Wage garnishment in Arizona

Most a card or medical judgment can take

10% of take-home pay or the part above $909 a week if lesssource

Hardship reduction

A judge can lower it to as little as 5%source

Time to ask for a hearing

10 days after you get the employer’s answersource

Bank accounts

$5,000 in one account is exempt, raised each year for cost of livingsource

How much of my paycheck can be garnished in Arizona?

The rule is in A.R.S. 33-1131. For a credit card, medical bill, loan or collection judgment, the creditor gets the smaller of two numbers:

• 10% of your disposable earnings, meaning pay left after taxes and other deductions the law requires.
• The part of your weekly disposable earnings above 60 times the highest minimum wage that applies to you.

The U.S. Department of Labor state minimum wage list shows Arizona at $15.15 an hour. Sixty hours of that is $909 a week. Some weekly examples:

• $850 of take-home pay: $0. All of it is protected.
• $1,000: $91, the amount over $909.
• $1,200: $120, which is 10%.

For a two-week paycheck, the protected part doubles to $1,818.

The writ of garnishment and what your employer must send you

Arizona calls the court paper a writ of garnishment and summons. It is served on your employer, called the garnishee. Under A.R.S. 12-1598.04, the creditor must get a copy of the writ and an initial notice to you within three days after serving your employer, not counting weekends and holidays.

Your employer starts holding back the nonexempt part of your pay but cannot send it to the creditor until a judge signs an order of continuing lien. If no order is entered within 45 days after your employer files its answer, the held money goes back to you.

That order runs until the judgment is paid, released or ended by the court or you leave that job for more than 60 days. Each paycheck should come with a nonexempt earnings statement showing the math.

How to stop a wage garnishment in Arizona

Your tool is the request for hearing form. It is attached to the notices you get and the court posts its garnishment of earnings forms online for free. You can ask for a hearing if:

• The judgment is not valid or is already paid.
• Your employer’s answer is wrong or too much is being withheld.
• You were enrolled in a debt scheduling plan with a qualified debt counseling organization when the writ was served.
• The garnishment would cause extreme economic hardship for you or your family.

Under A.R.S. 12-1598.07, file it with the court clerk no later than 10 days after you receive your employer’s answer. Give a copy to your employer and the creditor. The hearing should start within 10 days and cannot be later than 15 unless you ask for more time. Call and a garnishment specialist goes through your writ and that 10-day clock with you.

Can my bank account be garnished in Arizona?

Yes, but through a separate writ for non-earnings served on your bank. Arizona protects $5,000 held in a single account at one financial institution, under A.R.S. 33-1126. The figure rises every January 1 with the cost of living.

The same law shields earned income tax credits and child tax credits in a refund and money you receive as court-ordered child support or spousal maintenance. AZLawHelp’s garnishment guide also lists Social Security, SSI, veterans and unemployment benefits as protected.

To claim an exemption, file a written objection and request for hearing within 10 days after you receive the bank’s answer, as set out in A.R.S. 12-1580. That hearing must begin within 5 days, not counting weekends and holidays.

Child support, tax debts and medical bills in Arizona

The 10% cap is only for ordinary debts. For an order to support a child or spouse, Arizona exempts one-half of your disposable earnings, so no more than 50% can be withheld. Federal law can allow up to 65% in some cases.

State and federal tax debts get no protection from these Arizona exemptions.

Proposition 209 also changed medical debt. The court’s Proposition 209 information sheet explains that interest on medical debt is capped at 3% or the one-year Treasury rate, whichever is lower. Check the rate printed on any medical judgment against you.