How Much Money Can a Debt Collector Take or Garnish?
When a debt collector takes money directly from your paycheck or bank account to pay off a debt, that's called garnishment. But it's not a blank check. The law protects some or, in some cases, possibly all of your money.
This article explains how these protections work and what you can do if a debt collector tries to take more than they should.
Not every debt is the same.
The rules and protections in this article apply to debts for personal, family, or household things, called consumer debts.
Debts related to a business or work, child or spousal support, a criminal, and taxes have different rules.
Protecting your paycheck
Oregon law always protects a portion of your paycheck for essential living expenses. This means a debt collector can never take your entire paycheck. Exactly how much is protected depends on how often you get paid.
How much of my paycheck is protected?
If you are paid:
- Every week: $305 is protected.
- Every two weeks (biweekly): $611 is protected.
- Twice a month (semimonthly): $655 is protected.
- Once per month: $1,309 is protected.
So, if your regular paycheck is less than or equal to these amounts, a debt collector can't take any of it.
These protected amounts will go up on July 1, 2025, and again on July 1, 2026.
Starting July 1, 2027, the protected amount will be based on Oregon's state minimum wage. This means that as Oregon's minimum wage goes up, the amount of your paycheck that’s protected will go up too.
What if my paycheck is more than the protected amount?
You always keep the protected portion of your pay. If your take-home pay (called disposable earnings) is more than that, a debt collector may take some of what's above that limit, but not all.
What counts as take-home pay?
Your take-home pay is what you make after taxes, Social Security, and other required deductions are taken out.
If you choose extra deductions—like health insurance, union dues, or retirement savings—they still count as part of your take-home pay, even though you never see that money.
How much can a debt collector take? They can only garnish whichever of these is less:
- The amount you earn above the protected limit, or
- 25% of your total take-home pay.
If that seems confusing, here's an example:
Let's say you get paid every week, and after taxes and other required deductions are taken out, your check is $400. Remember, the debt collector can only take whichever is less: the amount above the protected limit, or 25% of your total take-home pay.
- The protected amount for weekly pay is $305. That means $95 is above the limit, and could be garnished.
- The other option is 25% of your take-home pay, which in this case is $100.
Since the law says that a debt collector can only take the smaller of those two, the most they could take is $95.
You keep the rest of your paycheck—$305.
If someone tries to take more than the law allows, you have the right to challenge it. Learn about your options for challenging a garnishment.
What money is completely safe from garnishment?
Some kinds of income are fully protected—whether received as a paycheck, deposited in your bank account, or received another way. That means none of that money can be taken to pay a court judgment.
These types of income include:
- Public assistance (like TANF or SNAP)
- Unemployment benefits
- Veterans' benefits
- Social Security benefits
- Workers' compensation payments
- Pensions payments
- Child support payments that you receive
If this is the only money in your bank account, none of it can be taken.
Go here to see a full list of all money and property protected from garnishment.
What to do if they are taking too much
If you believe a debt collector is taking too much or taking money that should be protected, you have the right to challenge it.
- Start the process: You should have received a "Challenge to Garnishment" form when you were notified about the garnishment. You can also ask for one from a court clerk or whoever is garnishing you.
- Fill it out: List the money or property you think is legally protected and attach proof (e.g., pay stubs, benefit letters, bank statements).
- Turn it in: Turn in the form to the court and send a copy to the company or business that is garnishing you.
- Go to court: The court will set a date for you to explain why the funds are protected. If the judge agrees, the garnishment will stop or be reduced.
Deadlines:
- If it's from your paycheck: File your challenge within 120 days of getting your notice.
- If it's from a bank account: File within 30 days of getting notice.
Go here for more details on how to challenge a garnishment.
How much money can a debt collector take from my bank account?
Just like with paychecks, Oregon law protects some of the money in your bank from garnishment.
- At least $2,500 is always protected in your bank account. This amount will slightly change each year to keep up with inflation.
- The law also protects any protected income (from the list above, like Social Security or unemployment benefits) deposited into your bank account.
So, if your bank account only has money from protected income sources, creditors cannot take anything from it. And, no matter what, the first $2,500 in your bank account will always be protected.
What if my bank account has both protected and unprotected money?
It's your bank's job to make sure protected money isn't mistakenly garnished. But sometimes mistakes happen. To be extra safe, take precautions:
- Use different accounts for protected and unprotected income, if possible.
- Keep clear records showing where your protected money came from, such as:
- Official letters from benefit agencies (like Social Security award letters, unemployment documents, or benefit statements).
- Bank statements showing protected deposits (look for labels in your statement like "Treasury SSA" for Social Security).
- Bank transaction histories: Some banks can provide reports showing all your deposits. Ask your bank if you need one.
If your bank does garnish protected money by mistake, you have the right to challenge it. Learn about your options for challenging a garnishment when protected money is at risk.
If all your money comes from protected sources, a debt collector generally can't take it. But you may still need to prove where your money came from.
Keeping clear records and responding to any garnishment notices can help protect your income.
People in this situation are sometimes called collection-proof. That means creditors can't collect anything from you right now.
Once a creditor gets a court judgment against you, they can try to collect the money you owe in different ways. Two common ways are:
Garnishing your wages (taking money directly from your paycheck), and
Garnishing your bank account (freezing or removing money from your account).
They might go after both if one method doesn't get them the full amount owed. They may also go after both if they don't know what income you have, so they try both to see what works. Creditors don't need to wait for one method to fail before trying the other. But no matter what, there are legal limits on how much they can take, and some money is always protected.
Disposable earnings: This is the money in your paycheck that's left after required deductions—like taxes, Social Security, or Medicare—are taken out.
Voluntary deductions: This is money you choose to have taken out of your paycheck, like for health insurance, retirement savings, or union dues. Even though you never see that money in your pocket, the law still counts it as part of your disposable earnings when deciding how much can be garnished.
Example: If your paycheck is $700 after taxes and other required deductions, but you only take home $600 because of other voluntary deductions, your disposable earnings are still $700, and that's what the court looks at when calculating how much can be taken.