Is it a garnishment, a bank levy or a setoff?

Start with the notice, not the label used in a phone call

Ask the employer or bank for the document that caused the deduction or restraint. Verify the issuer through an official channel. An exemption request directed to the wrong office may not protect the deadline.

Review the wage calculation under the correct category

For ordinary garnishments, federal law generally caps withholding at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage for a weekly period. “Disposable earnings” means earnings after deductions required by law, not simply the net pay shown after every voluntary deduction. Other pay periods require the appropriate adjustment. More protective state limits can apply. U.S. Labor Department: Wage garnishment protections

Support, tax and certain bankruptcy or administrative debts have different rules. Do not apply the ordinary 25% formula to all orders, or assume each creditor gets a separate full allowance. Ask payroll to identify the deductions and pay-period calculation used.

A bank account needs a source-of-funds review

Certain directly deposited federal benefits receive automatic account protection under the applicable rules. The protected amount generally is the smaller of the qualifying benefit deposits in the rule’s two-month lookback window or the balance when the bank reviews the account. The window is measured back from the day before review. See 31 CFR 212.3. For example, $2,400 of qualifying deposits during that window and a $1,500 review balance produce a $1,500 automatically protected amount. The bank must leave the protected amount accessible under section 212.6. Specified federal or child-support orders follow a different branch under section 212.4; other exemption rights also matter. U.S. Treasury: Benefit-account garnishment FAQs

Gather bank statements and benefit award or deposit records. If funds beyond the automatically protected amount are also exempt, use the applicable claim procedure; the automatic review is not the entire exemption analysis. Joint ownership and money transferred between accounts can require additional work.

If the bank calls the transaction setoff rather than a levy, ask for the contractual provision and applicable restrictions. A setoff question is not answered merely by quoting a wage-garnishment percentage.

Request the specific relief and preserve proof

1. Record the date you received each notice and the actual response instructions.
2. Identify the court or agency, debt category, creditor and case or reference number.
3. Get legal help for the proper objection, exemption claim, hearing or stay request.
4. Submit the required evidence through the correct process and keep filing/service proof.
5. Check the resulting order and confirm what the employer or bank must do next.

If collection overlaps with a settlement, obtain an accounting so the same obligation is credited correctly. A phone complaint or proposed payment plan is not itself an order releasing a freeze. Continue to review official notices while seeking correction.