Does Tennessee Allow Wage Garnishments for Civil Lawsuits?

In Tennessee, if you miss a debt payment, your creditor may legally contact you by telephone and mail within the provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If you continue to miss payments and make no effort to resolve your delinquent debt, your creditor may file a lawsuit against you for the balance, plus interest and legal costs, in a Tennessee Civil Court. If the creditor wins the lawsuit and obtains a judgment, Tennessee permits the creditor to seek recovery through wage garnishment.

Writ of Garnishment

A creditor that wins a civil lawsuit for debt in Tennessee can apply to the court that issued the judgment for a writ of garnishment by stating that the judgment remains unpaid, you have earnings that can be applied to the judgment debt, and garnishment of your earnings is necessary to repay the debt. The creditor then orders your employer to withhold applicable earnings and send them to the court to apply to your judgment debt. However, debts involving taxes or child support do not require judgment or a writ of garnishment, as execution of garnishment for these debts can be accomplished without court involvement.

Exemptions

Tennessee adheres to federal wage garnishment law, which limits garnishment to 25 percent of your post-tax earnings in most cases. Tennessee also provides an additional exemption of $2.50 per week for each dependent you support. However, a creditor can take 50 percent or more of your earnings if the debt involves unpaid child support or taxes. If you earn less than 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage each week, all of your earnings are exempt from garnishment.

Statute of Limitations

In Tennessee, a creditor can only pursue a judgment for a private debt within six years of the delinquency. However, if the creditor obtains a civil judgment within that period, Tennessee law gives the creditor 10 years to collect on the judgment. As long as the judgment debt remains unpaid, the creditor can pursue wage garnishment for an entire decade.

Challenging a Tennessee Garnishment

If a judgment creditor has executed a garnishment order on your employer, you may be able to challenge the order through the court that awarded the judgment. If the creditor obtained the judgment outside of the statute of limitations, executed the garnishment order improperly or seeks garnishment of exempt income such as Social Security payments or disability benefits, the court may overturn the garnishment order. You may also end garnishment by proving that you have already paid the judgment debt in full. You may need an attorney to represent you to successfully challenge wage garnishment.