Wage garnishment in Ohio

Most a card or medical judgment can take

25% of take-home pay or the part above $217.50 a week if lesssource

Warning letter before garnishment

15 days to pay, settle or ask for a trusteesource

Time to request a hearing

5 days after you receive the Request for Hearing formsource

Cash exemption in Ohio

$625 (April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2028)source

Garnishment laws in Ohio: the 15-day letter

An Ohio creditor cannot go straight to your employer after winning a judgment. First it must mail you a Notice of Court Proceeding to Collect Debt, often called the 15-day letter, with a Payment to Avoid Garnishment form attached. According to the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland wage garnishment brochure, you can block the garnishment within those 15 days by:

• paying or settling the debt and getting the deal in writing,
• returning the Payment to Avoid Garnishment form with any payment it shows, or
• applying to your municipal or county court for a trustee, who takes the non-exempt part of each check and splits it among your creditors.

The Cleveland Municipal Court clerk will not accept the garnishment until 15 full days pass and no later than 45 days after the letter was mailed.

How much can be garnished from my paycheck in Ohio?

Ohio ties the protected amount to the federal minimum wage of $7.25, not to Ohio’s own $11.00 rate for larger employers shown on the Department of Labor state wage table. So the weekly cap is the smaller of 25% of disposable earnings (pay after taxes are taken out) or whatever is above $217.50.

Paid every two weeks, nothing can be taken from $435 or less. On $800 a week of take-home pay, up to $200 can go to the creditor. On $250, only $32.50 can. Child support is different: federal limits of 50% to 65% apply.

Ask for a hearing within 5 days

If the letter window closes, the court sends your employer an Order and Notice of Garnishment. Your employer must give you a Notice to the Judgment Debtor and a Request for Hearing form. The notice explains how the withholding was figured.

Fill out the Request for Hearing and file it with the clerk of the court that ordered the garnishment within 5 days of receiving it. The legal aid brochure says the hearing is then set within 12 days. Without that request, withholding starts. Call and a garnishment specialist goes through the order, the math and the 5-day date with you.

Can my bank account be garnished in Ohio?

Yes. Ohio calls it an attachment or non-wage garnishment. Social Security, veterans’ benefits, unemployment, pensions and tax credits such as the earned income credit are protected under Ohio Revised Code 2329.66 and you can ask for a hearing within 5 days to show the money is exempt.

Ohio’s dollar exemptions rise every three years. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio exemption table shows the cash exemption at $625 from April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2028.