Centerville Wage Garnishment Attorney

If you owe money to a company, or, in some cases, to an individual, and have made no effort to pay your debt, the creditor may threaten to garnish your wages. This is a common way for creditors to collect on unpaid debts, however, there are specific laws and rules surrounding the wage garnishment process. If you are facing wage garnishment, do not wait, hoping it will go away.

Take action now by contacting a Horwitz & Horwitz attorney who can identify every potential solution, helping you choose the best option for you then guiding you through the process. Our attorneys have 45 years of combined experience helping people just like you who may not fully understand wage garnishment or how a creditor goes about garnishing wages. We will work hard to protect your rights and your future while helping you through this difficult issue.

What is Wage Garnishment?

An Ohio wage garnishment is a legal process where a creditor with a financial judgment against you can collect that amount by taking part of the normal monthly wages you receive from your employer. Child support, consumer debts and student loans are the most common sources of wage garnishment. Wages can be garnished until the debts is paid off, or otherwise resolved. Wage garnishment is more common than you might think.

According to a 2013 CBS News report, as many as 7.2 percent of working Americans have had their wages garnered. While about 40 percent of those wage garnishments were for child support, tax debts accounted for about 20 percent, followed by credit card debt. It is important to remember that you have legal rights regarding wage garnishment, including caps on how much can be taken out of each check. A knowledgeable Horwitz & Horwitz attorney can help you take steps to stop a wage garnishment, or, at a minimum, lessen the effects.

Who Can Garnish Wages?

Generally speaking, almost any creditor can garnish your wages, although many creditors must meet certain requirements prior to a garnishment. Specifically, a lawsuit must be filed with a resulting financial judgement and court order to garnish wages.  Most types of debt, including those related to credit card and medical bills, is not subject to immediate garnishment if you stop paying your bill. The creditor must go through the proper channels by filing a lawsuit and obtaining a court order.

Some creditors are not required to go through the trial process prior to garnishing wages. Child support orders automatically include a wage withholding order, meaning if you stop paying court-ordered child support, no additional court action is required to garnish your wages. Alimony obligations are the same and the limits (how much can be taken from your paycheck) for child support and alimony are much higher than for other debts. If you owe back taxes to the IRS, your wages can be garnished without benefit of a court order and the U.S. Department of Education can also garnish your wages via an “administrative garnishment.”

Under federal law, only one creditor can lay claim to your wages at a time. In other words, whichever creditor files first is the one that will be allowed to garnish your paycheck; other credits must wait their turn. If you are in a situation where one or more creditors are threatening to garnish your paycheck, you need immediate help in the form of a Horwitz & Horwitz attorney who can assess your situation, helping you determine the best solution for you and your family.

How Long Before a Creditor Can Garnish Your Wages?

For debts that must go through the court process prior to garnishment, the process could take a while. First, when you miss your minimum monthly payment, you will be contacted, via letters, phone calls, or both. Usually, the company will attempt to work out a payment plan with you. If that doesn’t happen, and you continue missing payments, then your debt may be turned over to a debt collector. This process usually takes from 3-6 months from your first missed payment. The debt collectors will begin contacting you—sometimes multiple times per day. If you can’t or won’t pay, the collection company will sue you (you will have 28 days to respond) with a goal of obtaining a court judgment that will allow them to garnish your wages. 

If a judgment is obtained, you will receive a letter between 15 and 45 days following the decision that tells you to pay the debt or expect wage garnishment. If you do not pay, your employer will receive a court order stating that a specific amount of your wages will be withheld from your monthly check. Wage garnishment resulting from non-payment of child support can happen fairly quickly, however, non-payment of taxes or student loans have a process that can take several months.