Hello. I received a wage garnishment notice from two different Marshals. Each told me I can pay 10% of my weekly gross income on a weekly basis or my employer will be notified of the wage garnishment. It was my understanding that the max I can be garnished was 10%. However, since I received a notice from two different Marshalls, I will have to pay a total of 20% if I want to avoid my employer from receiving the garnishment notices. Is this legal? If I do nothing and my employer receives both notices, will my employer be legally allowed to garnish me the 20% or will they only garnish me 10% period. I greatly appreciate your advise with this desperate matter.
Filing for bankruptcy
If you decide to file for bankruptcy, all garnishments and any other attempt to collect will stop immediately. Those who file for bankruptcy are in a tough financial position and this could probably be your best resort.
Who Can Garnish My Wages In New York?
Creditors, debt collectors, and debt buyers who get a valid judgment against you can attempt to collect the debt by garnishing your wages. They can't seek an income execution before they have a judgment. Income executions start with a debt collection lawsuit. If you fail to pay your credit card debt or a medical bill, you can be sued by the creditor. You will be served with a summons and complaint. Answering the summons and complaint will stop a default judgment from being entered against you. A judgment is a court order for a certain amount of money.
After a court judgment is entered, the creditor can enforce it. What that means is the creditor can go after your assets to pay off the judgment. There are two main debt collection tools they use to do this: wage garnishment and bank account garnishment. Wage garnishment is different from bank account garnishment. A wage garnishment requires your employer to withhold a certain amount from your paycheck to pay the creditor. A bank account garnishment allows a creditor to remove funds directly from your bank account.
In special circumstances, a wage garnishment can happen without first getting a money judgment. If you owe income tax debt, government student loans, or court-ordered child support, the government agency or creditor can garnish your wages without a court order. But for most types of debt, a creditor needs a judgment before it can garnish your wages. This article focuses on wage garnishment for private debts, such as credit card debts or medical bills, where a judgment is required.
If you don't pay a money judgment, the judgment creditor can start the wage garnishment process. The creditor will send a notice of income execution to an enforcement officer. In the five boroughs of New York, the enforcement office is the New York City Marshal. In other parts of the state, the enforcement officer is the county's sheriff. New York City has a sheriff, but the sheriff is usually involved in debts that are more than $25,000.
The New York City Marshal or county sheriff will then serve you with notice of the income execution. This notice will advise you of the judgment and give you 20 days to call the marshal or sheriff to set up a voluntary payment plan. Your employer is not notified at this time.
If you don't contact the marshal or sheriff after 20 days, the marshal or sheriff will serve your employer with the income execution. You can send a written objection to the wage garnishment if you have grounds to object. Grounds to object might be: You satisfied the debt, you are in bankruptcy, or you are in a payment plan with the creditor.
Your employer will be the one to withhold a certain portion of your earnings to satisfy the debt. Your employer will deduct the amount that is to be garnished before your earnings enter your bank account. After your employer starts to hold back a certain portion of your wages, the marshal or sheriff will periodically send you an accounting statement that tells you how much of the debt has been paid by garnishment and how much remains to be paid.
https://upsolve.org/ny/wage-garnishment/
Can an employer fire you for a garnishment?
Because it can be quite cumbersome for employers to process garnishment some of them are tempted to go for the easier route which is to terminate employees. But since federal law prohibits taking unfavorable employment action for one garnishment, firing an employee is considered unlawful in the State of New York. Multiple garnishments or receiving a second garnishment on the other hand may result in termination if decided by the employer.
Computation of NYS Wage Garnishment
By law, wage deductions can't exceed ten percent (10%) of gross income or twenty-five percent (25%) of disposable income. In New York, these percentages only apply provided that your income is above thirty percent (30%) of the minimum wage. Otherwise, it can't be garnished at all.
Disposable income is the amount of money you make after deductions including federal income tax, social security, state income tax, and state disability.
Gross income is how much you've earned before the deductions mentioned earlier are made.
Check out the link here to know the calculation of garnishment or income execution
https://www.tax.ny.gov/enforcement/collections/ie_calc.htm
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NYS Wage Garnishment: Getting it Released and How They Work | Tax Resolution Professionals, A Nationwide Tax Law Firm, (888) 515-4829
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