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Category: Wage Garnishment

  • Backed into a Corner: Stopping a Wage Garnishment

    Stopping a Wage GarnishmentYou’ve just received your bi-weekly paycheque, but the money deposited in your account is far lower than what is stated on your paycheque. After inquiries to your payroll department, you realize that this is not a mistake to be remedied by your company, but rather the result of some unpaid bills. A wage garnishment can be a financially devastating thing, one that is actually incredibly common, so what can you do to stop it?

    Firstly, what is a wage garnishment? Well, when you owe money to a creditor that you have not paid, they may opt to head to court and obtain an order to have those debts garnished from your paycheque, unless you owe money to the Canada Revenue Agency and then a court order isn’t even necessary. Once this order is obtained, a requirement to pay letter is sent to your employer, who is then legally required to submit a portion of your wages – to the tune of up to 50% – directly to the court.

    Wait – can’t your employer just say no? Not unless they want to deal with the repercussions! When it comes to these court orders, besides paying your debts, there are only 3 other ways to stop a wage garnishment:

    Making a deal with your creditor. Start here, but we suggest not getting your hopes up. If your creditor has taken the steps to obtain a court order against you, they likely have already attempted to contact you on numerous occasions and would therefore be unlikely to accept a negotiated repayment plan.

    Consumer proposal. Once a consumer proposal has been filed, all wage garnishments stop! And the bonus here is that not only are you stopping your wages from being taken, you also stop all interest and merge all of your debt payments into one convenient monthly payment that you can afford. The downside – your credit can be negatively impacted (although that has likely already occurred).

    Bankruptcy. Like a consumer proposal, declaring bankruptcy stops all wage garnishments and eliminates many of your current debts. In exchange for this, you are required to adhere to certain regulations including attending credit counselling sessions and declaring surplus income. And like a consumer proposal, your credit can be negatively impacted.

    If you believe a wage garnishment may be forthcoming, or if one has already been leveraged against you, don’t worry – we can help. For more about stopping the garnishment of your wages please contact DebtCare Canada today by calling 1-888-890-0888.

  • Wage Garnishment Blog Series Part 3 – Wages Garnished by Other Sources

    Wage GarnishmentIn the first two blogs of our wage garnishment series we discussed how wage garnishments work when you owe money to the Canada Revenue Agency or to a creditor. While these are two very common forms of wage garnishments, there are other forms of wage garnishments that can quickly become severe financial burdens.

    A very common ‘other’ form of wage garnishment is a wage garnishment related to unpaid child support. In Ontario, if you fail to pay child support, your wages can be garnished. The typical process is as follows: once your spouse has given you notice, their lawyer or the Family Responsibility Office will make an application to the court to garnish your wages, and once approved, your employer will receive notice and be legally required to do so. If there is back child support your wages can be garnished up to 50%.

    Getting your wages garnished by Family Responsibility should never come as a surprise and you should always ensure that your child is financially cared for. When it comes to a wage garnishment from Family Responsibility, there is nothing you can do to reduce or stop this, other than going to court. These types of garnishments are unforgiving, and even if you are financially strapped and finding it incredibly difficult to pay, they will often throw you further into financial turmoil.

    So, if you are having your wages garnished as a result of unpaid child support, are you then stuck between a rock and a hard place? Are there really no options to help you pull yourself out of a financial hole? No, you do have options, but these may mean looking at dealing with your other debts as quickly as possible to free up the cash to finally settle up those Family Responsibility payments.

    What options are available? If you struggle with what seems like a mountain of debt, including debts for child support payments, a viable option may be a debt consolidation or a consumer proposal. Both of these may represent significant relief, as well as a single monthly payment. Just remember, if you are approved for a consumer proposal, payments to Family Responsibility cannot be included, but the proposal can free up potential monies to pay that debt and lift a wage garnishment.

    If you are facing a wage garnishment of any kind, DebtCare Canada is here to help. For information about the many different options that may be available, please contact us today by calling 1-888-890-0888.

  • Wage Garnishment Blog Series Part 2: Wages Garnished by a Creditor

    Wage GarnishmentMany people run into financial problems and can’t pay their creditors. Often these debts end in a wage garnishment. Last week we looked at Canada Revenue Agency wage garnishments, so this week we thought we’d explore what it means when you are faced with having wages garnished by a creditor other than the CRA.

    When you have a debt that you have continually had trouble paying down, failing to meet even the monthly minimum payments month in and month out, your creditors will quickly tire of this and will eventually take enforcement action in an attempt to get their money. Sure, if you can’t pay, you can’t pay – your creditors can’t draw blood from a stone – but that doesn’t mean they won’t try!

    If your creditor has no security on your loan, they can do one of two things to try and get what they are owed:

    • Sue you in Small Claims Court
    • Send your file to a 3rd party collection agency for collection – they can in turn sue you in Small Claims Court.

    Remember – aside from the CRA, a creditor cannot garnish your wages without a court order, so Small Claims Court is a necessary first step.

    If you are sued in the Ontario Small Claims court, your creditor has to serve the papers on you. Once you have received the papers, you have 2 options as far as filing a Defense (and only 40 days to do so):

    a)     If you file a Defense a date is scheduled for you to make a settlement and repayment terms with your creditor. If a settlement is reached, as long as you don’t breach the terms, the matter is settled. If you breach the terms the creditor can get a default judgment against you. If you don’t make a settlement the matter will proceed to trial; it should be said that most disputes are settled at the pre-trial settlement conference.

    b)     If you don’t file a Defense, the creditor can obtain Default Judgment against you. Once they have this, they can file a Notice of Garnishment with the Ontario Small Claims Court and also send it to your employer. The maximum wage garnishment from the Ontario Small Claims Court is 20% of your earnings. Your employer must then begin remitting the specified percentage of your income to the court. The court holds the money for 30 days and then sends the money to your creditor.

    If your wages are being garnished because of a Small Claims Court wage garnishment, and you can’t make ends meet, there are only 2 ways to reduce or stop a Small Claims Court wage garnishment.

    1. File a motion with the Ontario Small Claims Court – include and present your financial information and ask the judge to reduce the percentage of the garnishment or mediate a voluntary payment plan that you can afford with the other side. You may need a paralegal to do this as it will involve completing court forms and attending a court date.
    2. Speak to a financial restructuring professional – this could involve discussing options such as a consumer proposal, which will immediately stop a wage garnishment imposed through the Ontario Small Claims Court.

    If your wages are being garnished and you don’t know what to do, DebtCare can help. We have the resources to help you pay off those debts and get you back on strong financial footing. Call us today at 1-888-890-0888.

  • Wages Garnished by CRA – Blog Series Part 1

    Wages Garnished by CRA – Blog Series Part 1

    Wages Garnished by CRAWage Garnishment Blog Series Part 1 – Wages Garnished by CRA

    With the advent of May, the personal tax filing deadline is now well behind us, and for many, a sigh of relief can be had. For others however, the passing of the deadline brings with it a whole new set of issues.

    If, after filing your taxes, you find yourself with a tax debt that has led to your wages garnished by CRA (the Canada Revenue Agency), this first blog in our wage garnishment blog series might be a smart place to start as far as finding relief.

    If you have yet to have your wages garnished by CRA, but are concerned that this might be a reality in the very near future, here are some things to think about:

    • If you are an employee on payroll with taxes deducted at the source, the CRA can garnish up to 50% of your wages. They simply need to send notice to your employer and your employer is legally required to submit a portion of your pay to them to pay off your tax debt.
    • If you are a sub-contractor, or receive a different form of income, such as a pension, the CRA can garnish up to 100%.
    • If you are self-employed, the CRA will send a notice to your customers to redirect your receivables directly to the CRA.
    • A court order is not required for wage garnishments initiated by the CRA.
    • If the person who receives the requirement to garnish your wages does not comply, the CRA can then pursue them (so don’t assume that just because your employer likes you that they will ignore a requirement to pay).

    How does the CRA know where to turn to garnish your wages?

    There are a number of different sources, including the T4 filed by your employer, an audit done on a client or supplier, a call to the CRA tip line, or personal disclosure.

    A garnishment can cause serious financial hardship, not to mention embarrassment or negative impacts to your personal business. Knowing this, what can you do to prepare yourself, or deal with a wage garnishment by CRA that is already in place?

    Remember that dealing directly with the CRA is never a good idea – unless you can pay the debt in full, your chances of getting an agent to even entertain a reasonable payment plan are slim to none.

    And, if you attempt to deal with them directly, providing additional information in the hopes of reaching an amicable agreement, a frozen bank account or property lien may be the only result.

    There are programs that offer immediate protection. Are your wages garnished by CRA? These programs also offer protection from other enforcement action, and finding out about these is the best place to start. If you are facing a tax debt or a CRA wage garnishment, DebtCare can help. Call us today at 1-888-890-0888.

  • Small Businesses Can Be Subject to a Wage Garnishment From The CRA Too But How?

    Starting a successful small business takes hard work and perseverance. Unfortunately, small business owners are one of the largest groups that find themselves with tax problems.

    One of the main reasons why small business owners commonly run into trouble with the CRA is because it is tough starting a business and generally in the first couple of years small businesses are not really profitable. In many cases, small business owners don’t pay for bookkeepers and simply collect their receipts all year long. Then, at the end of the year, these owners go to an accountant with what records they have or attempt to do the returns on their own.

    This can result in incorrectly declared expenses and income that can end up costing the small business owner dearly in a re-assessment or audit.

    Other times, small business owners misunderstand filing requirements and fall behind filing returns. In some extreme cases, small business owners do not set aside their H.S.T. and then find that it is impossible to pay it when tax time comes.

    When things reach a breaking point and the CRA begins pursuing the small business owner to collect the tax debt, there are many collection methods – similar to when they collect from a consumer. Just as they can freeze a business bank account, they can also freeze a business owner’s bank account. Typically, when an individual has a tax debt and is employed, the CRA will send a wage garnishment to the employer directing the employer to forward a percentage of the individual’s earnings to the CRA. When a small business owes money to the CRA the CRA can send a notice to the business’s clients, directing them to forward the proceeds of all invoices to the CRA.

    With an individual, HR departments are generally used to receiving wage garnishment notices from the CRA. For small business owners however, this can have a lethal impact on a business and a business owner’s reputation, as many clients and companies may not want to deal with a supplier who has a tax problem.

    A small business owner who has a tax problem must act quickly to avoid the consequences of CRA collection/enforcement action. Tax problems are usually financial problems, requiring a financial solution. At the end of the day, tax debt is debt like any other debt, only the CRA has greater collection powers than regular creditors which creates a major sense of urgency.

    If you are a small business owner with a tax problem you definitely want to come up with a plan before you face the embarrassment of having your clients notified that you have a CRA debt and are facing a possible 100% garnishment of your receivables, which can cause irreparable financial hardship. If the worst has already come true and your receivables are already being garnished you still may be able to stop it.

    Working with a good financial consultant who routinely works with individuals and small businesses who have problems with the CRA is your first step towards a meaningful solution to your tax problem.

    For more information about how to avoid or stop a garnishment of your receivables please contact DebtCare at 416-907-2582 or visit www.debtcare.ca.