Wage garnishment in Washington, D.C.

Most a card or medical judgment can take

25% of the part of weekly take-home pay above $736source

Pay you always keep

$736 a week (40 x the $18.40 D.C. minimum wage)source

Hardship hearing

No later than 30 days after you file the motionsource

Garnishments at one time

Only one wage attachment is paid at a timesource

How much can be garnished from a paycheck in D.C.?

The formula is in D.C. Code section 16-572. Your employer starts with disposable wages, the pay left after required deductions. It subtracts 40 times the D.C. minimum wage. Then it may withhold 25% of whatever is left and no more.

The Department of Labor’s table of state rates lists D.C. at $18.40 an hour and notes the rate is adjusted every July 1. Forty hours at $18.40 is $736. Compare what the federal rule alone would allow:

• $700 a week: D.C. allows $0. Federal law would allow $175.
• $900 a week: D.C. allows $41. Federal law would allow $225.
• $1,200 a week: D.C. allows $116.

The law uses the minimum wage in effect on the day the wages are paid, so the protected amount rises with each July increase.

What the writ of attachment means

D.C. calls a wage garnishment an attachment. After a creditor wins a money judgment, it has a writ of attachment served on your employer. On the same day, D.C. Code section 16-572.02 requires the creditor to mail you a copy by both certified and first-class mail, with a plain-language notice explaining the garnishment.

The writ is a continuing levy. It keeps taking money each payday until the judgment, interest and costs are paid. Only one wage attachment can be collected at a time. If two are served on the same employer, the one delivered to the marshal first goes first and the other waits.

If you work full time at minimum wage or less, the notice tells you nothing will be taken and you do not need to act.

How to lower or stop a garnishment in D.C.

You can ask the Superior Court to protect more of your pay by filing a motion claiming undue financial hardship under D.C. Code section 16-572.01. The court keeps a form for this. On it you list:

• Any public benefits you get, such as TANF, POWER, SSI, Interim Disability Assistance, Medicaid or the D.C. Healthcare Alliance.
• Your household income and how many people live with you.
• Household costs: housing, utilities, health care, child care, food, school, transport, clothing and child support.

If you receive one of the listed benefits, the law presumes hardship. The hearing must be held within 30 days unless you ask for a later date. If the judge agrees, the order names a dollar amount your employer must leave you each pay period. Give your employer a copy of the motion as soon as you file it, so the withholding can be put on hold. Call and a garnishment specialist goes through the motion and the writ with you.

Bank accounts and benefits in D.C.

Money outside your paycheck has its own protections in D.C. Code section 15-501. They apply to a head of family or householder who lives in D.C. or earns most of a living there. Protected items include:

• Your right to Social Security, veterans’ benefits and disability, illness or unemployment benefits.
• Up to $850 of any property, plus up to $8,075 of the home exemption if you do not use it on a home.
• Money in qualified retirement plans and IRAs.
• Provisions for three months of support.