Can an ordinary credit-card or medical judgment attach wages in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania's wage statute exempts wages, salaries and commissions from attachment, execution or other process while they are in the employer's hands, and ordinary consumer judgments are not among the proceedings it excepts (42 Pa.C.S. § 8127). That is a rule about wage attachment specifically. A judgment creditor may still have other collection tools, so ask a lawyer what the particular judgment allows.

If I miss the thirty-day deadline, is the poverty-guidelines exemption gone?

Not automatically. A claim filed within thirty days of service, or later but still before the writ of attachment issues, means the prothonotary does not issue the writ and sends the landlord notice of the claim instead (Pa.R.Civ.P. 3303). If the writ has already issued, a later claim does not halt the attachment on its own: the wages continue to be attached unless the court orders the attachment stayed or vacated.

Can my employer fire me because my wages were attached?

Pennsylvania's statute says an employer shall not take any adverse action against an individual solely because wages, salaries or commissions have been attached (42 Pa.C.S. § 8127). Federal law separately bars discharging an employee because earnings have been garnished for any one indebtedness, with penalties for a willful violation (15 U.S.C. § 1674), and leaves in place state laws prohibiting discharge where earnings have been garnished for more than one indebtedness (15 U.S.C. § 1677). Those provisions address employment, not recovery of money already withheld.

Does a bankruptcy filing reach support withholding?

No. Filing does not operate as a stay of the withholding of income that is property of the estate or of the debtor for payment of a domestic support obligation under a judicial or administrative order or a statute (11 U.S.C. § 362). Criminal actions are also outside the stay. Under Pennsylvania law, support attachments have first priority, and criminal restitution, costs, fines and bail orders come second (42 Pa.C.S. § 8127).

What does one prior dismissed bankruptcy case do to the stay?

Under 11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(3), if a single or joint case is filed by or against an individual under chapter 7, 11 or 13 and a single or joint case of that debtor was pending within the preceding year but was dismissed, the stay terminates with respect to the debtor on the 30th day after the later filing, as to any action taken with respect to a debt or property securing such debt or with respect to any lease. A party in interest may move to continue it, on notice and a hearing completed within the 30 days, showing good faith as to the creditors to be stayed. Cases refiled under a chapter other than 7 after a dismissal under section 707(b) are excluded.

What happens when two or more earlier cases were dismissed?

If two or more single or joint cases of an individual were pending within the previous year but were dismissed, no stay goes into effect on a new single or joint case filed by or against that individual under this title (11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(4)). Within 30 days a party in interest may request a stay, and the court may order one as to any or all creditors, after notice and a hearing, only on a showing of good faith as to the creditors to be stayed; it takes effect on entry of the order. Cases refiled under a chapter other than 7 after a dismissal under section 707(b) are excluded.

Wages & debt

Wage Garnishment in Pennsylvania: What the Law Says and What Bankruptcy Changes

Pennsylvania law exempts wages, salaries and commissions from attachment while they are in the employer's hands, except in the proceedings 42 Pa.C.S. § 8127 lists, among them support, divorce and certain residential-lease and criminal-restitution judgments. A lease attachment is capped at the lesser of 10% of net wages per pay period or a sum that would not put net income below the federal poverty income guidelines. Filing a bankruptcy petition generally operates as a stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362, which has exceptions, including domestic-support income withholding.

Key points

42 Pa.C.S. § 8127 exempts wages, salaries and commissions from attachment while they are in the employer's hands, subject to the exceptions the statute lists.
A residential-lease attachment is capped at the lesser of 10% of net wages per pay period or a sum that would not put net income below the federal poverty income guidelines.
Federal law caps garnishment generally at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount above thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage, with exceptions for support orders, chapter 13 court orders and tax debts (15 U.S.C. § 1673).
In a residential-lease wage attachment, a poverty-guidelines claim for exemption is filed with the prothonotary within thirty days of service of the Notice of Intent to Attach Wages (Pa.R.Civ.P. 3303).
Filing generally operates as a stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362, but the stay has exceptions and can be shortened, prevented or lifted.

If money is coming out of your paycheck in Pennsylvania, the first question is what kind of debt the creditor is collecting, because the state's wage statute treats categories of debt very differently. This page sets out what the statutes and civil rules say, and what a bankruptcy filing does and does not change.

How much of your pay can be garnished in Pennsylvania?

Wages, salaries and commissions are exempt while in the employer's hands from any attachment, execution or other process, except upon an action or proceeding in one of the categories 42 Pa.C.S. § 8127 lists: divorce; support; board for four weeks or less; amounts awarded to a judgment creditor-landlord arising out of a residential lease on a final judgment; actions under the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency Act; and restitution to crime victims, costs, fines or bail judgments ordered by a court in a criminal proceeding. For the lease category the sum attached is no more than 10% of net wages per pay period, or a sum not placing net income below the federal poverty income guidelines, whichever is less. There, net wages means all wages paid less only federal, state and local income taxes, F.I.C.A. and nonvoluntary retirement payments, union dues and health insurance premiums.

Attachment ceilings that can apply to Pennsylvania wages; "disposable earnings" means earnings left after amounts required by law to be withheld (15 U.S.C. § 1672)
Collection type	Stated ceiling	Authority
Ordinary money judgment (credit card, medical, deficiency)	Wages are exempt while in the employer's hands; this is not one of the listed exceptions	42 Pa.C.S. § 8127
Residential-lease judgment	No more than 10% of net wages per pay period, or a sum not placing net income below the federal poverty income guidelines, whichever is less	42 Pa.C.S. § 8127
Federal ceiling on garnishment generally	The lesser of 25% of disposable earnings for the workweek or the amount above thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage; support orders, orders of a United States court with chapter 13 jurisdiction, and state or federal tax debts are excepted	15 U.S.C. § 1673

What do Pennsylvania statutes require of creditors and courts?

What matters is which listed category the creditor invokes, not the creditor's diligence (42 Pa.C.S. § 8127). For a residential-lease attachment the judgment creditor-landlord must comply with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure and any applicable local rules, and the judgment — from a magisterial district judge, a magistrate, another court with landlord-tenant jurisdiction, or a court of common pleas — must reflect that portion of the judgment which is for physical damages arising out of a residential lease. Any security deposit the landlord holds and the tenant forfeited is deducted from the amount subject to attachment, unless the deposit was applied to payment of rent due on the same premises; the landlord bears the burden of proving that application. Support attachments carry first priority; the criminal restitution, costs, fines and bail orders in the statute carry second.

Wages withheld under a lease attachment go to the prothonotary of the court of common pleas within 15 days from the close of the last pay period in each month, and the prothonotary records and forwards them (42 Pa.C.S. § 8127).
For an attachment not arising out of a residential lease, the employer sends the withheld wages to the prothonotary to be recorded, and they are then sent to the creditor.

Which income is protected from garnishment under Pennsylvania law?

The exemption in 42 Pa.C.S. § 8127 is specific about timing and scope: it covers wages, salaries and commissions while they are in the hands of the employer. That is the stage at which an employer served with process is told the money is exempt. The statute does not say that wages remain beyond every collection method after they have been paid out, and it does not apply to the proceedings it expressly excepts — divorce and support matters, board for four weeks or less, qualifying residential-lease judgments, the higher-education assistance statute it names, and criminal restitution, costs, fines or bail judgments. Pennsylvania and federal law exempt other categories of property from execution as well. The official note to Pa.R.Civ.P. 3123.1 collects those authorities, among them retirement funds and accounts, several kinds of insurance proceeds, workers' compensation, Social Security and certain veterans' benefits. That note is a list of authorities rather than an operative command, so each underlying statute controls its own terms.

How does a residential-lease wage attachment proceed?

Pa.R.Civ.P. 3301 states that the rules of its chapter govern attachment of wages to satisfy a judgment under the residential-lease provision of the wage statute, and its note states that the general money-judgment enforcement rules do not apply to this path. Under Pa.R.Civ.P. 3302 the landlord commences the execution by filing a praecipe with the prothonotary of a county in which the judgment has been entered and which is also the county where the tenant resides, the tenant works, or the rented residential property is located. The praecipe must be filed within five years of the date of the original judgment. The prothonotary then issues a Notice of Intent to Attach Wages, with the praecipe and the most recent federal poverty income guidelines attached, and that notice is served the way original process is served in a civil action.

Under Pa.R.Civ.P. 3304 the prothonotary issues the writ of attachment on the landlord's praecipe where the tenant has not timely filed a claim for exemption, or on a court order, and mails the writ to the employer and the tenant.

Which statutory protections may matter when contesting a Pennsylvania garnishment?

A defendant claiming the federal poverty income guidelines exemption files the claim with the prothonotary within thirty days of service of the Notice of Intent to Attach Wages (Pa.R.Civ.P. 3303). A claim filed within those thirty days, or later but before the writ of attachment has issued, means the prothonotary does not issue the writ and instead sends the landlord notice of the claim. A landlord who wants to contest the claim files a motion setting out facts establishing entitlement to attach, and if the motion sets out such facts on its face, the court sets a hearing date or another permitted procedure. A claim filed after the writ has issued does not halt the attachment by itself: the wages continue to be attached unless the defendant obtains a court order staying or vacating it. The form in Pa.R.Civ.P. 3312 notes that other grounds may be raised by motion.

Pa.R.Civ.P. 3121 is a separate general execution rule rather than part of the Pa.R.Civ.P. 3301 wage-attachment chapter: execution may be stayed on grounds including exemption or immunity of property, a defect in the writ, levy or service, any other legal or equitable ground, or a right to a stay under an Act of Congress, and all of a defendant's objections must be raised at one time.
42 Pa.C.S. § 8127 provides that no wage attachment shall issue against an abused person or victim for physical damages related to a residential lease where that person holds a protection-from-abuse or protective order, or is a victim-witness in a criminal proceeding against a family or household member, and the court determines that member caused the damages.
Pa.R.Civ.P. 3123.1 is a separate general execution procedure: a claim of exemption or immunity of property is filed with the sheriff, who presents the matter to the court, and the court hears the claim within five business days after that presentation.

How does filing bankruptcy affect a Pennsylvania garnishment?

A voluntary case is commenced by filing a petition with the bankruptcy court, and the commencement of the case itself constitutes an order for relief (11 U.S.C. § 301). The filing operates as a stay, applicable to all entities, of the commencement or continuation of a judicial, administrative or other action or proceeding against the debtor that was or could have been commenced before the case began, or that seeks to recover a claim arising before the case; of the enforcement, against the debtor or property of the estate, of a judgment obtained before the case; and of any act to collect, assess or recover such a pre-case claim (11 U.S.C. § 362). The stay arises from the filing itself; no further order or notice creates it. It has express exceptions, so a filing does not reach every form of withholding, and a creditor can ask the court for relief from it.

Withholding of income that is property of the estate or of the debtor for a domestic support obligation under a judicial or administrative order or a statute is not stayed, and criminal actions are not stayed (11 U.S.C. § 362).
The stay of acts other than those against estate property generally runs until the earliest of the case closing, dismissal, or a discharge being granted or denied; prior dismissed cases can shorten it or keep it from arising, and a party in interest may seek relief from it after notice and a hearing (11 U.S.C. § 362).

What should you ask a lawyer about a Pennsylvania garnishment?

Bring the documents: the judgment, any Notice of Intent to Attach Wages with its date of service, the writ if one has issued, your pay stubs and the full list of what is being deducted. Useful questions include which of the statute's listed categories this creditor relies on, and whether the judgment reflects a physical-damages portion arising out of a residential lease. When was the notice served, and does that leave time for a poverty-guidelines claim with the prothonotary? Do my net wages, after only the deductions the statute and the claim form list, support that claim? If the writ has already issued, what motion asks the court to stay or vacate the attachment, and are there grounds under the rules for staying execution? Is part of what is being withheld a support order or a criminal-restitution order rather than an ordinary judgment? If I file bankruptcy, which exemption list fits my domicile history, and do earlier dismissed cases affect the stay?

The notice form in Pa.R.Civ.P. 3312 itself directs the recipient to take the paper to a lawyer and names an office that gives information about hiring one, including services for eligible people at reduced or no fee.

Frequently asked questions

Can an ordinary credit-card or medical judgment attach wages in Pennsylvania?: Pennsylvania's wage statute exempts wages, salaries and commissions from attachment, execution or other process while they are in the employer's hands, and ordinary consumer judgments are not among the proceedings it excepts (42 Pa.C.S. § 8127). That is a rule about wage attachment specifically. A judgment creditor may still have other collection tools, so ask a lawyer what the particular judgment allows.
If I miss the thirty-day deadline, is the poverty-guidelines exemption gone?: Not automatically. A claim filed within thirty days of service, or later but still before the writ of attachment issues, means the prothonotary does not issue the writ and sends the landlord notice of the claim instead (Pa.R.Civ.P. 3303). If the writ has already issued, a later claim does not halt the attachment on its own: the wages continue to be attached unless the court orders the attachment stayed or vacated.
Can my employer fire me because my wages were attached?: Pennsylvania's statute says an employer shall not take any adverse action against an individual solely because wages, salaries or commissions have been attached (42 Pa.C.S. § 8127). Federal law separately bars discharging an employee because earnings have been garnished for any one indebtedness, with penalties for a willful violation (15 U.S.C. § 1674), and leaves in place state laws prohibiting discharge where earnings have been garnished for more than one indebtedness (15 U.S.C. § 1677). Those provisions address employment, not recovery of money already withheld.
Does a bankruptcy filing reach support withholding?: No. Filing does not operate as a stay of the withholding of income that is property of the estate or of the debtor for payment of a domestic support obligation under a judicial or administrative order or a statute (11 U.S.C. § 362). Criminal actions are also outside the stay. Under Pennsylvania law, support attachments have first priority, and criminal restitution, costs, fines and bail orders come second (42 Pa.C.S. § 8127).
What does one prior dismissed bankruptcy case do to the stay?: Under 11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(3), if a single or joint case is filed by or against an individual under chapter 7, 11 or 13 and a single or joint case of that debtor was pending within the preceding year but was dismissed, the stay terminates with respect to the debtor on the 30th day after the later filing, as to any action taken with respect to a debt or property securing such debt or with respect to any lease. A party in interest may move to continue it, on notice and a hearing completed within the 30 days, showing good faith as to the creditors to be stayed. Cases refiled under a chapter other than 7 after a dismissal under section 707(b) are excluded.
What happens when two or more earlier cases were dismissed?: If two or more single or joint cases of an individual were pending within the previous year but were dismissed, no stay goes into effect on a new single or joint case filed by or against that individual under this title (11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(4)). Within 30 days a party in interest may request a stay, and the court may order one as to any or all creditors, after notice and a hearing, only on a showing of good faith as to the creditors to be stayed; it takes effect on entry of the order. Cases refiled under a chapter other than 7 after a dismissal under section 707(b) are excluded.

Sources

42 Pa.C.S. § 8127 — Personal earnings exempt from process
Pa.R.Civ.P. 3301 — Scope. Definitions
Pa.R.Civ.P. 3302 — Commencement of execution. Notice of intent to attach wages
Pa.R.Civ.P. 3303 — Claim for exemption. Challenge to claim
Pa.R.Civ.P. 3304 — Writ of attachment of wages
Pa.R.Civ.P. 3312 — Forms of notice and claim for exemption
Pa.R.Civ.P. 3121 — Stay of execution. Setting aside execution
Pa.R.Civ.P. 3123.1 — Claim of exemption or immunity of property
11 U.S.C. § 301 — Voluntary cases
11 U.S.C. § 362 — Automatic stay · official source
11 U.S.C. § 522 — Exemptions · official source
15 U.S.C. § 1672 — Definitions
15 U.S.C. § 1673 — Restriction on garnishment
15 U.S.C. § 1674 — Restriction on discharge from employment by reason of garnishment
15 U.S.C. § 1677 — Effect on State laws

By Antonio G. Jimenez, Esq. · Florida Bar No. 21022

Sources verified October 9, 2026 · How we verify

Every figure on this page is drawn from a primary legal source and checked against our canonical legal database before publication. Bankruptcy.law is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.

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