The Truth of Credit

photo by Stacy Lynn Baum

The garnishment process begins when you stop paying your bills.  In order to make it a priority for you, the creditor goes to court and wins a case against you. The creditor then will receive a judgment, which is a court order that details how much you owe and how it is to be paid. You will then be asked to attend “supplemental proceedings” where you’ll be required to answer detailed questions about your assets, wages, bank accounts, and other property.

It is at this point that the creditor can obtain an order from the court to garnish your wages. However, before the creditor can actually take anything from you, the creditor must give “notice” of the garnishment. It should include:

• Support that a garnishment order has been obtained from the court.
• The amount the creditor can garnish.
• Procedures that you can follow to contest the garnishment.

Finally, the creditor can take the judgment and garnishment order to the local sheriff and ask that the judgment be “levied” or “applied.”  At this point you will notice a decrease in your paychecks, which will mean your employer will be aware of your debt problems.

There are some things that you should make yourself aware of if this is something you are facing. First, if you truly have “nothing”, then more than likely you have more important things to worry about then a wage garnishment. Secondly, most creditors would rather work a deal then spend money on the legal fees and court costs required to obtain a garnishment order. That being said, there is still a minority of people that are just plain stubborn and the only way you’ll ever get money out of them is to sue the hell out of them. Here is some additional information to protect yourself if you are in this kind of mess.

Related posts:

1. What Would You Do Without Any Debt?