How to stop wage garnishment

If you want to stop wage garnishment, the first thing to do is call a garnishment specialist with your order in front of you. Who is garnishing you decides the way out. Here are the six ways they will walk you through.

Claim an exemption

An exemption claim tells the court your pay is protected. Common reasons are a state limit lower than what is being taken, benefits mixed into your account or a head of family rule.

The claim goes to the court or the levying officer named on your papers and the specialist on our line helps you file it. The creditor then gets a short window to oppose it, 10 days in some states, per a state court self-help guide. No opposition means the claim is granted.

Pay it or settle it

Paying the full balance ends the order. Settling means the creditor takes less, then files a release with the court or tells your employer to stop.

No money moves until the creditor signs the deal. The judgment amount usually grows with interest and fees, as the CFPB notes, so the deal needs a payoff figure fixed to a date. We help you get it.

Make a deal before the order starts

The cheapest garnishment is the one that never starts. Answer the lawsuit by the date on your court papers, because a default judgment is what allows the order, per the CFPB.

With a federal student loan, a repayment deal works if the first payment arrives within 30 days of the notice, according to Federal Student Aid.

File bankruptcy (it stops the same day)

A bankruptcy filing “automatically stays” most collection, the federal courts explain. Your employer must stop once it learns of the case.

Chapter 7 court fees are $245, $78 and $15 or $338 together and the court can let you pay in installments. See does bankruptcy stop wage garnishment for Chapter 7 versus 13.

Filing before your next payday saves that check. Call now and we check whether bankruptcy fits your debts.

Ask the court to cancel the judgment

If you never got the lawsuit papers, the court can set aside the default judgment. A cancelled judgment takes the garnishment down with it. Courts call this a motion to vacate. A garnishment attorney files it for you.

Hardship rules for the IRS and student loans

An IRS wage levy creating an immediate economic hardship must be released, says the IRS. A payment plan can end it as well.

For a student loan, we help you ask for a hearing within 30 days and argue extreme financial hardship. Details are on student loan garnishment and IRS garnishment.

How to stop wage garnishment: which way fits you

To see your own check after each move, run it through the garnishment calculator.