Michigan Writ of Garnishment

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   In Michigan the instrument is called a request and writ for garnishment, and it is one paper that does two jobs: the top half is your sworn request to the clerk of the court that entered the judgment, and the bottom half is the writ itself, which commands the garnishee to hold and pay over what it owes the judgment debtor (MCL 600.4011; MCL 600.4012).

2. 2

   Pick the right writ or collect nothing. Form MC 12 reaches periodic payments, which MCL 600.4012(14) defines as wages, salary, commissions and other earnings, land contract payments, rent and other periodic debt or contract payments. Form MC 13 reaches a bank account, goods, credits, negotiable instruments and a bonus that is not paid on a periodic basis. Form MC 52 reaches a state income tax refund or credit.

3. 3

   Michigan sets no percentage of its own. The ceiling on each pay period is the lesser of 25 percent of disposable earnings or the excess over the federal minimum wage figure for that pay cycle, both taken from the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act and both computed on the calculation sheet inside form MC 14. Separately, the garnishee may never withhold more than the judgment balance you stated in item 2 of the request.

4. 4

   Budget two payments, not one. The clerk charges $15.00 as a service fee for each writ of garnishment issued (MCL 600.2529(1)(h) in the circuit court, MCL 600.8306(4) in the district court, where the garnishment is an auxiliary action so there is no second filing fee). On top of that you hand the garnishee a statutory tender at service: $35.00 on a periodic writ (MCL 600.4012(12)), $1.00 on a non-periodic writ (MCL 600.4011(8)), and $6.00 where the state treasurer is the garnishee (MCL 600.4061(3)(b)).

5. 5

   The writ dies on the shelf. Form MC 12 prints a deadline for service of 182 days from the date of issue and states that if the writ, the MC 14 disclosure copies and the fee are not properly served in that window the writ of garnishment is invalid. Form MC 14 even gives the garnishee a box to check saying it will not withhold because the writ missed its service deadline.

6. 6

   The garnishee works to a 7, 14 and 28 day clock measured from service: 7 days to get a copy of the writ to the judgment debtor, 14 days to file the MC 14 disclosure with the court and mail copies to you and the debtor even if it owes the debtor nothing, and 28 days before any withheld money may be released to you, which is the window in which the debtor's objections can surface. Withholding itself starts with the first full pay period after service on weekly, biweekly and semimonthly payrolls.

7. 7

   Continuing does not mean unattended. While the writ is in effect MCL 600.4012(5) requires you to send the garnishee and the debtor a statement of the balance remaining, including interest and costs, at least once every 6 months after your first payment, and to deliver a release of garnishment, form MC 50, within 21 days after the balance is paid in full. Form MC 14 also bars you from filing a second periodic writ against the same debtor, garnishee and judgment while the first one is pending.

Michigan Requirements for Writ of Garnishment

• Pick the Writ: MC 12, MC 13 or MC 52

  Michigan issues three different garnishment writs and the wrong one collects nothing. Form MC 12 reaches periodic payments, which MCL 600.4012(14) defines as wages, salary, commissions and other earnings, land contract payments, rent and other periodic debt or contract payments. Form MC 13 reaches a bank account, goods, credits, negotiable instruments and a bonus paid outside the regular cycle. Form MC 52 reaches a state income tax refund or credit.

• Sworn Balance Block in Item 2

  The request half of the form is sworn, and item 2 is the figure the whole writ runs on: judgment amount and date, judgment interest accrued to date, postjudgment costs accrued to date, postjudgment payments and credits to date, and the resulting amount of the unsatisfied judgment now due including interest and costs. The garnishee may never withhold more than that stated balance.

• Clerk Issues It, $15 per Writ

  The writ issues out of the court that entered the judgment, in the same case, signed by the clerk or a deputy rather than a judge. MCL 600.8306(4) treats a district court garnishment as an auxiliary action to the principal action, so there is no additional filing fee, and the clerk collects $15.00 as a service fee for each writ issued. MCL 600.2529(1)(h) sets the same $15.00 in the circuit court.

• Statutory Tender Handed to the Garnishee

  Separate from the clerk fee, Michigan makes the creditor pay the garnishee at the moment of service. It is $35.00 on a periodic garnishment under MCL 600.4012(12), $1.00 on a non-periodic writ under MCL 600.4011(8), and $6.00 where the state treasurer is the garnishee under MCL 600.4061(3)(b). Form MC 12 prints the same split as a disclosure fee of $6 if the state is the garnishee and $35 for all others.

• Ceiling: Test I and Test II on Form MC 14

  Michigan legislates no percentage of its own, so the cap is federal and the state publishes the arithmetic. The Garnishee Calculation Sheet for Earnings inside form MC 14 computes disposable earnings, runs Test I at 25 percent of that figure, runs Test II as the excess over a chart figure keyed to the federal minimum hourly wage ($217.50 weekly or more frequent, $435.00 biweekly, $471.25 semimonthly, $942.50 monthly, and 85 percent of those for a person aged 16 to 19 on a first job), then takes whichever is less. The form cites 15 U.S.C. 1672 and 1673.

• Service Within 182 Days or the Writ Is Void

  Form MC 12 prints a deadline for service of 182 days from the date of issue and states that if the writ, the MC 14 disclosure copies and the applicable fee are not properly served inside that window the writ of garnishment is invalid. The proof of service or return goes back to the clerk, and form MC 14 gives the garnishee a box to check declining to withhold because the service deadline was missed.

• Garnishee Clock: 7, 14 and 28 Days

  All three run from service on the garnishee. Seven days to get a copy of the writ to the judgment debtor. Fourteen days to file the form MC 14 disclosure with the court and mail copies to the creditor and the debtor, even where it owes the debtor nothing, which is also the mark MCL 600.4012(6)(a) uses to trigger a notice of failure. Twenty eight days before any withheld money may be released, after which it must be paid as the writ directs unless the court reports objections.

• Priority, One Writ at a Time, and Garnishee Default

  MCL 600.4012(2) ranks garnishments in the order received, while a support income withholding order under MCL 552.602 and a Michigan tax levy outrank regardless of when they arrive. Form MC 14 bars a second periodic writ against the same debtor, garnishee and judgment while one is pending. Against a silent garnishee, MCL 600.4012(6) requires a notice of failure and 28 days to cure before any default, after which a default judgment may run to the full unpaid judgment, interest and costs, subject to a 21 day set aside motion.