If you owe money and your creditor gets a judgment against you, that creditor can garnish your wages to receive either 25% of your disposable earnings or your disposable earnings less 30 times the current federal minimum wage. Under some circumstances, a creditor may be able to take more.

Not only will this leave you short of income, but garnishment can affect your employment situation, since complying is a hassle for employers. Employers who receive a garnishment order must deal with paperwork and forms and then withhold money from your paycheck and send it to your creditor.

It is important to note that according to Ohio and federal laws, your employer cannot let you go solely because of a wage garnishment by a single creditor in any 12-month period.

What should you do if you are faced with wage garnishment? There are steps to prevent garnishment, and you have options even if a creditor is already garnishing your wages.

Because the Ohio laws are complicated, your best bet is to seek legal advice for wage garnishment removal. The skilled and seasoned Ohio bankruptcy attorneys at Fesenmyer Cousino Weinzimmer understand that financial problems can happen to even the most well-intentioned people. We offer a free consultation to evaluate your financial situation and develop a plan to stop garnishment and even get garnished wages returned through bankruptcy.

Discussed in This Post

  • When creditors can garnish wages
  • How to stop wage garnishment
  • Statute of Limitations
  • Ohio wage garnishment exemptions
  • How bankruptcy can help

When Can Creditors Garnish Your Wages in Ohio?

Creditors can garnish your wages only if they first sue you in court and obtain a judgment for money damages. There are some exceptions, and creditors do not need a court judgment to garnish wages for:

  • Unpaid income taxes – federal, state, and local
  • Court-ordered child support and child support arrears
  • Student loans in default status.

How Can I Stop Garnishment by a Debt Collector?

If there is a judgment against you, the court will send a demand letter to you requesting payment of the judgment amount. The notice must provide you with information about options available to you to avoid wage garnishment. If you do not respond to the demand letter, your employer will have to start garnishment paperwork.

An attorney can make sure you return the notice on time with either a payment or a calculation showing your total earnings are exempt. If you do not, the creditor can get the order to garnish your pay. If you disagree with the garnishment, you can ask for a court hearing. However, going to court on your own is difficult, and if you make a mistake, you lose, so it can help to have an attorney on your side to fight for your rights.

How to Stop Wage Garnishment in Ohio

Our attorneys can help you find out how to stop wage garnishment in Ohio in the manner that is best for your individual situation. There are several options to consider, including the following.

Paying Without Formal Garnishment

With your demand letter or notice, you will get a form titled “Payment to Avoid Garnishment.” Complete the form and return it to the creditor within 15 days and you can make periodic payments without having to go through the formal garnishment process.

Filing an Answer Explaining Your Position

If you believe that you don’t owe the money or that you owe less than you’re being sued for, you can file an answer explaining your position. You will be given a hearing where you can tell the judge why and bring paperwork to prove your position. The judge will enter a judgment either for you or for the creditor. If you win, you can avoid garnishment.

Objecting to Garnishment

You may object to wage garnishment in writing to the court if your creditors are acting inappropriately, such as:

  • the creditor did not follow proper procedure, such as by failing to send you a demand letter
  • the creditor is taking too much money from your check
  • you already paid the debt in full but the garnishment has continued.

Getting a Trustee

You have 15 days to file an affidavit with the nearest municipal or common pleas court, which will assign a clerk as your trustee to take money out of each paycheck to give to your creditors. While you are paying out of each paycheck, your wages are not being garnished. Meaning your employer does not need to be notified.

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Using a Credit Counseling Service

If you get a debt counseling service, the counselors will calculate a single payment that will be distributed among your creditors and help you build a budget. As with appointment of a trustee, you avoid garnishment and having your employer find out about your personal finances.

Filing for Bankruptcy

The easiest method to stop wage garnishment is to file for bankruptcy protection.

Ohio Wage Garnishment Statute of Limitations

The Ohio wage garnishment statute of limitations is generally six years for most types of debt. The time limit is counted beginning the day a debt became overdue or the day you last made a payment, whichever happened most recently. However, debt does not expire or disappear until you pay it. The statute of limitations limits the amount of time during which a debt collector may take legal action to collect a debt and varies depending on the type of debt. However, if a debt is valid, you still owe it until you pay it off, no matter how much time passes. As a result, you likely need a different debt-relief strategy than delaying and waiting it out.

Ohio Wage Garnishment Exemptions

According to Ohio statutes, there are Ohio wage garnishment exemptions that protect some of your income from garnishment. The idea is not to leave you totally destitute, but with enough income to pay for your living expenses.

Exemptions from garnishment include:

  • social security
  • workers’ compensation
  • spousal or child support
  • pensions
  • veterans benefits
  • any other state or federal program benefits.

In Ohio, a debt collector may only garnish up to 25% of your non-exempt wages and must leave a certain amount in your bank account, which changes every three years based on inflation. The law also protects a certain amount of home equity, household goods, and a vehicle, up to a certain amount.

Bankruptcy Will Stop Wage Garnishments

Bankruptcy is a way to eliminate many of your debts and get a fresh start financially. The most common types of bankruptcy are Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Chapter 7 allows you to liquidate any non-exempt assets to pay creditors, and this eliminates remaining debt. Chapter 13 reorganizes your debts and sets up a payment plan monitored by the court and a trustee and allows you to keep many assets.

Once your bankruptcy is filed, there is an automatic stay, which means all collection activity and wage garnishments must stop. At the time you file, you must list all your creditors so they can be notified of the bankruptcy. However, there is a chance that creditors may not be alerted in time to put a stop on garnishments.

While creditors ordinarily can keep wage garnishments obtained prior to the date you file, wages garnished within 90 days before the bankruptcy filing can be returned if they were over $600 and you have enough exemptions to cover them. Any funds garnished after your bankruptcy is filed must be immediately returned, and an attorney can help you get back some of your wages even if they were garnished before bankruptcy. Garnishments are stopped as long as the bankruptcy stay is in effect.

The automatic stay ends when you receive a discharge, your case is dismissed without a discharge, or when the court lifts the stay. A knowledgeable attorney can make sure that your case is handled properly to avoid having your case dismissed.

Free Initial Consultations for Ohio Residents Facing Garnishment

If you are faced with garnishment of your wages, time is of the essence. If you cannot become current in your payments or make another arrangement with your creditor, you may be able to prevent garnishment by filing for bankruptcy or taking other steps. An attorney who is experienced with garnishment and bankruptcy law can guide you through the process. Contact the experienced and compassionate Ohio debt-relief attorneys at Fesenmyer Cousino Weinzimmer today for a FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION.

We welcome inquiries from clients throughout Ohio. From our law offices in Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati, we have helped thousands of Ohio residents find new hope and prevent garnishment.

Delaying can only make your situation worse, so call the Ohio bankruptcy attorneys at Fesenmyer Cousino Weinzimmer today at one of our conveniently located office branches at 614-228-4435 (Columbus), 937-222-7472 (Dayton), or 877-654-5297 (Cincinnati), or use our contact form for your free consultation.

Attorney Tom Fesenmyer

Attorney Thomas M. Fesenmyer (Tom) is dedicated to helping his clients solve their financial issues in a timely and cost-effective manner. Tom has personally filed several thousand cases and has the expertise to achieve immediate results for his clients, including stopping Foreclosures, Repossessions, Wage Garnishments, Law Suits, Utility Shut-offs, Creditor Harassment, Bank Attachments, and Pay-Day Loans. Tom’s goal for all of his clients is asset protection and debt elimination.[ Attorney Bio ]

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