Bill would let debt collectors garnish your wages (petition)

SB 632 would reverse 145 years of public policy in North Carolina

If North Carolina Senate Bill 632 becomes law, working families in North Carolina already struggling to pay their bills could see their wages garnished to pay private debts, and employers who refuse to cooperate with debt collectors could be fined and held in contempt of court. Ours is one of only four states left in the country that protects its workers' wages from private debt collectors and has done so since 1870.

From the Winston-Salem Journal:

A bill introduced by Sen. Andrew Brock, R-Davie, would allow the garnishing of up to 25 percent of a debtor’s disposable income each paycheck to pay off a debt.

Senate Bill 632, submitted March 30, would permit wage garnishment “upon a final judgment awarding money damages in a civil action.”

There is no apparent limit on the size of the company pursuing garnishment. A debtor would be able to file an objection of the action.

State law since 1870 prohibits companies from seizing employees’ wages from the previous 60 days if employees can prove the earnings pay for necessary family expenses.

"Disposable income" is defined as whatever is leftover in your paycheck after taxes or garnishments for public debt or child support.

Sign the petition to deny SB 632

"This law could make me hundreds of thousands of dollars, but I hope it never passes," says Danielle Brudi, a bankruptcy attorney in North Carolina, introducing his petition to deny passage of SB 632.

My clients are the unfortunate people who find themselves in dire financial situations. Senator Andrew Brock is sponsoring a bill that would make clients like mine suffer even more. Senate Bill 632 would take up to 25% of a person's income and use those funds to pay whichever creditor first filed suit. It would push more people into poverty faster, with fewer bankruptcy protections. As a bankruptcy attorney, a large part of my business is built on helping people with the difficult bankruptcy process, this law would put a lot of dollars in my own pocket. But I care more about the welfare of my fellow North Carolinians than I do my own pocketbook.

Tell Senator Andrew Brock and the rest of the North Carolina StateHouse that SB 632 is a cruel law that goes too far. Tell them to vote NO on SB 632.

Find, sign, and share the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/north-carolina-state-house-deny-senate-bill-632.