In the state of North Carolina, there are certain debts which can result in your paycheck being garnished. According to North Carolina law, your employer may be ordered through the court system to garnish/withhold/deduct wages from your paycheck and pay your wages to a Creditor for the following types of debts: taxes, student loans, child support, alimony, and payment of ambulance services in certain North Carolina counties. Debts such as taxes, student loans, child support and alimony are usually non-dischargeable when filing bankruptcy in North Carolina.
However, the courts of North Carolina are not permitted to order an employer to withhold wages for other types of debts such as car loans, credit card debt, and other personal debts.
Often an alternative to a Creditor being allowed to garnish an individual’s wages, a creditor may sue you and obtain a lien which may be placed on your home, automobile or personal property. A judgment lienis a way of collecting on your unpaid balance to a Creditor. Until you, the owner of the asset, take some action to sell, transfer, or refinance the home, car or personal property; the lien will remain attached to the item. Once you sell, transfer, or refinance the item, all judgment lien holders may be entitled to collect on their judgments, depending on the nature of the situation.
The easiest way to get a judgment lien released is to pay the judgment in full. The law requires that the Creditor release the judgment from the debtor’s asset when the agreed balance is paid in full. In most cases, the Creditor signs a verified statement that the judgment has been paid in full and should be released. The other option would be to include the unpaid Creditor into your bankruptcy filing and discharge the qualified debt. In the case where a judgment and/or lien has been issued through the court, your attorney will notify the Creditor, the attorney representing the Creditor and the court in which the judgment has been filed. Additional motions, such as a Motion to Avoid a Judicial Lien, may have to be filed with the court in order to remove the lien(s) from your asset depending upon your specific case.
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So if you break a property lease in North Carolina and the landlord takes you to court and wins a judgement against you they can not garnish your wages right
Beau,
It depends where your payroll is based out of. If it is North Carolina then they cannot garnish your wages. However, they could try to go into your bank account and take the money out of there if they get a write of execution. Best of luck!
Beau,
That sounds correct. However, they could go into your bank account if they get a lien against you. However, wages are not garnished in North Carolina (except for a couple small exceptions).
If I have a judgement against me from another state that is moved to NC through domestication, can that creditor garnish my NC wages that I earn from a NC public school?
Aimee,
No. They cannot garnish wages in North Carolina (unless it’s taxes or federal student loans). Depending on the amount, it may be worthwhile to at least talk to a bankruptcy lawyer if the lawsuit is for a large amount or if you have other debts as well. Best of luck!
i have a 10 year old bank of america credit card debt that a collections agency in california bought. the balance went from 500.00 to 2800.00, the agency want give me any type of paperwork on this account, which i am trying to resolve. they are threaning to take me to court and garnish my wages, is this possible?
Janice,
I would send them something in writing, return receipt requested, asking them to provide evidence that you owe the debt and that the statute of limitations has not passed. If they are unwilling to do that and still try to collect the debt then I would contact the attorney general’s office in the state you live and, if that doesn’t work, I would contact the Federal Trade Commission. Good luck.
Hi Damon Duncan, my garnishment is from a car loan company in Oklahoma. In 2002-03 I bought a car. I couldn’t afford to make payments on the car, so I returned it. So being young I totally forgot about this debt. I moved to North Carolina in April 04. Fast foward to 2008, the company started a garnishment order and began collecting. I received help from Oklahoma Legal Aide, and the loan company was ordered to return all they collected (now you have to qualify under a certain income bracket) . The loan company didn’t seek a garnishment from early 2008- early 2012. In June 2012 to present, every 6 months they garnish my wages, for a now judgement of 32000. In every single judgement I never had notice until my wages were taken. How can they still have any grounds to do this? Do to my now situation my family can’t afford it. Any suggestions? Bankruptcy is not an option.
Mrs. Cheatham,
I would speak with an attorney. It’s difficult to give you any kind good direction without knowing more of the details in your situation. I’m guessing your payroll is based in another state because (as of the date of this answer) they cannot garnish wages in North Carolina. Either that or it isn’t a garnishment from wages but is, instead, a “garnishment” of your bank account which they could do. However, if you owe $32,000 on the judgment it’s clear they will continue to try to get this money. I would talk with an attorney in your area, even if it is a bankruptcy lawyer. Although you are saying bankruptcy is not an option they may be able to help direct you to some other options as well. Thanks for your question and good luck moving forward!
My wife had a very old credit card debt from nj, the courts took about $400 of the $1100 that the judgement was for. Wells in nc, she (wife) works at Wal-Mart in nc, now they are trying to garnish her wages. Can nj garnish wages earned in nc for a credit card debt that is over 8years old?
It depends where her payroll is based out of. If the payroll is in North Carolina then they shouldn’t garnish the wages. However, if the payroll is based out of Bentonville, Arkansas then they could garnish wages.
I have a a judgement against me where I live in Virginia. My husband and I had some credit card debt, hit a bad financial spot and now almost 7 years later(I went back to school got a degree and started working in Jan. 2015) I just received a court order saying that there was a garnishment summons for all accounts of any kind with my name a SSN attached. I work in NC but still live in VA. Although I live in VA, NC won’t garnish my wages for credit card debt, correct? Does that mean I need to be removed from our joint checking account? Thanks for your help!
You cannot garnish wages in North Carolina. However, it is going to depend where your payroll is based out of. If it is in a state that allows wage garnishment they could potentially garnish your wages. Otherwise, I would get your name off of any joint bank accounts and keep a low balance in any bank accounts you do have until you get something worked out. Depending upon the amount you owe and any other debts it may make sense to sit down with a bankruptcy attorney for a free consultation. You could then at least know your different rights and options. Good luck!
so wages can’t be garnished in NC, but a party suing my husband with a judgement of 200K could go after his bank account or assets?
all his assets and bank accounts are joint, with me, his wife also on them?
can they still have a right to that and put a lien on my house and my car?
They can go after joint bank accounts. House and cars are a little more tricky. If the house is tenancy by the entirety and the debt/judgment is just against him then they cannot attach a lien against the house. For $200,000 in debt it would probably make a lot of since to sit down and talk with a professional on what options you all have. Good luck!