Ohio Writ of Garnishment

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Ohio gives a judgment creditor a continuous order of garnishment of personal earnings rather than a writ. The phrase writ of garnishment appears zero times across all fifteen live sections of Revised Code Chapter 2716, and the paper a judge signs is titled Order and Notice of Garnishment and Answer of Employer, commanding the employer to withhold from every pay period until the balance is cleared.

2. 2

   The demand comes before anything else. Section 2716.02(A) requires a written Notice of Court Proceeding to Collect Debt, made after judgment and at least fifteen days and not more than forty five days before the order is sought, delivered by personal service by the court, by certified mail with return receipt requested, or by regular mail evidenced by a properly completed and stamped certificate of mailing.

3. 3

   The order comes out of a municipal court, a county court, or a court of common pleas on your sworn affidavit under Section 2716.03(A), which must state that the demand was made and was not satisfied. Section 2716.04 requires proof of how the demand was served to accompany that affidavit, and under Section 2716.05 the issuing court can reach an employer sitting outside its own territory.

4. 4

   Ohio legislates no garnishment percentage of its own. Section 2329.66(A)(13) keys the wage exemption to the current federal minimum hourly wage under 29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1) and to seventy five per cent of disposable earnings, so the federal ceiling is what governs here. Section 2716.07 prints the arithmetic: the smallest of twenty five per cent of disposable earnings, the excess over thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage weekly, or the balance still due.

5. 5

   There is no Ohio garnishment filing fee to look up. Section 1901.26(A)(1)(a) makes each municipal court establish its own schedule of fees and costs by rule, and the common pleas clerk fee list in Section 2303.20 has no garnishment line at all, so the figure is local. Franklin County Municipal Court charges $85 for a wage garnishment, Dayton Municipal Court $130, and Akron Municipal Court $143 where the amount now due is $3,000 or less and $203 above that.

6. 6

   The employer answers fast but pays on a slower cycle. Section 2716.21(B) gives the garnishee five business days from receipt of the order to return the completed answer to the clerk, and Section 2716.07(A) then requires payment to the court within thirty days after the end of each pay period, accompanied each time by an Interim Report and Answer of Garnishee. The garnishee may keep a processing fee of up to three dollars out of each pay period it withholds.

7. 7

   A turn that ends unpaid sends you back to the beginning rather than letting you renew. Section 2716.02(C) ends the garnishee's duties with the Final Report and Answer and says the judgment creditor must institute new garnishment proceedings for anything further, meaning a fresh demand, a fresh affidavit and a fresh place at the back of the queue. While the order runs, Section 2716.031(A) obliges you to file an affidavit of current balance due every year with the court, the garnishee and the debtor, at no court cost.

Ohio Requirements for Writ of Garnishment

• The Fifteen Day Demand, Served First

  Section 2716.02(A) will not let a wage order issue until a written Notice of Court Proceeding to Collect Debt has been served on the judgment debtor after judgment and at least fifteen days and not more than forty five days before the order is sought. Use personal service by the court, certified mail with return receipt requested, or regular mail evidenced by a properly completed and stamped certificate of mailing to the last known residence.

• Affidavit Under Section 2716.03 Plus Proof of the Demand

  The proceeding opens with the creditor's sworn affidavit naming the debtor and the garnishee and stating that the demand was made, that the payment demanded was not made, and that the affiant knows of no trustee application or qualifying debt scheduling agreement. Section 2716.04 requires the return receipt, the unclaimed letter, the court's proof of service, or the stamped certificate of mailing with a sworn statement, to accompany it.

• Statutory Form Text, No Form Number

  Chapter 2716 prints the papers themselves: the demand and Payment to Avoid Garnishment in Section 2716.02, the Order and Notice of Garnishment and Answer of Employer in Section 2716.05, the Notice to the Judgment Debtor and Request for Hearing in Section 2716.06, the Interim Report and Answer of Garnishee in Section 2716.07, the Final Report and Answer of Garnishee in Section 2716.08, and the non-wage order in Section 2716.13. Each must be in substantially the statutory form.

• Ceiling: the Smallest of Three Figures

  Each pay period the employer withholds the smallest of twenty five per cent of the debtor's disposable earnings, the amount by which those earnings exceed thirty times the current federal minimum hourly wage weekly (sixty biweekly, sixty five semimonthly, one hundred thirty monthly), or the balance still due. Ohio legislates no percentage of its own: Section 2329.66(A)(13) keys the exemption to the federal minimum hourly wage under 29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1), not to Ohio's higher state minimum.

• Total Probable Amount Now Due, Itemized

  Section 2716.041(B) requires the order to specify the total probable amount due and to break it out: the unpaid portion of the judgment, judgment interest and any prejudgment interest at the Section 1343.03(A) rate or a different contract rate with the rate stated, and the court costs awarded to the creditor. Section 2716.031(A) then requires an affidavit of current balance due to be filed annually with the court, the garnishee and the debtor, at no court cost.

• Five Business Days to Answer, Thirty to Pay

  Section 2716.21(B) and Section A of the statutory form give the garnishee five business days from receipt of the order to return the signed answer to the clerk. Payment then follows the pay cycle: Section 2716.07(A) requires the withheld amount to reach the court within thirty days after the end of each pay period, with an Interim Report and Answer of Garnishee each time, and the garnishee may keep up to three dollars per withholding pay period.

• Receipt-Order Queue and the 182 Day Window

  Competing orders issue in the sequence the clerk received the affidavits, and the employer processes them in that order. Once another creditor's order lands, the sitting order withholds only through the full pay period containing the 182nd day from the date processing began, then a Final Report and Answer is filed. A support order or an Internal Revenue Service levy jumps ahead, and the employer must disclose every earlier order and its balance in its answer.

• Non-Wage Track and the $400 Floor

  Bank accounts and other third party debts run through Section 2716.11 with $1 as the garnishee's fee under Section 2716.12. The court sets a hearing within twelve days of filing, the order must be served at least seven days before it, and the order binds only property in excess of four hundred dollars held at the time of service. A garnishee that fails or botches its answer faces contempt, a special examination, or a civil action in its own county under Section 2716.21.