Enforcing Judgments In North Carolina - Wage Garnishment

Enforcing (i.e. - collecting) unpaid judgments in North Carolina is much more difficult than in many other states.  Much like Florida -- North Carolina is something of a "debtor's haven."   Among the biggest hurdles is that, aside from judgments ordering child support awards, taxes, student loans, and payment for ambulance services, wage garnishment is not available to judgment creditors.   

There is one narrow avenue for more typical judgment creditors to obtain wage garnishments, however.  The NC Department of Labor has taken the position that if a creditor obtains a lawful garnishment order against the debtor's employer in another state, and the debtor works for the same company in North Carolina, our state courts will permit the garnishment on the same company here.

While for some companies (e.g. privately owned Wal Mart) the applicability of this rule would be obvious, what is not clear is whether franchises from a larger corporate chain such as McDonald's would also be included in this ruling, as many are held by smaller companies.   Creditors - even judgment creditors - can easily run afoul of the maze of debt collection rules, both federal as well as North Carolina's much stricter laws, and find themselves on the hook  for large fines and personal liability for failing to understand the  many laws that apply to them.   

Comments

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What about garnishing social security for alimony. If a judgment is given finding a man in contempt and agrees with the request for garnishing social security can that be done and how does the court go about the garnishment? Does it happen at the same hearing where the judgment is taking place?
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