Remove a Michigan Wage, Bank or Tax Garnishment | 248-398-7100 |Garmo & Kiste PLC | Troy Michigan Attorney

Garnishments and Relief from Garnishments:

A garnishment is a way for a plaintiff with a valid money judgment against individual to collect on that judgment. It does so by ordering a third party (the garnishee) to pay money that would otherwise be owed to the individual directly to the plaintiff. There are three common types of garnishments: (1) Wage Garnishments, (2) Bank Garnishments, and (3) Tax garnishments. Wage garnishments can be a shocking and traumatic event– suddenly 25% of your income disappears. Worse yet, this can be embarrassing and an inconvenience to your employer or others with whom you are dealing. Bank accounts, too, can be taken to help satisfy a money judgment and as such, are likely to be effective against many individual debtors. Finally, Income Tax Refund Garnishments, as with wage garnishments, can be taken to help satisfy a money judgment by offsetting your debt with your tax refund.

Note that sometimes, garnishments can happen without a court judgment. This is allowed when the garnishment is for the purpose of repaying a defaulted student loan, court ordered child support, child support arrears or unpaid taxes. Further, with child support, unpaid student loans, and unpaid taxes, the amount that can be garnished is also different.

While this is an unfavorable situation, there are protections for individuals who have been subjected to a writ of garnishment. For example, it is illegal in Michigan for an employer to terminate, discipline, or refuse to hire an employee due to wage garnishment. There is also a cap on the amount of money that can be taken from you. Typically, the total amount of all garnishments may not exceed 25% of the individual’s income. Similarly, there are also exclusions to the kinds of income that can be subject to a garnishment. For example, Social Security Income may not be garnished.

For more information about Debt Collection Defense and Remove a Michigan Wage, Bank or Tax garnishment or to retain Garmo & Kiste, PLC, call us at (248) 398-7100 for a free consultation or contact us with a private message.

If you have been served with a writ of garnishment and object to the writ, we can assist you. Once a writ of garnishment has been awarded, it is difficult to undo, but not impossible—we have successfully made objections to the courts in the past. But note, too, that an objection must be based on the one or more of the following:

the funds or property are exempt from garnishment by law
garnishment is precluded by the pendency of bankruptcy proceedings
garnishment is barred by an installment payment order
garnishment is precluded because the maximum amount permitted by law is being withheld pursuant to a higher priority garnishment or order
the judgment has been paid
the garnishment was not properly issued or is otherwise invalid

It also should be noted that in general, your wages, paycheck, or bank account can only be garnished if a judgment is taken against you. If you are debtor, it is not too late to protest the original debt or other obligation if you were unaware of a judgment or failed to defend a lawsuit in a timely manner. Violations of these may be grounds to properly objecting to the garnishment. For example, Social Security Income is exempt from garnishment. If any of these circumstances apply to you, you should consult with an attorney immediately.