Can a debt collector threaten to garnish my wages?

In Oregon, a debt collector cannot threaten to garnish your wages without a court order. In general, before a debt collector can begin the process of garnishing your wages for an unpaid debt, they must first have a court order. This order is known as a Writ of Garnishment. It is issued by a court after a debt collector has sued you and won either a judgment or settlement. Once the court issues a Writ of Garnishment, the debt collector is allowed to contact your employer and request that a certain amount of your wages be withheld from your paycheck and sent directly to the debt collector. The amount of wages that can be garnished is limited by law and varies from state to state. For example, in Oregon the maximum amount of wages that can be garnished is 25 percent of your disposable earnings or the amount by which your disposable earnings are greater than thirty times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less. Therefore, if a debt collector threatens to garnish your wages without a court order, they are in violation of debt collection law in Oregon and you should contact the Oregon State Department of Consumer and Business Services and the Federal Trade Commission to file a complaint.

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Can a debt collector threaten to garnish my wages?

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