Garnishments

Friday, December 11, 2015 4:29:00 PM

What You Need To Know About

Garnishments

Federal law limits the amount of earnings that may be garnished to 25 percent of the debtor’s disposable income. 15 U.S.C.A. § 1673 Disposable earnings are the amount of earnings left after legally required deductions e.g., federal, state taxes, Social Security, unemployment insurance and medical insurance. However, for individuals earning minimum or near minimum wage, the debtor must be left with an amount equal to 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage.

Here at Cold Case Recovery, we'll help you with the garnishment process and figure out how much you can garnish from a debtor's wages.

Disposable Pay
If Paying Child Support, Enter Amount Here
Pay Frequency


Wage Garnishment Amount

What Happens When Wages Are Garnished

Responsibilities of Garnishee

  1. Reply to the writ within 30 days of receipt, indicating on the form whether the debtor is employed, the rate of pay, and any prior garnishments on wages.
  2. Determine the amount of the “garnishable wages” for each pay period and withhold this amount from the employee.
  3. Report and distribute to the creditor or creditor’s attorney the total amount of wages withheld for the month, within 15 days after the close of the employee’s last pay period in the month. If another garnishment or judgment is received, follow the same procedures, but remittance to a second or subsequent creditor is not made until the first judgment is paid in full. When one judgment is paid, the lien of the next one is in effect.
  4. Notify court and all parties if the debtor stops working or is terminated. The garnishment terminates 90 days after end of employment unless the debtor is re-employed during that period.

This only applies to Maryland Cases

When A Garnishment Isn't Carried Out

Penalties

If the garnishee fails to comply with the provisions of the law, he or she may be cited for contempt of court and assessed attorney’s fees and court costs.

If you're ready to start collecting on your judgments or want to learn more about garnishes, then get in touch with us!

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