Have Your Wages Been Garnished in Maryland? Tell the Court About Your Hardship

August 6, 2009

If a judgment creditor attempts to garnish a judgment debtor’s wages in Maryland, the debtor has a few options.

(A “judgment debtor” is a person who already has a judgment resulting from a debt lawsuit against him or her. He or she was the Defendant in the original debt lawsuit. The Plaintiff from the original lawsuit, who then tries to collect on its judgment, is called the “judgment creditor.”)

Keep in mind a judgment creditor– if the garnishment is successful– can get up to 25% of a judgment debtor’s pay after deductions for taxes, social security, and medical insurance payments. For most people, this is a significant amount.

In other words, an employee may exempt up to 75% of his or her “disposable wages,” which is the amount remaining after deduction for taxes, social security, and medical insurance payments.

But what about the remaining 25%? Is there any way to avoid a garnishment of these amounts?

Maryland courts have held that a Maryland resident’s “wild card” exemption may not be applied to a wage garnishment.

In order to stop a wage garnishment, judgment debtors typically must (1) declare bankruptcy, (2) work out a voluntary arrangement with the judgment creditor, or (3) successfully argue to the court that the garnishment will not leave them with enough money for basic survival.

(There may also be procedural grounds or other grounds to challenge a particular garnishment– here I am assuming no other challenges apply.)

This week I heard some interesting anecdotal feedback from some pro se judgment debtors whose wages have been garnished. They were able to successfully argue to the court that the wage garnishment should not be granted because there would not be enough funds left over for the debtor to pay for rent and food.

As you know, every case is different. This post is intended to encourage pro se judgment debtors to (1) request a hearing and (2) argue their hardship situation if they are faced with a wage garnishment.

Unless your local court has a specific form for this purpose, you can use this general purpose Motion form to tell the court (1) you object to the wage garnishment on the grounds of hardship and (2) you request a hearing on the issue.

maryland-district-court-general-purpose-motion-form

Keep in mind I cannot give legal advice in a blog post. Every situation is different. The court may not deem your particular situation to be a hardship.

But, judgment debtors facing wage garnishment should be aware they have the option of raising the issue with the court.