Wage garnishment in Maryland

Most a card or medical judgment can take

25% of take-home paysource

Pay you always keep

$450 a week (30 x $15.00)source

Bank accounts

$500 protected automatically, up to $6,000 if you asksource

Time to claim a bank exemption

30 days from when the bank was servedsource

How much of my paycheck can be garnished in Maryland?

Maryland’s wage exemption is in Commercial Law section 15-601.1. It protects the greater of 75% of your disposable wages (what is left after taxes and other deductions the law requires) or 30 times the state minimum wage for each week in the pay period. Any medical insurance payment your employer deducts is also exempt. The math is done per pay period.

The state rate is $15.00 an hour, per the U.S. Department of Labor’s state table, so $450 a week is the floor or $900 for a two-week check. On $600 a week of take-home pay the creditor can take $150. On $520 it can take only $70, because just $70 is above $450.

What a Maryland wage garnishment looks like

Once there is a judgment, the creditor files a request with the court and your employer withholds part of each check until the judgment is paid in full. Before that, you may get a Judgment Debtor Information Sheet (CC-DC-CV-114) asking about your job and money. The Maryland Judiciary’s judgments and debt collection page says to send it back to the creditor, not the court, within 30 days of when it was mailed or delivered.

While a wage garnishment runs, the creditor must send you a statement of your payments within 15 days after the end of each month. Keep those statements. They are how you spot interest or fees that do not match the judgment. Your employer cannot fire you because your wages are garnished for any one debt within a calendar year.

Contesting the garnishment

You have the right to contest a wage garnishment in Maryland. In District Court cases, the court’s page points you to the general Motion form, DC-002, where you explain your defense or objection. Common reasons are a wrong balance, a debt you already paid, more than 25% being taken or a check that left you under $450 a week.

File it with the court that entered the judgment and send a copy to the creditor. The Maryland Court Help Center helps people with debt cases and can explain the filing steps. Before you file, a specialist on our line can go over your stub and the garnishment numbers with you.

Can my bank account be garnished in Maryland?

Yes. A writ served on your bank freezes money up to the judgment, costs and interest and new deposits are frozen too, up to that amount. The bank files a Confession of Assets (DC-CV-061) saying what it holds.

Maryland gives you several protections:

• $500 is protected automatically, with no paperwork.
• You can claim up to $6,000 more for any reason under Courts and Judicial Proceedings section 11-504(b)(5).
• Social Security, veterans benefits, child support, SNAP and TCA, unemployment, workers compensation, alimony and retirement funds can be claimed by source.
• A joint account of a married couple, opened before the judgment, may qualify as spousal property.

Claim these with the Motion for Release of Property from Levy/Garnishment (DC-CV-036) within 30 days of when the bank was served. If you miss it, the creditor can ask for a Judgment Garnishment (DC-CV-062) and get the money.