Ohio Wage Garnishment

Wage garnishment is a court order which requires your employer to withhold a percentage of your earnings. These payments are taken directly out of your paycheck each pay period and are given directly to your creditors as a way of compensating past-due statements. 

While garnishment generally cannot exceed more than 25% of your overall pay, this is still a significant amount of money to lose when you are already in a place of financial hardship. 

For some, this added strain is an impossible demand to maintain. To learn what wage garnishment is and the possible options for stopping it, read below.

What Causes Wage Garnishment

As an extreme form of debt repayment, there are many protections in place to ensure your wages are not garnished frivolously. As such, your creditors will have to obtain a money judgement against you in order to begin garnishing your wages.

However, there are certain types of debt that do not require this type of court order. Notably, these are debts which are non-dischargeable through any means, such as:

While these garnishments are taken from your disposable income, there are some categories of cash flow that cannot be compromised. These are listed below.

Garnishment Exemptions

Under Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, there are both income limits and income exemptions for which wages can be garnished. These protections include:

  • Unemployment Insurance
  • Received Child support and Alimony
  • Government Benefits such as social security, veteran’s benefits, and student aid
  • Present or Future Retirement Benefits

Can Bankruptcy Stop Wage Garnishment?

When an individual files for bankruptcy, they are protected under an automatic stay. This stay prohibits your creditors from running collections and sending you hundreds of harassing calls. It also stops their ability to garnish your wages.

Just like your utilities or your mortgage payment, creditors cannot collect on past due amounts once they are notified of your filing. In fact, if their garnishments exceeded $600 dollars in the 3 months prior to your filing, you may even be entitled to a return.

However, understand that once your bankruptcy case is either completed or dismissed, your wages can be garnished once again for any remaining debt.

Talking to an Ohio Bankruptcy Attorney

As a bankruptcy attorney, I have worked with many individuals suffering from unmanageable debt. This has led to practice, training, and personal experience in many of the challenges and solutions faced for people who need help regaining financial control.

Need a debt consultation, we are here to help. Reach out by giving us a call at 216-241-2510 to speak with an attorney about your case. It might help you more than you think.

Prefer Email? Give us a message