QUESTION
can i be garnished for my wages in texas
Asked on Mar 28th, 2013 on Debtor and Creditor - Texas
More details to this question:
So I received a letter from my payroll department notifying me that alliance one via Clark county Washington is trying to obtain a court order to garnish my wages, the money they are seeking is from traffic and other violations in Washington state, Clark county sold the contract for the debt to alliance one. I never agreed nor entered into any contract with the county nor with allianceone to pay any money, I inquired about my debt which is how they got the information.. I am curious if they can lawfully garnish my wages and what I can do to stop it or how to lower the outrageous amount they are asking.. and if my payroll department pays anything to them is there anything I can do about that? Please help me
1 ANSWER
J. Thomas Black
I'm not 100% clear on your question, but if you have a judgment against you from another state, Texas courts must give "full faith and credit" to it. Therefore a judgment-creditor with a judgment from another state, can seek to garnish your wages here in Texas.
There are limits according to federal law as to how much of your pay can be garnished. Generally speaking the most that can be garnished is either the lesser of 25% of your weekly disposable income, or your weekly earnings less 35 times the federal minimum hourly wage (about $250 per week).
You could try to negotiate a lower amount or if you have other debt problems that justify it, consider filing chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy to discharge the debt.
Answered on Apr 01st, 2013 at 4:56 PM