Is There Any Protection from Wage Garnishment?

If you have been threatened with wage garnishment, you may qualify for an exemption under Florida law. Many Florida residents find themselves faced with a lawsuit in which the Plaintiff seeks a wage garnishment against them. Wage garnishments are a tool used to collect monies after the entry of a judgment. If an Order of garnishment is entered against you, an otherwise precarious financial situation can quickly spiral, and further exacerbate an already tenuous financial situation. However, depending on your individual circumstances, you may qualify for an exemption that may protect you and your family against wage garnishment. Fortunately, Florida law offers protections against wage garnishment.

Under Florida law, Florida Statutes, Sec. 222.11 provides:

222.11 Exemption of wages from garnishment.—

(1) As used in this section, the term:

• “Earnings” includes compensation paid or payable, in money of a sum certain, for personal services or labor whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, or bonus.
• “Disposable earnings” means that part of the earnings of any head of family remaining after the deduction from those earnings of any amounts required by law to be withheld.
• “Head of family” includes any natural person who is providing more than one-half of the support for a child or other dependent.

(2)(a) All of the disposable earnings of a head of family whose disposable earnings are less than or equal to $750 a week are exempt from attachment or garnishment.

(b) Disposable earnings of a head of a family, which are greater than $750 a week, may not be attached or garnished unless such person has agreed otherwise in writing.

The agreement to waive the protection provided by this paragraph must:

1. Be written in the same language as the contract or agreement to which the waiver relates;
2. Be contained in a separate document attached to the contract or agreement; and
3. Be in substantially the following form in at least 14-point type:

IF YOU PROVIDE MORE THAN ONE-HALF OF THE SUPPORT FOR A CHILD OR OTHER DEPENDENT, ALL

OR PART OF YOUR INCOME IS EXEMPT FROM GARNISHMENT UNDER FLORIDA LAW. YOU CAN WAIVE

THIS PROTECTION ONLY BY SIGNING THIS DOCUMENT. BY SIGNING BELOW, YOU AGREE TO WAIVE THE PROTECTION FROM GARNISHMENT.

  (Consumer’s Signature)     (Date Signed) 

I have fully explained this document to the consumer.

  (Creditor’s Signature)     (Date Signed) 

Federal law (15 U.S.C. SS 1671-1673) allows up to 25% of any individual Defendant’s disposable income (the part of earnings remaining after the deduction of any amounts required by law to be deducted) for any pay period or to no more than the amount by which the individual’s disposable earnings for the pay period exceeds 30 times the federal minimum hourly wages, whichever is less.

In Miami-Dade County, a client retained attorney Willie Brice, after three of her checks had been garnished. After speaking with the client, it was determined that the client qualified for exemption. After filing a Motion to dissolve the writ of garnishment, and successfully arguing the matter before the Court, not only was the client’s garnishment dissolved, but the garnishee was ordered to return all garnished monies to the client.

Talk to an Experienced Wage Garnishment Lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, FL Today

If you or someone you know is in need of experienced wage garnishment lawyers to protect your rights against wage garnishment, foreclosure, or other consumer debt matters, Call us today at (954) 807-1383 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation and to learn more about how we can help.

Loan Lawyers has helped over 7,000 South Florida homeowners and consumers with their debt problems, we have saved over 3,000 homes from foreclosure, eliminated more than $100 million dollars in mortgage principal and consumer debt, and recovered over $25 million dollars on behalf of our clients due to bank, loan servicer, and debt collector violations.  Contact us for a free consultation to see how we may be able to help you.