Garnishment.
In plain English
For most consumer debts, a creditor must sue you and win before garnishing anything; the judgment lets them take a capped slice of disposable earnings, with federal law limiting ordinary garnishment to 25% of disposable pay or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less. Some debts skip the lawsuit: federal student loans, taxes, and child support have their own administrative rules and different limits. Employers cannot fire you over a single garnishment.
01Why it matters
Garnishment usually arrives after a lawsuit people ignored. Answering the suit, even just showing up, is frequently the difference between a negotiated payment and a payroll deduction you didn't choose.
02The math, step by step
A $4,000 judgment against someone with $800/week disposable earnings: garnishment caps at $200/week, since the CCPA limits it to 25% of disposable earnings (or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less). The debt clears in about five months, plus interest and costs, all involuntary.
03What this is NOT
Most garnishment is not automatic. For ordinary debts it requires a lawsuit, service, and a judgment, which means the paperwork you ignore is the step where it became real.
04Receipts
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Plain-English answers from our glossary. Receipts included. Never advice.
Educational tool. Answers come only from ClearMoneySchool's published glossary and are not advice. Why we never give advice