Ways to Appeal a Wage Garnishment in New York

The two-stage process of a wage garnishment in the state of New York begins with the sheriff delivering or serving the debtor with a notice of the execution and giving the debtor a time period of 20 days to begin making payments on the debt. If the debtor either fails or refuses to begin making these payments within the allotted time frame, the sheriff will serve a levy on the debtor's employer, ordering the garnishment. In the state of New York, the cap or maximum recovery amount per pay period is 10% of the debtor's gross income or the federal maximum, whichever amount is less. However, in cases of garnishment for either alimony maintenance or support, the limit of garnishments is increases to 25% of the debtor's disposable earnings.

Your Argument is not with your Employer

It's important in these cases that you don't approach your employer with an argument about your wage garnishment, as it is not the entity who filed the injunction. Your employer is simply required, by law, to abide by the order served to them by the sheriff. It has no power of negotiation or disagreement with any party in the matter, so approaching them with your reasons that they shouldn't allow the garnishment will be ineffective. Your employer has absolutely no choice in how much of your wage is garnished, or whether or not the garnishment is allowed, nor can your employer assist you in any appeal matters. They simply have to garnish your earnings and send them to wherever the order has designated.

Contact your Creditor

In any and all cases regarding the garnishment of wages, the first thing you should do is get in touch with the creditor attempting to order the garnishment.

  • In many cases, the creditor, whether it be an individual creditor, a bank, or the Internal Revenue Service, will prefer to agree to a specific payment schedule rather than go so far as to proceed with the wage garnishment.
  • This step, in many cases, will also help your credit rating, as a wage garnishment will be of great detriment to your overall score.
  • Many creditors have payment plan agreements already in place for these types of situations, so you shouldn't have much of a problem having the garnishment halted.

When you Must File for an Appeal

If you can't work something out, you may be able to appeal the garnishment. It's always best to let your creditor know you intend to do so, this way if they wish to avoid going to court with you they can offer to settle on some sort of payment plan. If the creditor refuses to settle on a plan of this nature, however, you will have to file for an appeal of wage garnishment with the court that presides over the jurisdiction you live in.

Getting Help

In most cases, to successfully appeal a wage garnishment, you will need an experienced wage claim attorney. Your attorney can help you prove the garnishment is either without warrant or that the garnishment will make it impossible to survive.

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