537.5105 Limitation on garnishment. 1. For the purposes of this part:a. 'Disposable earnings' means that part of the earnings of an individual remaining after the deduction from those earnings of amounts required by law to be withheld or assigned. b. 'Garnishment' means any legal or equitable procedure through which the earnings of an individual are required to be withheld for payment of a debt. 2. a. In addition to the provisions of section 642.21, the maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subjected to garnishment toenforce payment of a judgment arising from a consumer credit transaction may not exceedthe lesser of twenty-five percent of the individual’s disposable earnings for that week, or theamount by which the individual’s disposable earnings for that week exceed forty times thefederal minimum hourly wage prescribed by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C.§206(a)(1), in effect at the time the earnings are payable. b. In the case of earnings for a pay period other than a week, the administrator shall prescribe by rule a multiple of the federal minimum hourly wage equivalent in effect to thatset forth for a pay b. In the case of earnings for a pay period other than a week, the administrator shall prescribe by rule a multiple of the federal minimum hourly wage equivalent in effect to thatset forth for a pay period of a week. 3. No court may make, execute, or enforce an order or process in violation of this section.4. At any time after the entry of a judgment in favor of a creditor in an action against a consumer for debt arising from a consumer credit transaction, the consumer may filewith the court a verified application for an order exempting from garnishment pursuant tothat judgment for an appropriate period of time a greater portion or all of the consumer’saggregate disposable earnings for a workweek or other applicable pay period than isprovided for in subsection 2. The application shall designate the portion of the consumer’searnings which are not exempt from garnishment under this section and other law, shallspecify the period of time for which the additional exemption is sought, shall describe thejudgment with respect to which the application is made, and shall state that the designatedportion in addition to earnings that are exempt by law is necessary for the maintenanceof the ll describe thejudgment with respect to which the application is made, and shall state that the designatedportion in addition to earnings that are exempt by law is necessary for the maintenanceof the consumer or a family supported wholly or partly by the earnings. Upon the filingof a sufficient application under this subsection, the court may issue any temporary orderstaying enforcement of the judgment by garnishment that may be necessary under thecircumstances, shall set a hearing on the application not less than five nor more than tendays from the date of the filing of the application, and shall cause notice of the applicationand the hearing date to be served on the judgment creditor or the judgment creditor’sattorney of record. At the hearing, if it appears to the court that all or any portion of theearnings sought to be additionally exempted are necessary for the maintenance of theconsumer or a family supported wholly or partly by the earnings of the consumer for all orany part of the time requested in the application, the court shall issue an order granting theapplication to that extent, otherwise it shall deny the application. e earnings of the consumer for all orany part of the time requested in the application, the court shall issue an order granting theapplication to that extent, otherwise it shall deny the application. The order is subject tomodification or vacation upon the further application of any party to it upon a showing ofchanged circumstances after a hearing upon notice to all interested parties. [C75, 77, 79, 81, §537.5105]2010 Acts, ch 1061, §70Referred to in §537.1303, 627.6, 642.2 Sat Dec 23 01:40:52 2023 Iowa Code 2024, Section 537.5105 (22, 0)
Iowa Legal Code