How to Stop Wage Garnishment Quickly

When people think about how to stop wage garnishment, bankruptcy is not the first thing that comes to mind. However, bankruptcy is one of the most effective ways to stop wage garnishment. In fact, bankruptcy is extremely powerful weapon against wage garnishment and can stop it in its tracks.

How Wage Garnishment Works in Ohio

Under Ohio law, creditors can garnish up to 25% of your take home pay, which usually makes your problems go from bad to worse because now you may be unable to pay ordinary living expenses such as rent, car payments and grocery expenses.  If you are currently being garnished or about to be garnished then you really ought to consider bankruptcy because short of quitting your job or paying off your debt there is nothing else that is going to make that garnishment go away.

How Bankruptcy Stops Wage Garnishment

If you file for bankruptcy, wage garnishment is supposed to stop immediately.  I say “supposed” because sometimes if you file your case immediately before you are garnished there is a communication problem and your employer accidentally garnishes your paycheck anyways.  Most employers require a few days notice in order to stop a garnishment.  If you don’t get your case filed in time they have no way of stopping themselves from garnishment your paycheck.  However, assuming the pay date occurs after the date you filed bankruptcy you are usually entitled to get that money back.

Bankruptcy and Wage Garnishment

One thing to keep in mind is that for the bankruptcy to stop the garnishment you have to actually file bankruptcy.  It is not enough that you came in for an initial consultation, paid me a small amount of money, and learned that you qualified for bankruptcy.  In order to stop the garnishment we have to actually file your bankruptcy case with the US Bankruptcy Court. This means you have to pay me in full, provide various documents, and give me time to prepare your bankruptcy petition.  

Please do not think that you can just show up with a few hundred dollars and no paperwork and stop your garnishment, because that is an unrealistic view of the process. There is a way to file bankruptcies on an emergency basis but it is very stressful and time consuming and it is also considered a bad practice that often results in mistakes, including dismissal of your bankruptcy case and the unexpected loss of property.  

Almost no bankruptcy attorney in the Cleveland area would even consider filing this type of bankruptcy because it is sloppy and can hurt the attorney's reputation with the bankruptcy court and bankruptcy judges.  If you ask me to do something like that I will consider it, but I will not be very excited about the idea and am likely to ask you to pay substantially more than what I charge to file an ordinary bankruptcy case.

Contact a Cleveland Bankruptcy Lawyer and Stop Wage Garnishment

If you'd like to learn more about how to stop wage garnishment with bankruptcy, give me a call at (216) 526-0309 for a free consultation. We will discuss your current financial situation, how wage garnishment is affecting you, and whether or not bankruptcy is a good option in your particular case. So call now to speak to a Cleveland bankruptcy lawyer for free today.