Collecting My Judgment Using Wage Garnishment
I'm a judgment referral expert, and not an attorney
. My articles are my opinions, and not legal advice. If you ever need legal advice or a strategy to use, please contact a lawyer.
When your judgment debtor has a regular job, wage levies (named income garnishments in certain states) may be used to recover a judgment. Just like most other judgment recovery methods, income garnishments cost money and do not always pay off.
Wage levies are one of the top four judgment recovery methods. Liens, bank levies, and Sheriff sales of your judgment debtor's property, are three other popular judgment recovery methods.
Ideally, wage garnishments would consistently pay off, but in reality, they often don't pay off. The first thing to verify is, are income garnishments allowed in your state? Most states permit income garnishments. The beginning step in your wage garnishment, is discovering where the debtor is employed.
What if your debtor resides (and is paid) in your state, however their employer is based in another state? Usually, you will have to domesticate your judgment in the state where the employer is based. Another potential remedy might be the long-arm laws and statutes in the employer's state, that may allow a creditor to reach a judgment debtor's wages from another state.
The next challenge is, is the debtor self-employed? If so, the wage levy probably will not work if they pay themselves with loans, bonuses, an independent contractor, or by similar games. One might need to perform debtor examinations, to discover where the debtor's income comes and goes. You may have to also request that the court approve an assignment order.
The next complication might be, is there already an existing wage levy in place? Usually, just one income garnishment is permitted for a worker at a time. When you discover that a garnishment is already in place, you must wait (often a long time) for your turn, until the other levies are finished. Sometimes other (VIP) creditors, for example government debt or child support levies, outrank regular judgment creditors; and have the first rights to attach a judgment debtor's income.
Another thing to remember is usually, only 25% or less (especially when a debtor does not earn very much) of an employee's wages can be levied. Sometimes a debtor quits their job when the wage levy becomes active. This means one needs to again discover where they are working, and begin again, paying the Sheriff and the court for every levy attempt.
To begin an income garnishment, you buy a writ of execution (or some other appropriate) form from your court. Then you pay your Sheriff, and complete their paperwork. Depending on which state and county, one may also need to hire a process server, to serve the wage garnishment on the employer.
The Sheriff or a process server, serves the legal levy papers on the debtor's employer, and then the employer withholds income from their debtor employee; and eventually you will most likely get a series of checks until you are paid.
If you ever receive a letter from a bankruptcy court, that the debtor has filed for bankruptcy, make sure to quickly notify the Sheriff to immediately stop the garnishment, and end all your recovery efforts.
After a garnishment gets served, many debtors will get angry. Some debtors might be embarrassed, some will go bankrupt, and some may wish to pay or settle with you, to have you to end your levy. Of course, some will just let your wage levy ride out until you are paid completely, and that is good news.
by: Mark Shapiro
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