When a person signs a rental agreement, it is a legal contract between two parties. If either party reneges on the agreement, the other party has the option to take the matter to court. If the court finds in favor of the rental property owner, it can issue judgment against the person breaking the contract by not paying rent. This judgment can lead to having a person's wages garnished.
Elements
There are three elements in any hearing leading to wage garnishment. The first is the person taking action in court in order to get a judgment against the debtor. The second element is the actual debtor. The third element is the garnishee, which is the person or company collecting garnished wages.
Appealing
If the debtor wants to protest the judgment, he must file a written objection and request a hearing. When he protests the judgment, he can protest the amount of the judgment, as well as the actual legality of the judgment. The court schedules a hearing and both the judgment creditor and the judgment debtor present their cases.
Terminology
While some people think there is a difference between wage garnishment and a levy, the two are actually the same. Government agencies may have their own terminology for the garnishment. One agency might call it a "levy" and another agency might classify it as an "earnings withholding order." While it may operate under a variety of names, it operates the same in every situation.
Mandatory
Employers do not have the right to refuse to garnish an employee's wages. Once the court issues a judgment against the debtor, the employer must collect the appropriate wages, which are then provided to the judgment creditor.
Protection
If an employee has his wages garnished, he has certain protections available. Under federal law, an employer cannot terminate an employee when he has a single wage garnishment. On the other hand, if the employee has several garnishments coming out of his paycheck, an employer can actually fire the employee. Under federal law, wage garnishment takes effect in most cases under "disposable earnings." Disposable earnings are calculated after taxes are taken out, along with any other financial withholdings.
Federal Garnishing
If an employee has wage garnishments to pay alimony, child support, overdue taxes or any kind of federal loan, those garnishments take precedence over civil garnishments. This means if a person doesn't have a lot of money being paid to him, it may be a while before the debtor creditor receives payment.
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