The collection agency calls and says that you better pay up.  If you don’t pay, then we’ll garnish your wages.  Believe it or not, that can be a great phone call to receive if you live in Pennsylvania.

This is a common threat that is issued by the collecton agencies.  It works very well for them because nobody wants their wages to be garnished.  Unfortunately, it is also an illegal threat. 

Pennsylvania is one of the few states that do not allow creditors to  garnish wages.  There is no exception to that law, at least not when a collection agency or credit card company is involved.  Wage garnishment for credit card debt cannot occur in Pennsylvania, period. 

Regarding the threat, as I said above, it is illegal.  There is a federal law known as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA for short) that protect consumers.  One of the main components of this law is that a debt collector cannot make a threat that it cannot follow through on, or it can’t make a threat that is illegal.  Since wage garnishment is not permissible, by law, in Pennsylvania, making such a threat is illegal. 

The FDCPA gives you the right to file a lawsuit against a debt collector that makes this sort of illegal threat.  There is a statutory $1000 damage penalty, along with an imposition of reasonable attorney fees.  In that regard, your attorney is free.

Call our office if you have been threatened with wage garnishment in Pennsylvania.

Can a collection agency garnish my wages?  In a word, NO!  Only under very limited circumstances does Pennsylvania law permit the garnishment of wages, and a debt owed to a collection agency is not one of them. 

Garnishment of wages is a seizure of wages while they are still in the control of the employer, and have not yet been paid out to the employee. An employee’s wages, salaries and commissions may be taken from an employer through appropriate legal procedures to satisfy five kinds of debts:

• judgments for child or spousal support
• PHEAA student loans
• room and board for four weeks or less
• back rent on a residential lease
• obligations relating to final divorce distribution

Your wages cannot be garnished for any other purpose, including debt owed to a credit card company/collection agency. Garnishment of wages can only be accomplished only by a court order directed to the employer and no such court order can be issued without fair notice to the debtor/wage earner. Other than the kinds of debt listed above, no other debt or legal obligation can give rise to wage attachment in Pennsylvania. Federal laws such as IRS garnishment procedures may be used to garnish wages of Pennsylvania residents, but only through the federal court system

Only under very limited circumstances does Pennsylvania law permit the garnishment of wages. Garnishment of wages is a seizure of wages while they are still in the control of the employer, which have not yet been paid out to the employee. An employee’s wages, salaries and commissions may be taken from an employer through appropriate legal procedures to satisfy generally five kinds of debts:

• judgments for child or spousal support
• PHEAA student loans
• room and board for four weeks or less
• back rent on a residential lease
• obligations relating to final divorce distribution

In PA, generally, your wages cannot be garnished for any other purpose. Garnishment of wages can only be accomplished only by a court order directed to the employer and no such court order can be issued without fair notice to the debtor/wage earner. That means, in most cases, that a lawsuit has to be filed, and a judgment against you has to be issued.  Other than the kinds of debt listed above, no other debt or legal obligation can give rise to wage attachment in Pennsylvania. Federal laws such as IRS garnishment procedures may be used to garnish wages of Pennsylvania residents, but only through the federal court system.

Garnishment is the act of directing a business that is holding funds (such as a bank) or who is about to pay wages (such as an employer) to an individual who allegedly owes money to someone else to place a freeze on that money and distribute it to a creditor. Garnishing funds is also a warning to the party who is holding the funds (the Garnishee) not to pay them, and to inform the Court as to how much money is being held. If the garnishee (such as a bank or employer) should mistakenly give the money to the individual who is the account owner or employee, the Garnishee will be liable to pay the creditor what it had coming, up to the amount of the funds that were held by the Garnishee.