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How do I stop wage garnishment after I have fulfilled my obligations and my wages are still being garnished?
Anonymous4 views2 answers
I work in Los Angeles and my company's payroll dept. is up in Sacramento. My company has been deducting the maximum amount from each paycheck and I have reached the sum total of the judgment against me. Due to a bureaucratic lag in which the payments take over 60 days to reach the plaintiff, they have yet to receive the full amount that has already been taken from me. The plaintiff intends to keep deducting from my wages until they get full payment from the Sacramento court. This means they could be taking money from my paycheck for the rest of this year and possibly into the next (once the lag time catches up). I've been told that any overpayment will be refunded, but obviously I'd rather this just stop altogether. How can I stop this?
This is not supposed to be decided by he Plaintiff or its lawyer. The sheriff (levying officer) that is handling the garnishment is supposed to keep track of the total balance on the earnings withholding order and the amounts received from your employer, then apply your payments to (1) costs of the garnishment (2) amounts paid towards the total judgment and interest that has been accruing since then. Once the full balance and all interest is paid off, the sheriff is supposed to notify the court and the Plaintiff of the full satisfaction. Your employer should also receive a notice to terminate the garnishment. You should contact the sheriff (the levying officer) to find out their process and possibly get an accounting of the as perhaps you are mistaken that it is paid off. When you call the sheriff, be really polite and have the sheriff's file number handy. Also, if they are hard to reach, you may need to send them a letter with your request.
Alternatively, below is the link to my legal guide on reducing the wage garnishment amount. If you really need to get this stopped and are sure you are correct, file with the levying officer a claim of exemption form, which is discussed and linked in the legal guide. The claim of exemption form will stop the garnishment in about 10 days, unless the Plaintiff files its objections, in which case a hearing is set and you can present your position that you have paid the full balance.
Send a certified return reciept letter demanding a "satisfaction of judgment" to the creditor. That should get you on the radar and will causse them to review the file and comply with the law.
