Wage Garnishment

Full Definition

Wage garnishment is a legal mechanism for collecting an unpaid money judgment by ordering the judgment debtor's (landlord's) employer to withhold a portion of each paycheck and send it directly to the judgment creditor (tenant). Once a court issues a judgment in the tenant's favor and the landlord does not pay voluntarily, the tenant can apply to the court for a writ of garnishment. Federal law (the Consumer Credit Protection Act) limits garnishment to the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage, with some states imposing stricter limits. Wage garnishment is most practical when the landlord is an individual who earns wages from a known employer. It is less effective against corporate property management companies or self-employed landlords who do not receive regular paychecks. If the landlord is a business entity, the tenant may instead seek to garnish the business's bank accounts.