Bill to fix flawed garnishment law awaits governor’s signature
State legislators successfully rewrote Georgia's flawed garnishment law, approving a final bill that, if signed by the governor, will allow garnishments to resume in Gwinnett County, where they have been stalled since September.
Then, a federal judge said the state law was unconstitutional — but he only stopped garnishments in Gwinnett. In 2014, that county processed 31 percent of all garnishments in the state, more than any other county.
In the state House of Representatives, an amended version of the law passed 174-1 before being sent back to the Senate. There, it was approved 45-2.
State Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, told representatives the existing law had become a "hodgepodge" full of "old, archaic language."
“Before you is a bill that’s been in the making for a number of months,” he said. “We went through a very detailed, overall review.”
The bill intended to fix a number of issues in the existing law. The current law doesn't require creditors to tell debtors that some money — such as Social Security benefits, welfare payments and workers' compensation — is off-limits to garnishments. When that money is wrongly taken, the law doesn't require creditors to tell people how to get it back, and it doesn't provide a timely procedure for determining whether funds should have been exempt, U.S. District Senior Judge Marvin H. Shoob wrote in the order in September.
The bill clarifies what money in accounts would be exempt and explains how quickly it could be recovered if it is taken improperly. It describes what a debtor should do if exempt money has been taken and explains the redress debtors would have. The bill includes forms that would have to be sent with a notice of garnishment.
Banks would have less time than in the current law to capture money in an account — five days to hold the funds and 10 days to file, down from 20 days to hold the funds — meaning people who were improperly garnished could get their money back faster. It also would require faster hearings upon the court receiving a claim of improper garnishment and a quick return of improperly taken funds.
The House amended the bill to make certain government employees exempt from garnishments.
After Shoob's order, counties other than Gwinnett stopped processing garnishments to avoid running afoul of the ruling. Once the Georgia attorney general and Gwinnett's clerk of courts appealed to Shoob to allow recurring wage garnishments and garnishments for child support from paychecks, he loosened the restrictions in October. But Gwinnett still cannot process garnishments that would take individuals' assets held in financial institutions, such as banks, until the new law is in place.
About the Author
Arielle Kass covers Gwinnett County for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She started at the paper in 2010, and has covered business and local government beats around metro Atlanta. Arielle is a graduate of Emory University.
