Attachments & Garnishments | Orange County, NC (2024)

FAQs

How do you respond to a wage garnishment letter? ›

You can reply to show the court clarifying facts, documents, or other evidence to support your Claim of Exemption. Your reply must be filed at least five court days before the hearing. You can use a Declaration (form MC-30) to write your reply. If you need more space, use Additional Page (form MC-020).

Pay the full total tax liability.

The Department will send a garnishment release letter to the taxpayer's employer once the tax liability is paid in full. If the taxpayer has a bank garnishment, do not use the account that is being garnished. The taxpayer must pay using a different account.

Garnishments by the North Carolina Department of Revenue are limited to 10% of your gross wages. (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-242).

Once a tax bill has become delinquent, the Tax Collector has the authority (given by NCGS 105-368(a)) to garnish the taxpayer's wages or to attach rent, bank deposits, or other funds that are being held on behalf of the taxpayer to satisfy the debt.

You have legal rights and some options: You can receive legal aid, challenge the judgment and also negotiate with creditors. There are federal and state exemptions that protect some earned wages from garnishment.

Filing for a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy will immediately stop a judgment or garnishment from proceeding. In fact, if funds are being held by the garnishee or have been disbursed to your creditor in the amount over $600 within 90 days of your bankruptcy filing, we can get the money back in your hands.

A garnishment release letter is sent when the garnishment listed in the letter has been paid in full. The Department also send this notice when the taxpayer enters into an Installment Payment Agreement to pay off the garnishment. The garnishment release letter only applies to the garnishment detailed in the letter.

NC General Statutes do not allow the Department to require deductions of more than 10% of monthly gross salaries and wages from paychecks. Other types of payments, such as contract payments, are not subject to the 10% limitation. You may deduct 100% of these funds, up to the amount of the total liability.

Act quickly to prevent wage garnishment

You can file a Claim of Exemption any time after wage garnishment has started, but you'll only get wages back from the time after you submit the claim. If you act quickly, you can stop it before it even starts. By law, your employer cannot fire you for a single wage garnishment.

Can a creditor levy your bank account in NC? ›

Most unsecured debts in North Carolina, such as medical bills and credit card debt, cannot be garnished from your paycheck. However, a creditor can put a lien on your property or levy your bank account.

The short answer is no, you should not have your wages garnished for the same thing twice.

Once a creditor gets a judgment against you, it can ask the court to issue an order directly to the bank to freeze your bank account through a "writ of garnishment." Another common way for a creditor to freeze your accounts is to ask the court for a "turnover receiver." A receiver is a third-party appointed by the ...

There are four ways to open a bank account that no creditor can touch: (1) use an exempt bank account, (2) establish a bank account in a state that prohibits garnishments, (3) open an offshore bank account, or (4) maintain a wage or government benefits account.

If you did not receive a notice about the garnishment of your account, ask your bank for a copy of the garnishment order that it received. You can also contact the creditor or the court that issued the order for more information.

Wages may not be garnished by more than one creditor at a time unless the primary garnishment does not take the full 25% allowed by law. (These garnishment restrictions do not apply to certain bankruptcy court orders or debts due for federal or state taxes.)

A wage garnishment is a court order or official notice directing an employer to collect funds from an employee to fulfill certain financial obligations or debts, such as child support, student loans, tax levies, etc.