Can they Garnish my Wages?

Posted on April 15, 2007 by Lawyers Attorneys

Recently, I’ve had several calls to my office about Garnishment of Wages, so perhaps a short article is in order. Wage Garnishment is a legal procedure in which a person’s earnings are required by court order to be withheld by an employer for the payment of a debt. The key to the preceding statement is the term “court order”. A garnishment of wages cannot occur without a judge agreeing to the garnishment. This means that some type of court action must occur. The creditor cannot merely attach or garnish your account without due process of law. In Pennsylvania, where I practice law, a Garnishment of Wages can occur only under limited circumstances. The most prevalent circumstance is for an obligation of child or spousal support. Garnishment is usually very easy to procure under those types of matters. Other circumstances where garnishment of wages can occur include repayment of PHEAA student loans, room and board for four weeks or less and obligations relating to a final divorce distribution. In PA, these are just about the only instances when your wages can be garnished while they are in the hands of your employer.

Many of the inquiries that I receive at my office are regarding credit card collections and garnishment of wages. Except under very limited or special circumstances, in Pennsylvania, an ordinary creditor cannot garnish your wages on a Pennsylvania case. This does not mean that the money that you earn cannot ever be garnished. There is a distinction here that must be made. Once the money is earned and deposited into your bank account, the monies are no longer wages. Those funds become part of the corpus of your bank account and are subject to garnishment. If a creditor is privy to your banking information AND if they have obtained a judgment against you, they will be able to garnish the funds in your bank account, even if those funds were at one time wages. This type of “regular” garnishment does not require a court order, but instead requires the creditor to obtain a judgment against you in a court of law. After a judgment is obtained, a creditor can commence garnishment proceedings by applying for a Writ of Execution. The Writ of Execution is delivered to your bank and your accounts are then frozen.

Greg Artim is an Attorney with offices located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more answers to your legal questions, please visit his website at www.gregartim.com

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19 Responses to “Can they Garnish my Wages?”

  1. Troy, on January 27th, 2008 at 8:40 am Said:

    I found this information to be very helpful and educational. Thank you for taking the time to write this. I look forward to you writing in the future.

  2. Jonathan, on February 12th, 2008 at 8:42 pm Said:

    Must one be notified before a garnishment is made?

  3. Jason, on February 13th, 2008 at 7:02 am Said:

    Typically a letter is sent out prior to garnishment.

  4. Greg Artim, on March 26th, 2008 at 6:11 pm Said:

    No, that is incorrect. A letter is sent out after the garnishment is made, not prior.

  5. Rebecca, on March 27th, 2008 at 12:19 am Said:

    My husband had his wages garnished due to school loans. Before they garnished wages they must have left about 50 phone messages that he never responded to. I also never recalling a letter at all.

  6. Jeff A., on April 5th, 2008 at 11:57 pm Said:

    Greg is correct a letter is typically sent out after the garnishment is made.

  7. jb, on April 10th, 2008 at 8:30 am Said:

    My wages just got garnished and it sucks. Couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

  8. Suzanne, on April 11th, 2008 at 1:30 am Said:

    My boyfriend’s wages were garnished and he still hasn’t gotten a letter. I can’t see how this can be legal.

  9. david, on April 12th, 2008 at 8:54 pm Said:

    Hi! Did your boyfriend receive calls from these scumbags (collectors)? Did he not answer them or make some sort of payment arrangements?thanks

  10. Dave, on April 15th, 2008 at 6:51 pm Said:

    Can a Joint Bank Account (husband and Wife) or a Business Account be garnished?
    Thanks!

  11. Aaron, on April 15th, 2008 at 7:20 pm Said:

    Dave- they will need a judgment order before they can garnish from your joint account and the other person whom is not in debt will have to show evidence or show proof of their money. My wife and I are going through a similar circumstance and we have recently just taken our names of each others accounts. To be on the safe side, if you are in deep debt, take your name off the joint account.

  12. Aaron, on April 15th, 2008 at 7:22 pm Said:

    BTW- here is something that I just found

    http://courts.co.calhoun.mi.us/quest475.htm

  13. Dave, on April 15th, 2008 at 7:49 pm Said:

    Thanks Aaron.
    I’m in the process of removing my name from the account. the court date is for 4/17/08 so the judgement is just around the corner…
    :( I also have a business account which my name is on. Is that at risk?

  14. Dave, on April 15th, 2008 at 7:54 pm Said:

    OH BTW..I’m in PA

  15. Aaron, on April 16th, 2008 at 4:09 am Said:

    I’m not 100& sure. I did a little research on your behalf and this is what I found out the IRS can freeze your business account however I’m not sure if a regular creditor can get to your business. If you owe a lot of money and you have a big business account I would suggest you contact a lawyer. You could also call your local bar association if you didn’t want to talk to an attorney. I’m sure they would know the question regarding garnishing business accounts. My first thought would be they couldn’t go after the business account however they could go after the wages you pull from the account.

    I’m not a debtor or creditor attorney so I’m uncertain about that question.

  16. Dave, on April 16th, 2008 at 1:49 pm Said:

    thanks again Aaron. I did contact a Lawyer here in PA and I’m going to the hearing to defend the suit. It turns out that they HAVE to proove alot to actually win. and I also found out that here in PA they cant touch a joint account unless a judgement is against both of us. The business account is still in question, however.

  17. Sue, on July 10th, 2008 at 2:09 am Said:

    Dave (from April 16th),
    Did this lawyer provide you with a copy of the law that says a joint account can’t be touched in the state of PA? Let me know if he/she did. How are things working out for you?

  18. Rick Jones, on July 11th, 2008 at 12:29 pm Said:

    A growing number of people are “working poor”. That means they work full time but live in relative poverty because of low pay and high costs of living. If someone like this is victimized by an IRS wage levy the effects can be devastating. Unfortunately the IRS won’t go away.

  19. linda, on July 17th, 2008 at 1:05 am Said:

    Can someone help me. I had a credit card debt. they have already filed judgemnent and won. Now I get a letter saying they are garnishing my husbands bank account. My name is not on this account and never has been.
    His name was never on the credit card either..
    Letter say I have 5 days to contest this. Can they take his money since my name is not on the account nor his on debt?

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