Garnishments

Garnishment is a proceeding by which the plaintiff in a lawsuit seeks to reach the defendant's property by bringing in a third party who possesses the property or who is indebted to the defendant. The purpose of the remedy is to apply a debt owed to a defendant by a third person to satisfy a judgment or claim against the defendant.

Garnishment exists in one form or another in most states. In Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, it is called a trustee process. In Pennsylvania, it is known as judgment execution. In Montana, garnishment is done by attachment.

In all cases the remedy of garnishment is statutory, and the statutes must be consulted to determine under what conditions it can be applied. In many states garnishment proceedings are limited to actions on contract and are not permit-ted in actions in tort, though in other jurisdictions this distinction is not made and the various actions are specifically stated in the statute.

Wage Garnishments

The term "garnishment" is often applied to the legal process by which a debtor's employer is served with process requiring the employer to pay the debtor's wages directly to the creditor. This process is also known as wage garnishment, income execution, and attachment of wages.

Until July 1, 1970, wage garnishments were controlled by state law. However, on that date the federal law on wage garnishments became effective (Title III of the Consumer Creditor Protection Law, known as Truth in Lending Law). Under the federal law, the amount of weekly wages subject to garnishment is limited the lesser of 25% of the disposable earnings of the debtor, or the amount by which the weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the hourly wage. However, in the event that a state wage garnishment law is more beneficial to the debtor or is substantially similar to the federal law, then the Secretary of Labor can exempt the state from coverage by the federal law.

Source: "Manual of Credit and Commercial Laws," edited by Charles M. Tatelbaum and John K. Pearson, available at the NACM Bookstore.