If you have gone to court in Pennsylvania and succeeded in obtaining a money judgment against an individual, you are known as a “judgment creditor,” and you are faced with the challenge of trying to collect on the money that the law says you are owed.
One of the ways that judgment creditors may try to get paid is to use their judgment to require that the employer of the person who owes them the money pay them some of that person’s wages. This process is known as “wage attachment,” and it is often one of the first methods that judgment creditors will consider because it requires relatively little investigation. It is usually much easier to know where the person who owes you money works than it is to know, for example, where he or she does his or her banking. It is also usually much easier for a person to change their bank account than it is to change his or her employer.
Unfortunately, wage attachment can only be used in very limited situations in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania statutory law states that an individual’s wages, salaries, and commissions are generally exempt from attachment—that is, they generally cannot be claimed or seized by a judgment creditor—while the funds remain in the hands of the employer, except where a few specific exceptions apply.
The first category of exceptions relate to judgments and orders for child support, spousal support, and other divorce-related obligations.
The second category of exceptions is for judgments for monies owed under residential leases (such as claims for unpaid rent or damage to rented property), and judgments for monies owed due to you providing up to four weeks’ worth of “board” to the judgment debtor while he or she was staying on your property (such as meals, laundry, and housekeeping), whether or not you did so under a lease.
The third category of exceptions is for judgments relating to student loan collection by state agencies.
The fourth category of exceptions is for judgments for the payment of restitution to crime victims or for the payment of other costs, fines or bail judgments related to a criminal proceeding.
Thus, unless the money judgment that you obtained against an individual relates to divorce proceedings, residential lease or boarding situations, or monies owed to you as a result of a criminal proceeding, you will not be able to order the employer of the judgment debtor to pay a portion of the debtor’s wages to you as the judgment creditor.
Judgment creditors who do not have the option of wage attachment can consider several other ways of attempting to collect on their judgment, such as:
Judgment collection is a specialized process that involves many considerations. We recommend that any person or company that is involved in collecting a judgment, or who is thinking about beginning to collect a judgment, consult with a well-qualified attorney who is experienced in litigating judgment collection proceedings.
