Can my creditcards garnishee my paycheck?

Posted on Friday, November 10, 2006

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I had a collection agent tell me that if I didn’t pay my bill they would take me to court and seize my wages. Can they do this? Can they take everything? Can I stop this? What are my rights?

Filed under: Bankruptcy
 posted by Questions @ 12:18 am
1 Expert Comment:

 At November 10, 2006 | 12:36 am , Barton Goth, GCO Inc. Bankruptcy Trustees Said...

While your creditors likely don’t have the ability to seize funds from you paycheck currently, if they successfully sue you for failure to pay your bills they will likely be able to obtain the right to garnishee your wages. However, there are provincial guidelines that set limits on what you creditors can garnishee. These guidelines depend on how much money you make and the number of people living within the household unit.

In Alberta you are entitled to keep the first $800 of your take home income (net income), half of any remaining money you earn up to $2,400, and nothing above $2,400 (i.e. they can garnishee 100% of your income above the $2400 cut-off). This is based on one person in the household, for each additional dependent the limits are increased by $200.

As for how to stop a garnishee, this can be done by:
1. Paying your debts as required by the collectors;
2. Negotiating a settlement that is acceptable to your creditors;
3. Filing for Orderly Payment of Debt with Credit Counseling services of Alberta;
4. Or filing a consumer proposal or a bankruptcy

For more details on any of these options or further questions feel free to contact me by email or by phone at (780) 435 -5110.

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