Is it true that 154.50 is exempt from the maximum percent amount for Ohio garnishments?

Answer 1

Here is a portion of a letter called "Notice of Court Proceedings to Collect a Debt" which each person must receive prior to any garnishment being filed in an Ohio court. It will help you figure out how much money will be garnished:

1. Total amount of indebtedness demanded: (1) $____________

2. Enter the amount of your personal earnings, after deductions required by law, earned by you during the current pay period that is, the pay period in which this demand is received by you: $____________________

3. I deleted this one, it isn't necessary right now.

4. Enter an amount equal to 25% of the amount on line (2): $________________

5. (A) The current federal hourly minimum wage is $5.85. If you are paid weekly, enter thirty times the current federal minimum hourly wage; if paid biweekly, enter sixty times the current federal minimum wage; if paid semimonthly, enter sixty-five times the current federal minimum hourly wage; if paid monthly, enter one hundred thirty times the current federal minimum hourly wage: (5)(A) $____________________.

(B) Enter the amount by which the amount on line (2) exceeds the amount on line 5 (A): $_________________

6. Enter the smallest of the amounts on line (1), (4), or 5(B):_________________

The amount on line 6 is what will be taken from your pay.

So let's say you get paid $500 (after taxes) every 2 weeks. Your debt is $1000.

Line 1: $1000

Line 2: $500

Line 3: skip it

Line 4: 25% of $500 = $125.00

Line 5(A): $5.85 multiplied by 60 = $351

Line 5(B): $149

L:ine 6: the smallest amount of lines 1, 4 or 5(A) is line 4 so the amount you would be garnished is $125 each pay.

This letter that you get is an opportunity to voluntarily pay this amount. It's also called a "15 day letter" because you get 15 days to take advantage of this offer. It is better to pay from this letter because you won't get garned. It also spells out what your options are and what funds are not subject to garnishment. Here's a link to a sample of the whole "Notice of Court Proceedings to Collect a Debt": http://www.courtclerk.org/forms/NoticeofCourtProceedingstoCollectDebt.pdf

The cheapest thing to do, if at all possible, is to contact the creditor and see if you can set up a payment plan. or negotiate a settlement figure (borrow from someone and pay this off). Sometimes you can negotiate for a percentage of what you owe. You will save a bunch of money in interest and any court costs or fees that can be passed along to you.

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