What happens when a creditor garnishes your wages.?

Question

What are the steps involved and will your payroll check be held up longer because of the garnishment?

Answer 1

First they have to go to court and obtain a judgment against you for a debt. If garnishment is allowed in your state(it is not allowed in all states or for all types of debts), they then have to get a court order.

Once that happens there is a period of time for appeals, but once that is over your employer will receive the order to garnish your wages. They turn it over to the payroll department and the specified amount is taken out from your pay check. It does not delay you getting your check, it just reduces the amount you get to "take home". That remains in effect until the specified date on the court order, or if no ending date is given, until your employer receives an order to stop the garnishment.

Also, the above answer is incorrect. You can not be fired just because your wages are being garnished. If you actually are fired because of this you would have a good case against the employeer for a violation of Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act.

Answer 2

the payroll clerk will receive a letter stating that your wages will be garnished, and they may have a set amount that will take out each time you get paid, or they could take a percentage of how much you make. it just depends. some employers actually fire ppl who's wages gets garnished. you will be able to find out who is garnishing your wages by asking your payroll clerk.

Answer 3

Usually the creditor gets a court order or judgement, and then your employer is told to withhold a portion of your check each pay period, and forward it to the creditor. Where I live it can be as much as 25 percent of your gross pay. It shouldn't delay your paycheck.. it's just going to be smaller.