When a collections agency wins a lawsuit against you, the court will order a judgment against you. The collections agency can then garnish your wages or levy your bank account. If they can’t find any income or assets to be garnished, then they can request the court to ask you to appear for a debtor’s examination.

How to Reduce or Stop a Wage Garnishment

1. reduce the garnishment by filing a claim of exemption with the court, or.
2. eliminate the debt (and garnishment) through bankruptcy.

Collecting a Judgment If you don’t satisfy a judgment within 30 days in most states, the hospital can legally collect the debt in a number of different ways. For example, the hospital could take money from your bank account, seize your property and sell it, or garnish your income.

After they receive a judgment against you, health care providers can take 25 percent of your disposable earnings or the portion of your disposable earnings that exceeds 30 times the current federal minimum wage. They’re limited to whichever option amounts to less taken from your pay. These are federal guidelines.

In other words, a creditor can garnish up to an amount that is the lesser of either 25% of a debtor’s weekly earnings or 50% of the amount by which the debtor’s earnings exceed 40 times the minimum hourly wage, and there is no minimum balance that a debtor’s deposit account must remain after being garnished.

Once your account is frozen, it goes into a holding period for about two to three weeks. During this time, the money is still in your account, but you are not able to access it. This gives you time to take action of your own, either settling with the creditor or counter-suing them.

How can you get evidence of unreported income? 1. Forensic accounting can often uncover hidden income. Your attorney may be able to subpoena your ex-spouse’s tax returns, credit card records, bank statements and other financial records to prove that his or her expenses exceed the amount of income he or she is claiming.