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Fighting To Minimize Or Eliminate Wage Garnishment

If you stop paying unsecured debt like credit cards or medical bills, your creditor can sue you for a judgment and then obtain a wage garnishment to deduct money from your paycheck until you have repaid the entire debt.

Here are some important facts about wage garnishments:

  • A creditor can deduct up to 25 percent of your gross income for debt repayment.
  • If you have more than one judgment against you, the creditors will proceed in chronological order. The first creditor to sue you gets to garnish your wages first. Once that creditor has been repaid in full, the next creditor who sues you gets to garnish your wages.
  • No creditor can obtain a wage garnishment against disability income like Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income.

At the Stratford, Connecticut, law firm of Ambrogio, Pletter & Associates, LLC, we help people from all walks of life analyze their debt relief options and make the best choice to get a fresh financial start. We have extensive experience filing bankruptcy petitions, and we can review your finances and give you our honest opinion regarding the best steps for you to take.

Can You Lower Or Eliminate Wage Garnishments?

Using several different debt relief options, our lawyers may be able to assist you in lowering or avoiding garnishments.

  • Hardship petitions: Judges have discretion to order a decrease in the percentage of a wage garnishment if you can demonstrate financial hardship. Examples of financial hardship include foreclosure proceedings, having your hours cut, being a single parent with only one income or time off work for medical reasons. The best time to file a hardship petition is after the creditor gets a judgment against you, but before the wage garnishment starts. However, it is always possible to ask a judge to lower a wage garnishment because of economic hardship.
  • Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy: Filing any type of bankruptcy petition puts a temporary stop to any wage garnishments by judgment creditors. (Student loan companies, the IRS and child support enforcement agencies have different rights.) If you file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you can eliminate the debt and the wage garnishment entirely. If you file Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will repay some of your debt based on a reasonable budget.

Contact Us For A Free Attorney Consultation

If wage garnishments are taking too big a bite out of your paycheck, call Ambrogio, Pletter & Associates, LLC, in Stratford and Bridgeport to discuss your options. To schedule a private and free consultation, call 203-502-7436 or use our online contact form.