Wage garnishment in Colorado

Most a card or medical judgment can take

20% of take-home pay or the part above $606.40 a week if lesssource

When withholding starts

First payday at least 14 days after your employer sends the noticesource

Time to dispute the math

7 days to settle it with your employer, then a written objectionsource

Bank accounts

$2,500 across your deposit accounts is exemptsource

How much of my paycheck can be garnished in Colorado?

Under C.R.S. 13-54-104, the cap for a credit card, medical or collection judgment is the lowest of three numbers: 20% of your disposable earnings, the amount above 40 times the federal minimum wage or the amount above 40 times the state minimum wage. The state rate is higher, so it sets your floor.

Disposable earnings means pay left after required withholding. Colorado also subtracts health insurance your employer takes out of your check for you or your household, which federal law does not.

The U.S. Department of Labor state wage table lists Colorado at $15.16 an hour. Forty hours of that is $606.40. Some weekly figures:

• $600 of take-home pay: nothing can be taken.
• $700: the cap is $93.60, the part above the floor.
• $900: the cap is $180, which is 20%.

Paid every two weeks, the protected amount doubles to $1,212.80.

The writ of continuing garnishment and its 14-day wait

Colorado calls the court paper a writ of continuing garnishment. It is served on your employer and your employer must hand you a notice headed “Money will be taken from your pay if you fail to act.” The wording is set by C.R.S. 13-54.5-105.

That notice gives you some breathing room. Nothing comes out until the first payday that falls at least 14 days after your employer sends it. It also includes an estimate of how much each check will lose. You can write or email your employer for a report showing how the amount was figured.

If the debt was sold, you can write to the creditor within 14 days and ask who the original lender was. The creditor has 7 days to answer.

Each writ lasts 182 days, about six months. If the balance is not paid off by then, the creditor can serve a new one.

How to stop or lower a garnishment in Colorado

Colorado gives you two kinds of objection under C.R.S. 13-54.5-108:

• Wrong math. You have 7 days from getting the writ to work out the error with your employer. Your employer cannot send money to the court or the creditor during those days. If you cannot agree, file a written objection with the clerk of the court that entered the judgment.
• Hardship. You can skip your employer and object straight to the court if what is left does not cover your family’s living costs. The judge looks at proof of rent, utilities, food, child care, medical bills and transportation from the last 60 days.

Mail a copy of any objection to the creditor by certified mail, return receipt requested. The court must hold a hearing within 14 days and over-taken pay is returned within 7 days. The hardship option came from House Bill 19-1189. Call and a garnishment specialist goes through the writ and your deadline with you.

Can a creditor take money from my bank account in Colorado?

Yes, with a separate writ served on the bank. Colorado still protects part of it. Up to $2,500 in total across accounts in your name is exempt under C.R.S. 13-54-102, an amount set by Senate Bill 22-086 in 2022. That same law dropped an old rule that child support and unemployment money had to be kept apart from other funds to stay protected.

When a bank account is frozen, you should receive a notice of exemption and pending levy. You have 14 days after that notice to file a written claim of exemption with the court clerk, listing what is protected and why. Filing it pauses the case until a judge decides.