Rule 2-646.Garnishment of wages

Wage garnishment gets its own rule because an employer's obligations run month after month rather than ending with a single handover of property. The creditor starts by filing a request, in the same case where judgment was entered, giving the caption, amount owed, the debtor's name and last known address, and the employer's name and address; the clerk issues the writ along with a blank answer form. The writ has to identify who requested it and when, warn the employer of the deadline to answer and the risk of contempt for missing it, flag possible exemptions, and tell the debtor how to contest the garnishment. It's served the same way as garnishing any other property, and a copy goes to the debtor by mail once issued.

The employer's answer has to say whether the debtor works there, the pay rate, and whether any earlier garnishments already have a claim on those wages; the debtor, for a part, can move at any time to raise a defense or objection. No answer at all exposes the employer to a contempt proceeding and possible fees. If the answer denies employment, the case against the employer gets dismissed unless the creditor asks for a hearing within 15 days; any other defense, or a motion from the debtor, gets a hearing scheduled promptly. While the garnishment runs, the employer withholds the garnishable wages each pay period and either sends them to the court (if a defense is pending) or to the creditor within 15 days after the close of the debtor's last pay period each month, telling the debtor how much was withheld and how it was calculated. Multiple writs against the same debtor get satisfied in the order they were served. The creditor, in turn, has to apply payments first to accrued interest, then principal, then fees and costs, and send the employer and debtor a monthly statement of what came in and how it was credited — keeping a copy for 90 days after the garnishment ends rather than filing it with the court. Falling short on that duty can get the whole garnishment dismissed, with fees assessed against the creditor. The garnishment itself lapses automatically 90 days after the debtor's employment ends, unless the same employer rehires the debtor within that window.