Wage Garnishment

If you have medical debt or credit card debt that is accruing interest, your creditor can file a lawsuit against you to obtain a judgment. Once they have a judgment against you, they can begin using the full force of the law to dig into your finances and assets. They can place liens on your real estate, levy your bank account, or garnish your wages.

When they garnish your wages, they must first contact your employer to withhold the statutory limit to recover the debt. This is embarrassing and it puts you in a potentially awkward financial position.

Today, most folks live paycheck to paycheck trying to make ends meet. A garnishment on your wages can send you into a downward financial spiral that is nearly impossible to work your way out of. Here in Oregon, creditors can serve your employer with a “Write of Garnishment” and take up to 25% of your net pay.

It’s an unreasonable position to be put in. Luckily, the law allows you the option of filing for bankruptcy which will stop wage garnishments in their tracks. Butcher Law Office, LLC can help you stop wage garnishments. Call us today for more information.

Oregon Law & Wage Garnishment

While the IRS and other government agencies can garnish your wages without first obtaining a judgment, private creditors must go through the court system to garnish your wages. That means that they first need to obtain a judgment against you in court. They do this by filing a lawsuit.

Once the judgment has been entered in their favor, they can then begin taking more aggressive actions, including garnishing your wages. The creditor will serve your employer or your bank with a “Writ of Garnishment”. This entitled the creditor to take up to 25% of your take-home pay.

How Can Bankruptcy Help?

Bankruptcy can stop wage garnishments dead in their tracks or prevent them from happening entirely.

In order to garnish your wages, a creditor has to move quickly. Once they’ve declared your debt in default and filed a lawsuit against you, it’s time to act. Ignoring the lawsuit is how most folks find themselves with their wages garnished. Those who file bankruptcy before the creditor has a chance to obtain a judgment will not have to worry about judgment liens, wage garnishments, or bank levies.

This is due to bankruptcy’s automatic stay. Once you’ve filed for bankruptcy, all creditor actions against you must stop. This prevents creditors from ever obtaining a judgment against you.

Those whose wages are already being garnished can stop the garnishments immediately. At Butcher Law Office, LLC, we will send the notice of bankruptcy to your payroll department immediately to stop the garnishments. If a creditor has garnished more than $600 from your paycheck or bank account in the 90 days before you filed for your bankruptcy, we can get that money back for you.

Contact a Eugene, OR Wage Garnishment Attorney Today

If your wages are being garnished, please contact Butcher Law Office, LLC at (541) 762-1967. The sooner you contact us, the sooner we may be able to help you to stop a wage garnishment and recover some of the funds that were garnished. Book your free 60-minute in-office strategy session today.