It is payday and you look at your paystub. There must be some mistake because your paycheque is significantly smaller than usual. You speak to the person responsible for payroll at your firm. That is when you learn, to your embarrassment, that your paycheque is now subject to a wage garnishment from one of your creditors.
All is not lost. There are four things you can do to stop a wage garnishment:
1. Quit your job
If you quit your job it will stop the current wage garnishment. If you get a job with a new employer then you run the risk that your creditor will simply arrange to obtain a wage garnishment against you with your new employer. In some instances, however, quitting one’s job may be a successful long-terms strategy for stopping a wage garnishment.
2. Negotiate a settlement with your creditor
There is nothing stopping you from negotiating a settlement with your creditor. Under this settlement agreement your creditor agrees to lift the current garnishment. In return you will either provide your creditor with a one-time lump sum payment—potentially for less than the current amount owing—or provide your creditor with installment payments.
3. Make a consumer proposal
You can stop a wage garnishment if you meet with a bankruptcy trustee and arrange to make a consumer proposal to your creditors.
4. File for personal bankruptcy
You can also stop a wage garnishment by arranging –through a bankruptcy trustee—to file for personal bankruptcy.
Contact Rumanek & Company Ltd. for more information on bankruptcy and debt solutions. Or please fill out the free bankruptcy evaluation form. To learn more please visit our YouTube Channel. Rumanek & Company have been helping individuals and families overcome debt for more than 25 years.