You’d be surprised at how many phone calls I get on payday. The caller is panicked. Their pay is lighter than they were expecting. They aren’t sure how they’re going to pay rent or daycare. They need help.
Your paycheck can be garnished without the company garnishing your warning you ahead of time. The only way you’ll find out is if your payroll or human services department decides to let you know before payday. Otherwise, the only way you’ll is when you find out there is a big chunk of your pay missing. Here are some things you should know about garnishment, especially if you’ve been sued and ignore the lawsuit.
- Before anyone can garnish your paycheck, they need to get a judgment against you, which requires filing a lawsuit. If someone threatens to garnish your paycheck, unless they’ve served you with a lawsuit, call their bluff. There are some exceptions to requiring a judgment, however, and often arise when dealing with a federally guaranteed student loan.
- Under Colorado law, up to 20% of your take home pay can be garnished. When your employer receives a writ of garnishment for you, it must comply with the writ or file an answer explaining why it cannot comply. In order to comply, it must start sending that portion of your take home pay to the party requesting the garnishment.
- Certain income sources cannot be garnished, such as pensions, or unemployment and worker’s compensation benefits. You can also object to the amount being garnished if you disagree with your employer’s calculation of the amount to be garnished.
- It is better to negotiate with the other party before they serve the garnishment. Once the garnishment is in place, they probably won’t agree to release it until they have been paid in full, following the philosophy that a “bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.” If you have waited this long to start talking to the creditor, they may question your sincerity to pay now.
- In addition to your paycheck, a judgment creditor can also garnish bank accounts.
Can Someone Garnish Me Without Telling Me First?
Unfortunately, you’re probably not going to know about the garnishment until one when your bank account is frozen or missing money or your paycheck is smaller than usual.
Once a creditor gets a judgment order (after he sues you), they don’t have to give you advance warning of the garnishment. The lawsuit has to be served to you (or an adult you live with or your employer) in person. If you don’t respond to the lawsuit, you likely won’t get any notification that the creditor got a judgment order or is planning on garnishing you.
It’s never a good idea to ignore a lawsuit. Don’t assume that because you haven’t heard anything, it has gone away or that the creditor isn’t going to do anything.
In fact, as soon as you’re served with a lawsuit, your best next step is to call the creditor’s lawyer and see if you can make payment arrangements. In most cases, you’ll be able to negotiate better repayment terms than them garnishing a large portion of your paycheck.
Talk To An Attorney About How Bankruptcy Will Stop Garnishment In Colorado
If your paycheck is being garnished, bankruptcy may help. If you have questions about the bankruptcy process, we hope you’ll come in for a free, no-obligation bankruptcy consultation with a experienced Denver, Colorado bankruptcy attorney today. You can schedule an appointment using our online scheduling system or by calling 303.331.3403 to set up a time that is convenient for you.
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