Who Can Garnish My Wages?
Anyone you owe money to can garnishee your wages. The real question to be asked is how they are able to garnish your wages. For Canada Revenue Agency, it is easy. They just issue a Third party demand and your employer is obligated to follow the instructions from CRA. It is a great world when you can issue the Third Party collection demand without bothering to go to court. All you have to do is pass a law that benefits only you. For the rest of your creditors to garnishee your wages, they must first sue you in court, obtain a judgement against you from the court and then obtain permission from the court to garnish your wages. You are notified at each stage of the process and are given the ability to attend court and convince the court that you do not owe the debt or that the court should refuse the judgment or refuse to give permission to garnish your wages.
If you do nothing, you will lose by default.
If you are contacted by a collection company who threatens to garnishee your wages, treat what they saying as just a threat. They are required to follow the same rules and procedures as everyone else. The original creditor (that hired the collection agent) could sue you themselves but everyone else must hire a lawyer or paralegal who is licensed by the Law Sociey of Upper Canada (L.S.U.C). If a collection agency threatens a lawsuit or a garnishee, simply ask them to make sure that they send you a copy of the legal papers which MUST show the court file number on the upper right corner of the first page. Without this number, it is just a bluff.
If you decide to file an Assignment in Bankruptcy or a Consumer Proposal. All lawsuits, garnishee orders and judgements are immediately stopped regardless of what stage the legal proceedings are at. If you are at the stage of having collection companies threaten to do all of these nasty things to you, perhaps, you must take action to stop everything and put your life back together.
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.
I filed a Consumer Proposal and my trustee tells me that he has to file an Administrator’s Report. I am frightened – what is this?
Overdue payments, calls from collection companies, NSF cheques, bank overdraft. The list goes on and on. You feel stressed out just thinking about your debts. Want some peace of mind? Stop the madness and take control. Start by making a list of your debts showing the name, amount owing, interest rate, and minimum monthly payment that is due. I note that many credit cards now show how long it will take to pay off the balance owing if all you pay is the minimum payment and of course, if you do not make any new charges. Focusing on the 20 or 30 years will just increase your stress, not reduce it. Focus instead on which debts have high interest and which have the lower rates. You should be directing whatever money you have to those debts with a high interest rate.