Once a creditor has a judgment, they can move quickly to garnish your paycheck or restrain your bank account — sometimes with almost no warning. Dolgora Law PLLC acts quickly to challenge improper garnishments and unfreeze your funds.
For most private debts — credit cards, medical bills, personal loans — a creditor must first sue you, win, and obtain a court judgment before it can touch your paycheck or bank account. Once a judgment exists, a New York City Marshal serves an income execution on you, and if the matter isn't resolved within 20 days, the Marshal serves your employer, who then begins withholding from every paycheck. A bank account freeze works similarly: a creditor generally needs a judgment first, and once they have one, a restraining notice can freeze funds with very little advance warning.
New York and federal law limit how much can be taken. Creditors can generally garnish the lesser of 10% of your gross wages or 25% of your disposable income, and only if your take-home pay exceeds a set weekly threshold. Garnishment amounts are frequently calculated incorrectly, and exempt funds are sometimes restrained by mistake. Both are worth checking.
We trace the garnishment or freeze back to its source to see whether the underlying judgment is actually valid.
Wage garnishments are frequently calculated incorrectly. We verify the amount being taken against what the law actually allows.
Certain income is generally protected from restraint. We work to have any wrongly restrained exempt funds released.
We file the appropriate motions to unfreeze an account or adjust a garnishment that's taking more than it should.
Where appropriate, we seek to vacate the underlying judgment.
Get a clear picture of your options.
Get A Free Case Evaluation