Wage garnishment mistake: who do I go to in order to fix?

[Food Lady]

I am exempt from being garnished for two reasons, so I am just supposed to file an answer stating that fact to the court by mail or in person. Well, this packet I received contained the form I'm supposed to fill out, but no info as to where to send it. So I just sent it to the law firm representing the creditor. I did that as soon as I could after receiving it. Well, for whatever reason, the court went ahead and sent an order to my company and they took the garnishment out of my pay, as I saw when I looked at my paystub today. I just don't know who I am supposed to inform that that can't legally happen, due to the circumstances that exempt me. I don't know if the law firm will finally get my answer and contact my company to stop it, or if I have to have HR contact corporate, or if I have to somehow contact the court. Has anyone dealt with this? I am in the US, by the way, and my plan as of now is to speak to HR on Monday, unless anyone has advice. Thanks.

[Pimento]

I've had issues like that. I have our family maintenance branch pull out child support every month. When I went to court I owed her a back pay of $2500 because she claimed I had canceled e- transfers and forged receipts for cash payments. So when I first signed up they pulled $2500 off my first check. Obviously that didn't leave me anything to last another 2 weeks.

To recover some of the money and change conditions, I had to deal with them directly , payroll has to process them (what they told me) so I had to call FMEP and deal with the person who had my file.

I'm assuming your best bet is to deal with the company directly ( the law firm is going to get the info. But how long until it gets to the company). Someone will have your file and be able to update it accordingly, and you could probably get a relatively fast refund from them.

[Barracuda]

You will have to deal with the court. I've been garnished before, and regardless of what you tell your employer or show them, they cannot simply ignore a court order garnishing your wages. To get this fixed, you need to contact the court (most states have a form for this) explaining why you are exempt and the amount of money that was wrongfully seized that needs to be returned. The court will review the document and if you attached all required information and documentation will lift the garnishment and order the creditor to return the money already taken. I would do this ASAP since the garnishment will continue until you do this.

[Food Lady]

I got a letter from the law firm stating my answer was received, and requesting documentation. As soon as I send it they will take care of it. I will be ok; I have a big tax refund coming to me next week that will float me. Thanks, y'all. If the law firm doesn't take care of it I'll contact the court; it's just downtown.

[MoonCat]

I got a letter from the law firm stating my answer was received, and requesting documentation. As soon as I send it they will take care of it. I will be ok; I have a big tax refund coming to me next week that will float me. Thanks, y'all. If the law firm doesn't take care of it I'll contact the court; it's just downtown.

Just a thought - if your refund comes in check form I'd hold off depositing it until this is straightened out.

[Food Lady]

I just looked it up and in my state a bank account can't be levied. They can do wage garnishment or liens. I had the opportunity to agree to a chrge-off a few months ago, but knew I wouldn't be able to pay the tax on it, so I did not sign off on it. The debt is forgiven, but it's counted as income and you have to pay 15% tax on it.

[taxguykarl]

I had the opportunity to agree to a chrge-off a few months ago, but knew I wouldn't be able to pay the tax on it, so I did not sign off on it. The debt is forgiven, but it's counted as income and you have to pay 15% tax on it.

Or maybe not, see the nistructions.

[Food Lady]

As soon as I replace my tablet I'll take a look at that.

[Sapphire Silk]

I got a letter from the law firm stating my answer was received, and requesting documentation. As soon as I send it they will take care of it. I will be ok; I have a big tax refund coming to me next week that will float me. Thanks, y'all. If the law firm doesn't take care of it I'll contact the court; it's just downtown.

Honestly, I would not depend on a law firm representing my creditor to do anything to my benefit in a timely manner.

Contact the court immediately, and request a refund of what was garnished while you're at it.

Just a thought - if your refund comes in check form I'd hold off depositing it until this is straightened out.

Yeah, I agree with this.

[Food Lady]

It's direct deposit.

[deadbody]

As someone who was responsible for sending lots of garnishments, and handling the fallout when someone was exempt.

Contact the court as well, but I wouldn't worry too much about the law firm not acting on it. You have proof they received it. There are pretty big penalties for ignoring something like that.