How to Stop a Garnishment Without Filing for Bankruptcy
If you have creditors who file a judgment against you for debts owed to them, your wages could be docked. While the laws on wage garnishment differ from state to state, generally once creditors have a court order against you, they can take 25 per cent from each pay check. Once a creditor has filed a judgment against you, there are very few options (besides bankruptcy) available to you. Therefore, the trick is to stop a garnishment before a creditor obtains a court order.
There are two types of claims you may be able to use to stop a garnishment.
- Claim of exemption. You need to file this if you are not able to cover basic living expenses like food and housing. The form for this claim is available from your local courthouse.
- Head of household exemption. This is for people whose wages support a spouse and family. If you intend to file for this exemption, you will need to write a letter and file it at your local courthouse. Not all states have a ‘head of household exemption’, so you will need to check the laws for your state of residence.
If you are not eligible to claim either of these exemptions, you can try tackling the problem by contacting your creditor directly. Call your creditor and explain your situation. Offer to pay a percentage of the debt and then ask if you can establish a fortnightly or monthly payment plan and obtain any agreement of this in writing.
Seeking advice to consolidate your debts will also help to stop a garnishment. Debt reduction programs are mainly concerned with helping you to pay back unsecured debts, like credit cards. With a debt reduction program, you agree to pay over time and the interest (and sometimes, principal) is reduced, so you pay less per month. The idea being that you pay back the debt in full over a period of three to five years. This means that your creditors are still being paid, so they won’t pursue wage garnishment.
Unfortunately, the only other way to stop a garnishment is to pay the debt in full. Making a full payment is the easiest and simplest way to stop a garnishment once it’s under way.
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