Yes, you may stop an administrative wage garnishment once it starts. If you did not have a hearing, have new evidence or changed finances it may stop.
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The Treasury will send you a notice of its intent to order an administrative wage garnishment. Thereafter, you can request a hearing. The hearing is usually a "paper hearing". This means you do not appear personally. Instead, you submit a legal brief and supporting evidence. However, if you fail to request a hearing timely, the Treasury will issue an administrative wage garnishment order to your employer. Similarly, if the hearing is held and the hearing officer finds in favor of the government, your wages will be garnished.
Once the administrative wage garnishment starts, you may stop it in limited circumstances. As stated, if you fail to submit your hearing request, the administrative wage garnishment order will issue. However, you can still submit a hearing request late. Thereafter, if a hearing officer does not make a decision within 60 days, the administrative wage garnishment will be suspended. The suspension will go into effect on the 61st day after your hearing request.
If you did request a hearing and the hearing officer ruled against you, you may obtain a new hearing if you obtain new evidence. However, the government will not provide you with a new hearing simply because you disagree with the hearing officer's initial decision. Instead, you must have obtained new evidence that would exonerate you from the administrative wage garnishment.
If your wages are subject to garnishment but your financial circumstances change, you may qualify for a financial hardship exemption. For instance, at the time of the original hearing your spouse may have been employed. But in the interim, your spouse suffered a lay off and remains unemployed, cutting your household income in half. As such, you may request a new hearing based on the financial hardship the garnishment now causes as you can't meet your basic living expenses. Keep in mind, you will have to provide financial documentation to prove the garnishment constitutes a financial hardship.
Our attorneys have years of experience dealing with administrative wage garnishments. Contact us today for a free initial consultation - 833-428-0934
Millions of Dollars in SBA Debts Resolved via Offer in Compromise and Negotiated Repayment Agreements without our Clients filing for Bankruptcy or Facing Home Foreclosure
Millions of Dollars in Treasury Debts Defended Against via AWG Hearings, Treasury Offset Program Resolution, Cross-servicing Disputes, Private Collection Agency Representation, Compromise Offers and Negotiated Repayment Agreements
Our Attorneys are Authorized by the Agency Practice Act to Represent Federal Debtors Nationwide before the SBA, The SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, the Treasury Department, and the Bureau of Fiscal Service.
Client’s small business obtained an SBA 7(a) loan for $750,000. She and her husband signed personal guarantees exposing all of their non-exempt income and assets. With just 18 months left on the maturity date and payment on the remaining balance, the Great Recession of 2008 hit, which ultimately caused the business to fail and default on the loan terms. The 7(a) lender accelerated and sent a demand for full payment of the remaining loan balance. The SBA lender’s note allowed for a default interest rate of about 7% per year. In response to the lender's aggressive collection action, Client's husband filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in an attempt to protect against their personal assets. However, his bankruptcy discharge did not relieve the Client's personal guarantee liability for the SBA debt. The SBA lender opted to pursue the SBA 7(a) Guaranty and subsequently assigned the loan and the right to enforce collection against the Client to the SBA. The Client then received the SBA Official 60-Day Notice. After conducting a Case Evaluation with her, she then hired the Firm to respond and negotiate on her behalf with just 34 days left before the impending referral to Treasury. The Client wanted to dispute the SBA’s alleged debt balance as stated in the 60-Day Notice by claiming the 7(a) lender failed to liquidate business collateral in a commercially reasonable manner - which if done properly - proceeds would have paid back the entire debt balance. However, due to time constraints, waivers contained in the SBA loan instruments, including the fact the Client was not able to inspect the SBA's records for investigation purposes before the remaining deadline, Client agreed to submit a Structured Workout for the alleged balance in response to the Official 60-Day Notice as she was not eligible for an Offer in Compromise (OIC) because of equity in non-exempt income and assets. After back and forth negotiations, the SBA Loan Specialist approved the Workout proposal, reducing the Client's purported liability by nearly $142,142.27 in accrued interest, and statutory collection fees. Without the Firm's intervention and subsequent approval of the Workout proposal, the Client's debt amount (with accrued interest, Treasury's statutory collection fee and Treasury's interest based on the Current Value of Funds Rate (CVFR) would have been nearly $291,030.
Small business sole proprietor obtained an SBA COVID-EIDL loan for $500,000. Client defaulted causing SBA to charge-off the loan, accelerate the balance and refer the debt to Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Service for aggressive collection. Treasury added $180,000 in collection fees totaling $680,000+. Client tried to negotiate with Treasury but was only offered a 3-year or 10-year repayment plan. Client hired the Firm to represent before the SBA, Treasury and a Private Collection Agency. After securing government records through discovery and reviewing them, we filed an Appeals Petition with the SBA Office of Hearings & Appeals (OHA) court challenging the SBA's referral of the debt to Treasury citing a host of purported violations. The Firm was able to negotiate a reinstatement and recall of the loan back to the SBA, participation in the Hardship Accommodation Plan, termination of Treasury's enforced collection and removal of the statutory collection fees.
Clients personally guaranteed an SBA 504 loan balance of $337,000. The Third Party Lender had obtained a Judgment against the clients. We represented clients before the SBA and negotiated an SBA OIC that was accepted for $30,000.
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