Can Bankruptcy End a Garnishment?

If your wages are being garnished by a creditor, your life can become very difficult. After all, if you were in a comfortable financial situation, you never would have fallen behind on your debts in the first place. The last thing you need is to see a smaller number every time you receive a paycheck or a direct deposit from your employer. While this is going on, you probably have other debts you must pay, so you have to try to do more with less. The situation can be impossible to manage, but the good news is that there are legal steps that you can take to end a garnishment to create some financial space for yourself.

Bankruptcy can provide a host of benefits, and a filing can have an immediate positive impact. When you file for bankruptcy, you receive an automatic stay right away. This stops most creditors from proceeding with their collection efforts. As a result, let’s say that you fall behind on your credit card debt, and the credit card company files a lawsuit against you. They receive a judgment from the court, and it includes a wage garnishment.

If you file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you would get an automatic stay. This disallows most types of creditors from seeking payment as long as the stay is in effect. It would extend to the wage garnishment the court imposed as part of the judgment. With a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, unsecured credit card debts can be discharged by the court after the stay is lifted, so the garnishment would end permanently if the debt is discharged.

While it is true that a bankruptcy filing can put an end to a garnishment, it is not necessarily going to be the right choice under all circumstances. You have to remember that a Chapter 7 will remain on your credit report for 10 years, and it will be very difficult for you to get lines of credit at reasonable interest rates.

The decision can be a difficult one, and this is why it is wise to explore all your options with the benefit of professional legal counsel. As bankruptcy attorneys, we hear a lot of the same feedback from our clients after we have helped them get back on track. Though they are quite relieved, many of them share a common regret: They wish that they had reached out to us sooner.

Indeed, seemingly insurmountable problems can be quickly and efficiently addressed if you have strong advocacy by your side. We have offices in Portland, Grants Pass, Medford, and several other metropolitan areas in the state of Oregon, and we also have offices in Tri-Cities and Tacoma, Washington. If you would like to schedule a complimentary, no obligation case evaluation, send us a message through our contact page and we will get back in touch with you to nail down an appointment time.