Wage Garnishment

• Once a creditor obtains a judgment against you, it must then file a writ of garnishment for wages. This order must be served to your employer, who is required by law to enforce the garnishment order beginning with the next pay period. Under state law, the maximum amount of any wage garnishment per pay period must be no more than 25 percent of disposable earnings or the total amount by which your disposable earnings exceed 40 times the federal minimum wage. State law prohibits an employer from terminating you for incurring a single garnishment order. You can, however, be terminated if your wages are being garnished for multiple debts.
  
  

Bank Account Garnishment

• If a creditor opts to garnish your bank account, you will be served with a garnishment summons notifying you what account will be garnished, the amount of the judgment and the date of the garnishment hearing. The creditor must also serve your bank with a copy of the garnishment order. Under state law, the bank must freeze all funds in the account up to the amount of the judgment for a period of 21 days. After the holding period expires, the bank will then turn the funds over to the creditor. Joint bank accounts are not protected from bank account levy in the state of Virginia regardless of whether both account owners are responsible for the debt.
  
  

Exemptions

• If you receive certain types of income or benefits, you may be able to reduce or reverse a garnishment by claiming these funds as exempt. Under federal law, certain benefits including Social Security Income, veterans' benefits, military survivors' benefits, Supplemental Security Income and railroad retirement benefits may not be subject to garnishment. State law also excludes child support and alimony from garnishment. To claim an exemption, you must file a request for a hearing once you receive the summons for garnishment. When you attend the hearing, you must be able to provide proof of your claim, typically in the form of a pay stub or direct deposit receipt.
  
  

Other Remedies

• If you are unable to claim any of your income as exempt, you have two other options for dealing with a garnishment order. First, you can contact the creditor directly and attempt to arrange a payment plan or settlement. Second, you can attempt to have the judgment vacated entirely. You may be able to have an order vacated if you can prove you don't owe the debt or if you can prove that the garnishment is causing an undue financial hardship.