Wage garnishment is a process that involves having money taken out of your paycheck by one of your creditors before you receive it. While you could hire a lawyer to try to stop the garnishment, you can also take some steps to stop the wage garnishment on your own without the legal fees.
Quit Your Job
While it may not be the most attractive option, you could stop the garnishment on your own by quitting your job. A wage garnishment is a process that involves losing part of your paycheck. Your employer essentially pays your creditor for you directly. This means that if you are no longer earning money at this particular employer, your wages cannot be garnished. If you can get another job, your creditor may have a hard time switching the garnishment over to your new employer. This is generally a temporary solution, as creditors will eventually catch up with you.
Payment Plan
To get a garnishment on your wages, creditors must first file a lawsuit against you and receive a judgment. The judgment must be enforced to get the garnishment. If you are willing to work out a payment plan with the creditor, you may be able to get the garnishment removed. Your creditor does not have to negotiate with you once the garnishment is in place, but it may be willing to if you can stick to a payment schedule.
Filing Bankruptcy
One of the least attractive options to remove the garnishment involves filing for bankruptcy. When you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your outstanding unsecured debts can be completely discharged by the bankruptcy court. At that point, your debt is wiped clean and your creditors can no longer try to collect the money from you in any way. This includes trying to collect through a wage garnishment. While this can get you out of the wage garnishment, it will also hurt your credit severely.
IRS Debt
When you owe taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, you may have your wages garnished. If this is the case, you will not be able to get out of the garnishment by filing bankruptcy. Tax debt is not something that you can usually get out of paying under any circumstances. The only possible exception to this is if you become disabled. If your wages are garnished by the IRS, you may be able to work out an installment agreement which will allow you to get rid of the garnishment and start making payments.
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