Garnishment

[Katie Roberts]

Jurisdiction

Oregon

Is it legal for my work place to give me garnishment papers after I find out im being garnished and to top it off they opened the envelope even though my name is clearly on the envelope... Now I can't even get a monthly payment cause it's too late and they are taking a lot of each pay check cause papers were given to me too late

 

[justblue]

Is it legal for my work place to give me garnishment papers after I find out im being garnished and to top it off they opened the envelope even though my name is clearly on the envelope... Now I can't even get a monthly payment cause it's too late and they are taking a lot of each pay check cause papers were given to me too late

Huh? What are you being garnished for?

 

[Katie Roberts]

Huh? What are you being garnished for?

Medical bill

 

[Katie Roberts]

If I got the papers before it was settled I could of called and set a monthly payment but I didn't get the papers til after it was settled and I was already being garnished

 

[zddoodah]

Is it legal for my work place to give me garnishment papers after I find out im being garnished

I don't really understand this question. Why would you think it might not be legal for your employer to give you papers?

they opened the envelope even though my name is clearly on the envelope.

What envelope?

Now I can't even get a monthly payment

A monthly payment for what?

it's too late

Too late for what?

they are taking a lot of each pay check cause papers were given to me too late

Who are they?

If your wages are being garnished, then one of the following must be true: (1) you owe delinquent taxes; (2) you owe delinquent child and/or spousal support payments; or (3) someone sued you and got a judgment against you (it's possible that there's another reason, but those are the three most likely scenarios). Which is it? Given that you posted on a credit/debt/collection board, I assume it's #3. If that's the case, then you almost certainly knew that you were sued and that you had a judgment against you. While it's possible that your creditor served you without you getting actual notice, that's not the norm. Regardless, your employer has nothing to do with it. Once a creditor has a judgment against you, the creditor can have your wages garnished, and your only recourse is to seek some sort of hardship exemption.

If you can better explain exactly what happened, we may be able to offer more information.

 

[zddoodah]

If I got the papers before it was settled I could of called and set a monthly payment but I didn't get the papers til after it was settled and I was already being garnished

Huh? If your wages are being garnished, then nothing is "settled."

 

[Zigner]

Why do you feel that they judgment creditor would have negotiated monthly payments with you when they can simply get it directly from your paycheck? I mean, you already forced them to go to the trouble of getting the garnishment set up...

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

they opened the envelope even though my name is clearly on the envelope

A garnishment order would have been mailed/served to your employer, not you.

 

[hrforme]

agreed orders are mailed to the employer. The time to set up a payment plan was way before someone sent a court-ordered garnishment to your employer.

That said there are limits to what can be garnished - usually both federal and state. Here's what i found for Oregon: Oregon Wage Garnishment Laws

 

[zddoodah]

That said there are limits to what can be garnished - usually both federal and state.

I was going to mention this. By federal law, the maximum that can be garnished on a civil money judgment is 25% of take-home pay. I don't know if Oregon imposes a lesser cap.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

I was going to mention this. By federal law, the maximum that can be garnished on a civil money judgment is 25% of take-home pay. I don't know if Oregon imposes a lesser cap.

On the federal level, the garnished employee must also take home 33(?) times the federal minimum wage.