Wage garnishments in New Hampshire are far more challenging for creditors than they are for debtors. While family support, student loans and taxing agencies may not have to go to court in order to garnish wages, most debt collectors will have to go to court to get a court order to garnish wages. However, when trying to learn how to stop wage garnishment in New Hampshire, debtors do have some options.
Planned repayment
Debtors who are facing a potential wage garnishment due to having a judgment against them should contact the creditor and try to work out a repayment plan. It is important to remember that New Hampshire has a statute of limitations on certain debts (e.g., not tax debt or family support) and these statutes may prevent a creditor from seeking a judgment.
Filing bankruptcy
While bankruptcy will not stop court ordered payments for family support, taxes and limited other debts, they may stop collection action on other types of debt. While this may not be the preferred method of stopping wage garnishment, it may be something worth looking into.
Garnishment rules
While New Hampshire seems to have very little sympathy for debtors, they have even less for creditors. New Hampshire laws are very stringent and creditors may not find it worth their time (or the expense) of seeking wage garnishments. The garnishment laws in New Hampshire are very unusual: Creditors may only attach wages that are earned but unpaid. This means that in order to garnish wages, a creditor would have to file with the courts regularly to keep a garnishment in place.
For example, if an employee is paid every two weeks on the 1st and 15th of the month, a creditor could file a claim on the 14th and they would be able to garnish the unpaid wages from the 1st to the 14th (e.g., earned but not paid). However, if they filed on the 2nd, they would only be able to garnish wages that were earned on the 1st of the month.
Limits on garnishment
Wage garnishment has the same limits as those allowed by the federal guidelines. This means that creditors will only be able to attach 25 percent of wages left after required deductions (e.g., taxes, Medicare, etc.). Additionally, wages that do not exceed 30 percent of federal minimum wage cannot be garnished.
Debtors may not have much to be concerned about if they are facing wage garnishment in New Hampshire. However, those who are facing wage garnishment in New Hampshire for taxes, family support or other debts that are not subject to court orders may want to contact an attorney who is familiar with the laws of New Hampshire. There may be option to stop wage garnishment in New Hampshire by working out a plan to repay the arrears.