Wage Garnishment – What You Need To Know

If you are being bothered by your outstanding balances placed on your unsecured debt like credit cards, you might find yourself facing the reality of wage garnishments from your creditors. You may ask yourself if they can do this to you. Well, you need to understand that they can, garnish your wages although there are important considerations that you need to take into account in order to guarantee that your rights are being protected. Here are some facts that you need to know when it comes to wage garnishment.

What is wage garnishment?

It takes place the moment when the lender is given a court order that will necessitate the employer to withhold a portion of the salary that will be used towards repayment of the unpaid debts that is owed by the lender.

But this does not give the debtor all the rights against the lender. There is a State and federal law that will determine the amount of money that will be garnished from the wage based on the level of income. Generally, the amount is 25% or sometimes less of your disposable earnings. Disposable income refers to the amount of money which remains after all the Social Security benefits, state, federal and local taxes, state unemployment insurance have all been deducted.

When is a wage garnishment sought?

As a rule of the thumb, creditors will go for wage garnishment or other kind of legal actions as their last resort in their goal to collect something from the outstanding debt. In case you have defaulted on the conditions of the agreement that you’ve entered with your credit card issuer and if the debtor thinks that they don’t have any option left to do then they will surely count on legal system as their remedy to the situation.

If you are thinking just how much garnishment can really be deducted then you need to understand that your wage can never be garnished by more than a single credit, not unless the primary garnishment did not cover the 25% which is permitted by law. The federal law for the child support as well as alimony would allow up to a total of 50% of the disposable income that will be garnished by the employer in case you happen to be supporting another spouse or another child.

What if you disagree with your wage garnishment?

If your employer receives a notice about garnishment then you need to understand that your employer is bound to follow the law imposed by the government when it comes to wage garnishment. Of course, you will be angry about the whole idea that a percent of your income is reduced, but you can always contact your creditor for other methods of repayment so it would be more convenient on your part.