Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in South Carolina
student loan wage garnishment
I live in South Carolina and have recieve a letter from a collection agency about garnishing my wages for a defaulted student loan startin on oct. 24th. I have read that it is not allowed to do so in SC. I have already set a payment plan for one other student loan I have with another collection agency. Are the going to garnish my wages or is this something that has to be ordered by a judge??
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: student loan wage garnishment
Unfortunately, you've hit on one key exception to the "no garnishment of wages" rule in SC and that's federally guaranteed student loans. There is an administrative hearing process (i.e., no judge or court order needed) and an appeal process that can stop the garnishment, but you need to speak to a lawyer pretty quickly and adhere to the time deadlines set forth in the law which is found in the federal statutes. Unfortunately, bankruptcy won't even help - it doesn't discharge student loans.