Threatened with Wage Garnishment?

So you have defaulted on a credit account. The debt collector calls and demands immediate payment of the debt. The debt collector then makes the following threat: "If you do not pay this debt by Monday at noon, we will garnish your wages, starting with your next paycheck".

Can they do that? Absolutely not. Not it any state in the country. In fact, they likely have just violated a federal debt collection law in making that type of threat. (The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act covers issues regarding debt collectors) I am going to ask you to think again about the stated threat. "We are going to garnish your wages if you do not pay us". Wouldn’t you agree that if they actually had the ability to garnish your wages, they would just do so. A wage garnishment would guarantee payment to them, so why would they bother to call you or make other attempts to collect? The fact is that they wouldn’t, because it would be too easy to just garnish your wages.

There is a legal term called "due process" which, in a nutshell, means that everyone is entitled to the protections of the law and to have their day in court, everyone is entitled to fairness. Now ask yourself if it would be fair if the debt collector could garnish your wages without having a legal proceeding or hearing to determine if you actually owed the money? Of course it wouldn’t, so that is why garnishment without a hearing or legal proceeding does not occur.

In Pennsylvania, where I practice law, wage garnishment is never a possibility for collection of a credit card debt, whether there has been a legal proceeding or not. If a wage garnishment threat is made here in PA, it is an absolute violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the debtor (you, or the person who allegedly owes the money) could now bring a lawsuit against the debt collector wherein he could be entitled to monetary damages and recovery of reasonable attorney fees.

If you are threatened with Wage Garnishment, ask for the person’s name, phone number, the name of the business that they are working for and then contact a consumer attorney in your area.