Virginia Wage Garnishment Attorneys
Our Experienced Lawyers Can Help Stop and Prevent Wage Garnishments
Medical bills, credit card debt, payday loans, or any number of other reasons can cause you to get behind on your bills. Creditors have the right to a garnishment, but you also have the right to legal protection.
If a creditor has started or threatened to garnish your wages, you are probably worried about how you'll pay your bills or cover essential expenses. The good news is that you likely have options, even if you can’t pay off the debt in full.
At Boleman Law Firm, P.C., we have helped more than 140,000 Virginians overcome financial difficulties. Our experienced attorneys can review your financial circumstances and walk you through your options for stopping and preventing wage garnishments. This may involve attempting to negotiate a debt settlement or filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. We can clearly explain all available strategies and provide personalized guidance that puts your needs first.
Don’t wait to address a potential or ongoing wage garnishment. We can meet with you virtually, so call (804) 396-2005 or contact us online to schedule a free, no-risk consultation with one of our Virginia wage garnishment lawyers.
Can a Creditor Really Garnish My Wages?
We often hear from people who are receiving intimidating calls or letters from creditors threatening to garnish their wages. While federal law prohibits certain forms of creditor harassment, a creditor can garnish your wages, but they cannot do so without following a specific legal process.
For most types of consumer debt, such as credit card balances, medical bills, or personal loans, a creditor must first sue you and get a court order, called a judgment. This means you will receive a legal summons and complaint, and the case will proceed through the court system. If the creditor wins the lawsuit and the court issues a judgment against you, they can they get a garnishment order. The creditor must then provide this order to your employer, who is legally required to withhold a portion of your wages and send it directly to the creditor.
However, a few types of creditors do not need a court judgment to garnish your wages. The government can garnish your wages for unpaid taxes, for example, and a lender can also do so for defaulted federal student loans.Additionally, wage garnishments for child support or alimony payments follow a different set of rules. For these specific debts, the legal authority to garnish wages is inherent in the debt itself, which means the creditor can proceed with garnishment without a court judgment.
The bottom line: You shouldn’t wait to get legal advice if a creditor is threatening to garnish your wages. We can determine if you are being subject to unlawful creditor harassment and take the appropriate steps to protect you if so. If you are at risk of legitimate wage garnishment, we can help explore your options for settling or eliminating the debt.
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The professionalism, empathy respect and guidance that I received at the Boleman law office was an unforgettable experience that uplift my journey.
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"Boleman law firm has been the best law firm in Virginia."They helped me and my wife so much I could never repay them for the help they did for us and they were very kind and helpful and always took my calls and always made sure I was doing my part and they never ever let us down they saved our home our automobiles and that was our life as I said they were like family the way they treated us and did so much for us and the price they charged us was so cheap and they never let us down. To us there is no other law firm that is like family.- David R.
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"I highly recommend Boleman Law firm if you are considering bankruptcy."Boleman Law Firm possesses some great lawyers. I had some fears about filing for bankruptcy but their staff walked me through the entire process. I was treated with respect and compassion. It’s not easy deciding to file for bankruptcy but Boleman made the process easy and relatively straightforward.- Robert M.
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Bankruptcy Can Stop Imminent and Ongoing Wage Garnishments
If you cannot afford a debt settlement, your creditor refuses to negotiate an acceptable one, or they have already obtained a judgment and are actively garnishing your wages, filing for bankruptcy may be the most advantageous path forward. Filing for either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy triggers the automatic stay, a powerful injunction that temporarily stops all collection actions, including wage garnishments. This means creditors will not be able to start or continue a wage garnishment.
If you have little to no current income, you may be eligible for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This process allows you to discharge certain types of unsecured debt, including credit card debt and medical bills, relatively quickly. In exchange, you must liquidate non-exempt assets to repay creditors, but we can use Virginia’s exemptions to protect many types of essential assets.
If you do have a consistent income, Chapter 13 bankruptcy may make more sense. This type of bankruptcy involves a court-approved repayment plan that reorganizes your debts into a single monthly payment that you make over a period of three to five years. So long as you make payments, your creditors generally cannot garnish your wages. Upon completing the plan, you can usually discharge any remaining eligible unsecured debts, including credit card debt and medical debt.
A wage garnishment cannot start or continue if the underlying debt is brought current through a Chapter 13 repayment plan or discharged through either form of consumer bankruptcy. Boleman Law Firm, P.C. is the largest consumer bankruptcy law firm in Virginia and can advise whether filing is the right choice for your situation.
Take the first step to protecting yourself from wage garnishment today by calling (804) 396-2005 or contacting us online.
