Six months after a federal judge said Georgia's garnishment law was unconstitutional, halting all garnishments in the county that processes the most in the state, the state House passed a bill that updated the process 174-1.
It had already passed the state Senate, but the House made changes and the bill must now go back to the Senate. If it passes today and if Gov. Nathan Deal signs the measure into law, it will allow garnishment proceedings to resume.
None have been filed in Gwinnett County, which processed 31 percent of all garnishments in the state in 2014, since September. Other counties stopped processing garnishments for a period of time after then-U.S. District Court Senior Judge Marvin H. Shoob ruled that the law was flawed.
The current law doesn’t require creditors to tell debtors that some money —- like 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, Shoob wrote.
The new law wouldn't change any of the exemptions, but clarifies what money in accounts is exempt and how quickly it can be recovered if it is taken improperly. It includes a form that must be sent with a notice of garnishment that explains what funds are exempt from being garnished. It also describes what a debtor should do if exempt money has been taken and explains the redress debtors have.
The proposed law requires a quicker hearing than was required under the previous law if there is a claim of improper garnishment. If the money should be returned, it must be deposited back within 48 hours of the ruling.
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