Formerly located in Tampa, Florida, the Consumer Rights Law Group is now a virtual law firm operating from Orange County, Florida serving consumers across Florida
Our garnishment attorneys are available to assist individuals whose wages or bank accounts have been garnished. Our office is conveniently located in Tampa. Our attorneys can give you legal advice to determine your best strategy for defending and removing the garnishment. At your initial consultation your garnishment attorney will assess your case and advise you on the right approach for stopping your garnishment.
Garnishment is a legal proceeding where a creditor seizes the funds in your bank account or takes your wages directly from your employer. Our garnishment attorneys are available for a free consultation. Limits on the amount and types of funds garnished are provided by state and federal law, and are specifically provided for in the Florida Statutes. Garnishment cases are handled in county court, circuit court and federal court. After your wages have been garnished, you have 20 days to request a hearing to immediately stop your creditors from legally seizing your bank accounts or wages. After your garnishment hearing, the court will either rule that the garnishment must continue or that the garnishment should immediately stop.
If your wages are garnished, creditors can take up to 25% of your disposable earnings every paycheck. If the garnishment is vacated, the deductions will immediately stop and the garnishment amount will no longer come out of your paycheck. If your garnishment defense is filed soon enough, you may also be entitled to a refund of the garnished amounts.
When your bank account is frozen, the creditor may empty your entire account to satisfy the judgment against you. The creditor is under no obligation to give you advance notice of the garnishment and 100% of the time creditors file their motion for writ of garnishment with no notice to the consumer. This means that almost every bank garnishment happens by surprise. Most consumers don’t learn that their account has been frozen until their debit card starts getting declined. If the garnishment is not vacated, the money that was in your bank account will be applied to the judgment and gone forever. The Consumer Rights Law Group successfully vacates bank garnishments on a regular basis.
Once a creditor knows you are represented by an attorney about a particular debt, that creditor can no longer contact you directly. This means no phone calls, no letters and no harassment. If a creditor does contact you directly about the debt, they are breaking the law and may have to pay you damages.
Creditors may be more likely to offer favorable settlement terms to consumers who have defenses to garnishment than those who do not. Consumers who are represented by an attorney may also be more likely to obtain favorable settlement terms than those who are not represented.
Garnishment defense cannot cure every financial problem, nor is it the right step for every individual. Vacating a garnishment does not:
Wage garnishment is sometimes known as “continuing garnishment.” Under this type of garnishment, 25% of a debtor’s disposable income is withheld from each and every paycheck. The money that is withheld is then used to pay the creditor who holds the judgment. The garnishment continues each and every paycheck until the debt is paid, the garnishment is vacated or the consumer quits their job.
A bank garnishment does not continue from week to week or month to month. Under this type of garnishment a debtor’s bank account is frozen and the funds seized are used to pay the creditor. The seized funds are applied to the judgment. If there is not enough money to satisfy the judgment, the entire account is emptied completely.
Has a creditor recently garnished your wages or bank account? If so, garnishment defense may be the right choice for you. Call one of our attorneys for a free consultation to discuss your options.
There are no expensive filing fees or court fees. Depending on the facts of your case and your defense, there may be a fee for a deposition or court reporter. This fee is not charged by our firm but by a third-party.
Because every case is different, fees vary from case to case. In many of our garnishment cases, our fees are less than your first month of garnished wages. We take garnishment cases on a flat fee basis, meaning that we do not bill you by the hour or by the month. Your price is determined by our attorneys and we will give it to you upfront after learning the facts of your case.
In order to have a garnishment vacated the court must rely on evidence. In most garnishment cases, the strongest evidence is your testimony in court. While we try our best to keep you out of court, if your testimony is necessary, you will have to go to court. One of our experienced garnishment attorneys will attend this hearing with you, so don’t worry, you won’t be alone! Our attorney will give an opening statement to the judge, present evidence, examine or cross-examine any witnesses, make legal arguments and present a closing argument. During direct examination by your attorney, you will be asked a few questions about your defenses to garnishment. Our attorneys are experienced and have successfully conducted similar trials on hundreds of occasions.
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Our lawyers pioneered the field of Consumer Law.
