What is garnishment after a judgment when I’ve been sued by a creditor or debt collector?


“What is garnishment after a judgment when I’ve been sued by a creditor or debt collector?”

What is garnishment after a judgment when I've been sued by a creditor or debt collector?Garnishment is a scary word for good reason — it means a judgment in Alabama has been entered against you and someone is trying to take your wages and/or the money in your bank account.

We’ll do this:

  • Talk about how we get to the garnishment stage
  • What is a wage garnishment
  • What is a bank garnishment
  • Talk about if you have options to attack the judgment
  • What your options are in dealing with the garnishment

Let’s get started now…

How did we get to the garnishment stage?

You got sued by a creditor or by a debt collector/debt buyer.

Then you were served.

And either you did not respond in time and got a default judgment or you did respond but later lost the case.

What is a wage garnishment?

This is where the company with the judgment against you takes about 25% of your wages every paycheck.  While there are some exemptions that can be argued, the bottom line is this is devastating for almost anyone to lose a quarter of their paycheck every pay period.

What is a bank garnishment?

Your bank gets hit instead of your paycheck.  But instead of 25%, it is all that is in your bank account.  Unless you have “exempt” funds such as Social Security funds, you can lose everything in your account.

So, what are your options to attack the default judgment?

If you weren’t properly served, you can attack the default judgment.  You can do this because it is a requirement that you are served for a judgment to be valid.

If you were served, you can still ask the court to set aside the judgment but normally you only have either 14 or 30 days to do this from the date of the judgment (Small Claims and District is 14 days and Circuit Court is 30 days).

So, what your options are in dealing with the garnishment?

If you can’t get rid of the judgment, then here are your options:

  • Let the garnishments happen until the judgment amount (plus continuing interest) is paid off
  • File bankruptcy to possibly get rid of the judgment or put it into a chapter 13 bankruptcy
  • Work out a payment plan that is less than the garnishment amount
  • Work out a lump sum payment plan to save on the total amount paid

We help people every week with judgments and I’ll be glad to help you think through your options.  You’ll leave the conversation with your options and you can then decide what is best for you.

Call us at 205-879-2447 or click the button below to get with us.

Discover your options now!
Talk to you soon!

John G. Watts

Leave a Comment