Reseda Wage Garnishment Lawyer
When a notice from your employer’s payroll department says a creditor has taken a slice of every paycheck, the shortfall shows up fast: rent in Reseda, a car payment, groceries, the insurance bill. Wadhwani & Shanfeld is a consumer bankruptcy and debt relief law firm that handles wage garnishment, creditor lawsuits, Chapter 7, Chapter 13, and debt settlement for clients across Los Angeles County and the rest of Southern California, and a Reseda wage garnishment lawyer from our firm can tell you quickly whether the garnishment can be stopped, reduced, or avoided.
A garnishment does not appear out of nowhere. In California, a creditor generally has to sue, win a judgment (often by default when the defendant never answers), and then ask the court for a wage garnishment order that is served on your employer. That sequence matters, because every stage has a point where it can be challenged, and the earlier a lawyer sees the file, the more options remain.
The amount taken is also governed by formulas, not by what the creditor would like. For weekly pay, the cap on an ordinary judgment is the lesser of 20% of your disposable earnings or 40% of the amount by which your weekly disposable earnings exceed 48 times the minimum hourly wage. Biweekly, semimonthly, and monthly pay use 96, 104, and 208 times the minimum wage instead of 48. If a local minimum wage is higher than the state’s, the higher local rate goes into the calculation. Employers and creditors do not always run these numbers correctly, and a garnishment that takes more than the formula allows can be corrected.
How Garnishment Actually Gets Stopped: The Options on the Table
Bankruptcy is the most complete remedy. Filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case triggers the automatic stay, which halts most garnishments the moment the case is filed. In Chapter 7, the underlying credit card, medical, or personal loan debt can be discharged entirely, which means the garnishment does not come back. In Chapter 13, the judgment debt is folded into a three-to-five-year plan, and creditors are bound by it once the court confirms it.
Bankruptcy is not the only tool, and a good bankruptcy attorney will say so. If the debt is old, the creditor may have waited too long to sue. A claim on a written contract or book account carries a four-year limitations period, and an oral contract carries two. The catch is that expiration is a defense you must raise in a written answer; if you ignore the lawsuit, the court can still enter judgment. A payment on a time-barred debt cannot revive it, and only a signed written acknowledgment restarts the clock.
There are also non-bankruptcy routes: negotiating a settlement with the judgment creditor, asking the court to exempt the portion of earnings you can prove is necessary to support you and your family, and checking whether the judgment is still enforceable at all. A California money judgment can be enforced for 10 years from entry, and renewal extends it for another 10 years from the renewal filing. Since SB 1200, renewal is limited to one time, for five years only, on medical expense judgments with unpaid principal under $200,000 and personal debt judgments with unpaid principal under $50,000. A judgment that has aged out, or that was renewed improperly, may not support a garnishment.
Why Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for a Garnishment Problem in Reseda
The firm is led by two Board-Certified Specialists in Consumer Bankruptcy through the American Board of Certification, a distinction held by a small fraction of attorneys nationwide, and the team carries more than 90 years of combined legal experience.
Raj Wadhwani, a founding shareholder and partner, is a Southwestern Law School graduate who helped pilot the Best Case Bankruptcy software in 1998 and was the first attorney to file a bankruptcy case electronically in the Central District of California. Greg Shanfeld, also a founding shareholder and partner, earned his law degree from the University of Southern California and has handled more than 10,000 bankruptcy cases over three decades. The firm files in every division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.
For someone whose paycheck is being cut right now, a few practical points matter more than credentials. You get direct access to an attorney from the first call, the consultation is free, and the firm acts fast when a garnishment, foreclosure sale, or repossession is days away. Cases can be handled entirely by phone, email, video, and online chat, and virtual consultations are available, so you do not have to take unpaid time off work to start. Because the firm handles both bankruptcy and its alternatives, the recommendation is based on what fits your income, property, and goals, not on the only service on offer.
Situations That Lead to a Garnished Paycheck
- Credit Card Judgments: The most common source. A collection firm sues over a charged-off balance, the defendant does not answer, and a default judgment becomes the basis for a wage garnishment order.
- Medical Debt Judgments: Unpaid hospital or provider bills that were sold or assigned for collection and reduced to judgment. These judgments are subject to the limited renewal rules described above.
- Personal and Payday Loan Judgments: Installment and short-term lenders also sue and garnish. These debts are generally dischargeable in Chapter 7, which ends the garnishment.
- Auto Deficiency Judgments: After a repossession, the lender can sue for the shortfall between the sale price and the loan balance, but only if the required notice went out within 60 days of repossession and contained the required items. Defects in that notice can defeat the claim.
- IRS and Tax Debt: Federal tax collection works under a separate set of rules from judgment garnishment, which is why tax levies need their own analysis and negotiation with the IRS.
- Bank Account Levies: Sometimes the creditor levies your account instead of, or in addition to, your wages. A set deposit account exemption protects a portion of the balance automatically without any claim being filed, but it does not apply to levies for wages owed to another person, child or spousal support, or debts owed to the state.
- Judgments You Never Knew About: Service problems are not rare in collection cases. If you first learned of the lawsuit when your employer called you in, there may be grounds to challenge the judgment itself.
What to Do in the First Days After a Garnishment Notice
Start by reading what actually arrived. Your employer will usually receive a wage garnishment order and may hand you a notice explaining that you can claim an exemption. Note the creditor’s name, the court, the case number, and the date of the judgment. If you were sued by a firm like Hunt & Henriques, Reese Law Group, or Patenaude & Felix, say so when you call, since the history of these filers is familiar territory for us. Then gather your last few pay stubs, any court papers, and a list of your monthly household expenses, because the exemption arguments depend on documenting what you need to support yourself and your family.
Do not ignore anything that carries a court deadline. If you are still inside the window to respond to a lawsuit, an answer asserting the statute of limitations or other defenses can prevent a judgment from ever existing. If a judgment is already entered, the claim of exemption and the bankruptcy filing are the main levers, and speed matters because each pay period that passes is money gone.
For Reseda residents, the courts involved depend on where the creditor filed. Collection suits are heard in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, which operates through geographic districts and has courthouses in Van Nuys, Chatsworth, and elsewhere in the San Fernando Valley and beyond. Bankruptcy filings are assigned by the debtor’s zip code, and Reseda falls under the San Fernando Valley Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, which sits in Woodland Hills. Once a petition is filed there, the automatic stay takes effect immediately and your employer is told to stop withholding.
Two mistakes come up repeatedly. The first is making a “good faith” payment to a collector on a very old debt; under California law a payment cannot revive a time-barred debt, but it can muddy the facts and weaken your leverage. The second is quitting a job or shifting income in a panic. Employers cannot fire you because your wages are garnished for a single judgment, and changing jobs rarely helps, since the creditor can simply serve the next employer.
Bankruptcy and Your Property: What You Keep When the Garnishment Ends
People worry that stopping a garnishment through bankruptcy means losing their car or home. Usually it does not. California has opted out of the federal exemptions, so filers choose between two state systems for the entire case: the standard exemption system, which carries a large homestead protection for homeowners, or an alternative system with a flexible wildcard that can suit renters or people with little home equity. You must also have lived in California long enough to use these exemptions, generally 730 days. Choosing the right system is one of the most consequential decisions in a case, and it is a decision our board-certified attorneys make for each client based on what you own.
The homestead protection is no longer the old tiered scale; it now tracks the prior-year countywide median single-family home price, within a statutory floor and ceiling that adjust for inflation. Because the figures change, we run the current numbers at the time of your consultation rather than guessing from memory. The same goes for vehicle equity, tools of the trade, and retirement accounts, all of which we review before anything is filed.
Reseda Wage Garnishment Questions, Answered
How much of my paycheck can a creditor take?
On an ordinary judgment, the cap is the lesser of 20% of your disposable earnings or 40% of the amount your disposable earnings exceed a multiple of the minimum hourly wage (48 times for weekly pay, 96 biweekly, 104 semimonthly, 208 monthly). Disposable earnings means what is left after legally required deductions. Support orders and some government debts follow different rules and can take more.
How fast does bankruptcy stop a garnishment?
The automatic stay takes effect the moment the petition is filed. We notify your employer and the creditor so withholding stops, and in an emergency we can often prepare and file quickly. Wages already paid out before the filing are generally not recovered automatically, so timing matters.
Can I stop a garnishment without filing bankruptcy?
Sometimes. Options include negotiating a settlement or payment plan with the creditor, claiming an exemption for earnings you can prove are necessary to support you and your family, challenging a judgment that was improperly obtained, or showing that the judgment is no longer enforceable.
Will my employer fire me because of the garnishment?
California law bars an employer from terminating you because your wages are garnished for a single judgment. Bankruptcy itself also cannot be the sole basis for firing you. Your employer is not notified of a bankruptcy filing automatically, though payroll will learn that the garnishment must stop.
Can a creditor garnish wages for a debt that is too old to sue on?
A time-barred debt cannot support a new lawsuit if you raise the defense, but the defense has to be asserted in a written answer. If you ignore the suit, the court can still enter judgment, and the judgment then supports garnishment. Once a judgment exists, a different clock governs: enforceability generally lasts 10 years from entry, subject to renewal.
I never got served with the lawsuit. What can I do?
If you were not properly served, the judgment may be vulnerable to a motion to set it aside. Bring whatever you have, including the court papers your employer received. Whether bankruptcy or a motion to vacate is the better route depends on the debt, your deadlines, and your goals.
Does bankruptcy get rid of a judgment that is already entered?
For ordinary unsecured consumer debt such as credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans, a Chapter 7 discharge generally eliminates the obligation and ends collection on the judgment. Debts that survive bankruptcy, such as child support, alimony, and most student loans, are handled differently and keep their own collection rules.
What happens if both my wages and my bank account are being targeted?
A creditor can pursue both. A deposit account exemption protects a set amount in your bank account automatically, but it does not cover levies for wages owed to another person, support, or debts owed to the state. A bankruptcy filing stops both the garnishment and the levy at once.
Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a garnishment that is only a small percentage of my pay?
Often yes. The percentage understates the real cost, because the garnishment continues until the judgment, interest, and fees are paid, and interest on a judgment can keep the balance growing. A short consultation can show whether the amount being taken is even correct and whether a discharge or settlement is the cheaper route.
Do I have to come in person to start?
No. We handle cases entirely by phone, email, video, and online chat for clients throughout Southern California, and consultations can be 100% virtual. You are also welcome to meet in person if that is easier.
Can I use a bankruptcy petition preparer instead of a lawyer?
A petition preparer can type your information into forms but cannot give legal advice, choose your exemptions, or represent you if a creditor or trustee raises a problem. Errors can cost you property or your discharge, which is why representation by a bankruptcy attorney matters when wages are on the line.
Wage Garnishment Representation for Reseda and the Surrounding San Fernando Valley
We represent clients in Reseda and throughout the San Fernando Valley, including Northridge, Granada Hills, Encino, Woodland Hills, North Hollywood, North Hills, Mission Hills, San Fernando, Sylmar, Van Nuys, and Sherman Oaks. Across the Westside and Hollywood, we also work with clients in Santa Monica and the surrounding communities, and in the Santa Clarita area to the north.
The firm’s reach extends across Los Angeles County to Long Beach, Lakewood, Torrance, Compton, Inglewood, Gardena, Paramount, Bellflower, Norwalk, Cerritos, and Huntington Park, and out to the Antelope Valley communities of Lancaster, Palmdale, and Acton. In the Inland Empire and eastern San Gabriel Valley we serve Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Fontana, San Bernardino, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Claremont, Glendora, and West Covina, as well as Riverside and the Coachella Valley. Orange County clients come to us from Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Westminster, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Tustin, La Habra, Placentia, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Niguel.
Talk With a Reseda Wage Garnishment Attorney Before Your Next Paycheck
Every pay period that passes with a garnishment in place is money you do not get back, so the most useful thing you can do is get the facts reviewed now. A Reseda wage garnishment attorney at Wadhwani & Shanfeld can look at the judgment, check the withholding against the legal formula, and tell you plainly whether a defense, an exemption, a settlement, or bankruptcy gives you the best result.
Call to schedule your free consultation and speak directly with an attorney, or set up a virtual consultation and handle everything from home. If a garnishment, bank levy, or sale date is close, tell us at the start and we will move on it right away.
