C.R.S. § 13-54.5-105
Notice to judgment debtor in continuing garnishment
Redline — December 22, 2020 → current.View current text →
Current — June 23, 2021
As of December 22, 2020
Notice of Garnishment
Notice of Garnishment
Money will be taken from your pay if you fail to act.
1. Why am I getting this notice? —- You are getting this notice because a court has ruled that you owe the judgment creditor, who is called “Creditor” in this notice, money. Creditor has started a legal process called a “garnishment”. The process requires that money be taken from your pay and given to Creditor to pay what you owe. The person who pays you does not keep the money.
Creditor filled out this form. The law requires the person who pays you to give you this notice. Creditor may not be the person or company to which you originally owed money. You may request that Creditor provide the name and address of the person or company to which you originally owed money. If you want this information, you must write Creditor or Creditor’s lawyer at the address at the very beginning of this form. You must do this within 14 days after receiving this notice. Creditor will send you this information at the address you give Creditor. Creditor must send you this information within 7 days after receiving your request. Knowing the name of the original creditor might help you understand why the money will be taken from your pay.
2. How much do I owe? —- The amount the court has ruled that you currently owe is listed at the top of the writ of garnishment. The amount could go up if there are more court costs or additional interest. The interest rate on the amount you owe is listed at the top of the writ of garnishment. The amount could also go down if you make payments to Creditor.
3. How will the amount I owe be paid? —- The person who pays you will start taking money from your paycheck on the first payday that is at least 14 days after the day the person who pays you sends you this notice. Money will continue to be taken from your pay for up to 6 months. If the debt is not paid off or not likely to be paid off by that time, Creditor may serve another garnishment.
The rules about how much of your pay can be taken are explained in the notice of Colorado rules about garnishment that you received with this notice. This notice also contains an estimate of how much of your pay will likely be withheld each paycheck.
At any time, you can get a report that shows how the amount taken from your pay was calculated. To receive this report, you must write or e-mail the person who pays you.
Yes, you have several options, here are three of them:
(5) Not later than seven days after being served with a writ of garnishment:
(a) If one of the following grounds applies, the garnishee shall send notice to the judgment creditor stating the applicable ground:
(I) The judgment debtor is not an employee of the garnishee; or
(II) The writ of garnishment does not contain all information required by subsection (2) of this section.
(b) If subsection (5)(a) of this section does not apply, the garnishee shall: (I) Send to the judgment creditor a notice that includes: 4. Do I have options? (4) The notice required by subsection (2)(f) of this section must: (II) Send to the judgment debtor on the same day the notice required by subsection (5)(b)(I) of this section is sent to the judgment creditor a copy of the writ of garnishment and the notices required pursuant to subsections (2)(e) and (2)(f) of this section. (6) If subsection (5)(b)(I) of this section applies, the garnishee shall begin garnishment on the first payday that occurs at least twenty-one days after the garnishee was served with the writ of garnishment in accordance with subsection (1) of this section or the first payday after the expiration of any prior effective writ of garnishment that is at least twenty-one days after service of the writ on the garnishee. 5. If you don’t do anything, the law requires that money be taken out of your paycheck beginning with the first payday that is at least 14 days after the day the person who pays you sends you this notice. The money will be given to Creditor. This process will continue for 6 months unless your debt is paid off before that. What if I don’t do anything? 6. Only a portion of your pay can be garnished. The amount that can be withheld from your pay depends on something called “disposable earnings”. Your disposable earnings are what is left after deductions from your gross pay for taxes and certain health insurance costs. Your paycheck stub should tell what your disposable earnings are. How does garnishment work in Colorado? The amount of your disposable earnings that can be garnished is determined by comparing two numbers: (1) 20% of your disposable earnings and (2) the amount by which your disposable earnings exceed 40 times the minimum wage. The smaller of these two amounts will be deducted from your pay. If you think that your earnings after garnishment are not enough to support yourself and any members of your family that you support, you can try to have the amount of your disposable earnings that are garnished further reduced. This is discussed earlier in this notice under 4. Do I have options? Your employer cannot fire you because your earnings have been garnished. If your employer does this in violation of your legal rights, you may file a lawsuit within 91 days of your firing to recover wages you lost because you were fired. You can also seek to be reinstated to your job. If you are successful with this lawsuit, you cannot recover more than 6 weeks’ wages and attorney fees. Based on your most recent paycheck, the person who pays you estimates that $ will be withheld from each paycheck that is subject to garnishment.
Digitized from: Public.Law — Colorado Revised Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Colorado statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.