If Your Company's Wages Are Being Garnished, What Can You Do?

When you owe money to a creditor and you work for an employer, the creditor could potentially have your wages garnished before you receive them. With this process, the creditor can continue taking money out of your paycheck until the debt is paid off. If you're faced with a wage garnishment, you have a few options to consider.

Quit Your Job

When a wage garnishment has been put into effect, it typically continues to take money out of your paycheck until the debt is paid or until you no longer work at your employer. If you want to stop a garnishment, you could consider quitting your job. For example, if you could make money being self-employed, a wage garnishment would have no effect on you because you're no longer getting paid by an employer. In this case, the creditor could use other options to collect the money, but you don't have to worry about the garnishment.

Negotiate

Another option that you may want to consider is negotiating with your creditor. Talk to the creditor to find out if you can set up a payment plan instead of using wage garnishment. For example, the creditor may be willing to stop the garnishment if you're willing to make regular monthly payments on the debt. Certain creditors may not want to do this because they already have the garnishment and can take money from you without your permission.

File Bankruptcy

Although it's an extreme option, you may want to also consider filing bankruptcy. When you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you can have all of your outstanding debts discharged; any judgments and garnishments are also wiped out. If you file for Chapter 13, the court sets up a repayment plan for all of your debts. With this option, the garnishment is stopped and all of your payments go through the bankruptcy trustee.

Borrow Money

Another option that may be able to get you out a wage garnishment is borrowing money to pay off the debt. For instance, you could borrow money through a personal loan and use that money to pay off the debt with your creditor. Then the creditor with the garnishment is paid and you can focus on paying off your new lender. One issue with this strategy is that it may be difficult to get approved for a loan when you have a judgment against you.