Wage garnishment related to student loans...has this happened to anyone?

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I received an email from my employer today stating that my wages will be garnished. I will no longer receive any pay. I tried to contact them, but the offices are closed for today and I'm going crazy. The form that my employer sent me has the name of the company that filed the garnishment. It's for student loans and it's from a company that I know nothing about. My student loans were deferred for a few months and I just started making payments again but to another company. I don't even know who this company is or why they are garnishing my wages. I work for a few diff agencies per diem and however the company got my info for this employer I guess they can get it for my other employers as well and garnish those wages too. Until I am able to speak with my employer tomorrow to find out what's going on, I will be going crazy.

Has anyone had this happen? What did you do? Did they take your whole check or just a percentage?

I have read that it is possible to have a judgement against you without your knowledge. This happens when an unscrupulous process servers states in writing that they served you, when in fact they did not. Quite a common practice. Not meant to alarm you, just giving information I came across.

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Go to HR and ask to see the letter that they received. On it should be a company and a phoone number. They can only take 15% of your gross income until the loan is paid off. Sometimes you can talk them down to 10%. It is my understanding that they can't take your entire income, just a percentage of the gross wage. But call the company and ask for an explination, and also explain that you have made payements. who the payments were to, and in what amounts. Sometimes, if you do not consolidate your loans, you may be paying on one but not all.

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Yes, you are right. I should have said that. I have never been sued (ptl) but I thought they had to physically serve you the papers. That would mean you KNOW you are being sued?! Right?

No.

Varies by state but this is really not a lawsuit per say but a judgement.

BTW, for Federal loans they can garnish up to 15% of your net income, for private they can garnish up to 25% (this too varies by state)

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I had a situation where I got a letter stating I was being sued for a debt that accured when I was about 18 yrs old. The letter went to an old address I was lucky I got it through a neighbor of my parents. But I agreed out of court to make payments and Im done..maybe you can do the same thing?

I know someone whose wages were garnished but it was a percentage and they agreed to it. I honestly would quit my job if I was working and not getting paid. I dont think its legal..how on earth can you make rent,food,bills??

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I had a situation where I got a letter stating I was being sued for a debt that accured when I was about 18 yrs old. The letter went to an old address I was lucky I got it through a neighbor of my parents. But I agreed out of court to make payments and Im done..maybe you can do the same thing?

I know someone whose wages were garnished but it was a percentage and they agreed to it. I honestly would quit my job if I was working and not getting paid. I dont think its legal..how on earth can you make rent,food,bills??

That is why they only can garnish 15%-25%

Now think about what they can garnish for not paying your income taxes or worse, child support.

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Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
Yes, you are right. I should have said that. I have never been sued (ptl) but I thought they had to physically serve you the papers. That would mean you KNOW you are being sued?! Right?

Depending on the state there are several ways in which you can be served, not all of which involve you being the person that receives the summons and complaint. It could be someone who lives with you and is related to you, etc.

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If all of your loans are federal loans (stafford subsidized/unsubsidized, parent plus) you can look them up on NSLDS website: National Student Loan Data System for Students

I believe you can also look up any consolidated federal loans. This website will tell you how much you owe and who you took out the loan with.

If they are private loans I would contact the original lender to see who currently owns them. I do not believe nslds holds private loan info.

I worked in the office of an agency and we got those all the time. The employees would go to a new agency that didn't have their garnish info. I do not recommend doing this. Once the employer has it - they have it for all future earnings. If you hop around you might loose track of what you have already paid in the garnishment.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
thanks for all of your responses. i have gotten nothing regarding court, a notice, a phone call. the only student loan company that contacts me is the one that i'm making payments to. having to wait to speak to someone until in the morning is driving me crazy!

we cannot give give legal advice as per terms of service. terms of service the laws vary widely state to state. i am sorry this is happening to you i wish you the best.

get a lawyer. :hug:

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If it is a federal student loan, you can go through the "Federal Student Loan Rehabilitation Program", to get yourself out of default and stop wage garnishing. If that's the case, look into it.

This crap is happening to me right now. I co-signed a student loan eons ago. My grandmother was the principal borrower and had been making the payments on it as a gift to me. She died in 2007. Unbeknownst to me, as it was not included in her estate, there was still a balance of 4,000 ish dollars remaining on the loan. Fast forward to now, file my taxes (filled out my fafsa at the same time), got no return. I'm thinking "WTH" Get my fafsa results back and I'm defaulted on this totally random loan, despite the fact that my other ones are in good standing.

I am currently rehabilitating, takes 6 months, only get one chance... so no screw ups, but i'm protected from wage garnishing and having my tax returns eaten in the future.

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Wow. Learn something new every day!! Op hope you get this figured out and don't lose too much sleep over it!

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If you're currently working at a state hospital or non-profit hospital, keep in mind that there is "loan forgiveness" for federal student loans after a certain amount of payments have been made.

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Specializes in Trauma-Surgical, Case Management, Clinic.
If you're currently working at a state hospital or non-profit hospital, keep in mind that there is "loan forgiveness" for federal student loans after a certain amount of payments have been made.

Are you sure, I've never heard that. Does the hospital pay the remainder of the loan or does the gov just forgive it after the certain amount of payments?

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