the agency agrees with your claim, it can stop the wage garnishment until your financial situation improves.

3

Let the wage garnishment run its course until the debt is satisfied.

4

Pay off the balance in a lump-sum payment. If you need some time to accumulate the funds, contact the issuing agency. It may stop the wage garnishment to give you the time you need.

5

Submit an offer that lets you pay off the debt for less than what you owe. The IRS and state taxation agencies call this process an offer in compromise. Contact the agency and ask about its OIC procedure. To determine your eligibility, the agency examines your ability to pay as well as your assets, current and future earnings and expenses, and whether the amount you are offering is in the agency's best interest. An application fee may apply.