Facing Wage Garnishment in Maryland? Understand Your Options.
A wage garnishment in Maryland usually means a creditor already has a court judgment against you. Here is how garnishment works, what bankruptcy can and cannot do about it, and what happens to money that has already been taken.
Filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy puts an automatic stay in place the moment your case is filed, and that stay generally stops a garnishment for an ordinary consumer debt. How quickly your paycheck reflects it depends on when your employer and the creditor receive notice, and some debts, such as child support, are treated differently. Every case is different, so the details below explain what to expect rather than promise a result.
What Is Wage Garnishment in Maryland?
In Maryland, a creditor generally has to sue you and win a judgment before it can ask the court to garnish your wages. Once the court issues the garnishment, your employer must withhold part of each paycheck and send it toward the judgment until the debt is paid, the garnishment is released, or something else stops it, such as a bankruptcy filing.
Your Options
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File Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The automatic stay generally stops garnishment for consumer debts once the case is filed.
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Ask the court for relief. An exemption claim or a motion can help in some situations, but it takes time and the result is up to the court.
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Negotiate with the creditor. Some creditors will agree to a payment arrangement, but they are not required to.
How Fast Does Filing Stop a Garnishment?
The automatic stay under the Bankruptcy Code takes effect when your Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case is filed. It is a court order, not a request, and it generally requires creditors to stop garnishing wages for consumer debts.
In practice, the deductions stop once your employer's payroll department and the creditor receive notice of the filing. If a payroll run is already in process, one more paycheck may still show a deduction. Money taken after your filing date generally has to be returned.
Can I Get Money Already Withheld Back?
Sometimes. Wages a creditor collected through garnishment in the 90 days before you filed may be recoverable, generally when that creditor took $600 or more and the money would have been protected by your exemptions. Whether you can recover any of it depends on the amounts, the timing, and the facts of your case, so it is something to raise at your consultation.
Maryland-Specific Insight
Maryland protects the greater of 75 percent of your disposable wages or 30 times the Maryland minimum hourly wage for each week of the pay period (Md. Code, Com. Law § 15-601.1). Federal law separately caps most consumer garnishments at 25 percent of disposable earnings. Child support and some tax collections follow different rules.
When Can Collection Continue?
The automatic stay does not stop everything, and it does not last forever. Garnishment for child support or alimony is generally not stopped by a bankruptcy filing. If your case is dismissed, the stay ends and the creditor may resume collecting. If you had another bankruptcy case dismissed within the past year, the stay may be limited or may not apply unless the court orders otherwise. Debts that are not discharged can be collected again after the case ends.
Related Questions
→ Can Bankruptcy Stop a Garnishment Right Away?
→ How Much of Your Paycheck Can Be Garnished in Maryland?
→ Can I Get My Garnished Wages Back?
