To look up wage garnishment records, start with your own pay stub and your employer’s payroll department, then pull the underlying paperwork from the court or agency that issued the order. Court-ordered garnishments live in state or federal court files, IRS wage levies live with the IRS, and federal student loan garnishments live with the Department of Education. Which door you knock on depends on who is taking the money.
Start With Your Pay Stub and Payroll Department
The quickest way to confirm a garnishment and identify its source is your pay stub. Garnishment withholding usually shows up in a “deductions” or “other deductions” section, separate from taxes and benefits. If there’s a line item you can’t place, call your employer’s payroll or human resources office. They can tell you when the order arrived, who initiated it, and how much comes out each pay period.
Have your full name and employee ID ready. Payroll handles these requests routinely and can pull the details quickly. Employers are generally expected to notify you when a garnishment starts, though practices vary, and the withholding continues every pay period until payroll receives official notice that the debt is satisfied or the order released. If you’ve already paid the debt, get written confirmation from the creditor and forward it to payroll.
One shortcut people used to rely on no longer works: since 2017, the major credit bureaus stopped including civil judgments in credit reports, so checking your credit report will not surface a garnishment. Court records are now the authoritative source.
Look Up State and Local Court Records
If a creditor sued you and won a judgment, the garnishment paperwork sits in the court that issued it. Court records are maintained locally, so the county or judicial district matters. If you’re not sure where the creditor filed, start with the county where you lived or worked when the debt arose.
Many state court systems run free online portals where you can search civil cases by name or case number. These typically show the case number, filing and judgment dates, the parties, and the current status. Detail varies. Some courts post full documents; others show only docket entries. For the complete garnishment order and supporting filings, you may need to visit the courthouse clerk’s office or request copies by mail. Clerks can help you locate a file, and most courthouses have public terminals for searching. Certified copies carry a fee that varies by jurisdiction.
Search Federal Court Records Through PACER
If the underlying lawsuit was filed in federal court, use PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) rather than a state portal. PACER covers all federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts.1United States Courts. Find a Case (PACER)
You’ll need a free PACER account. If you don’t know which federal court the case sits in, the PACER Case Locator runs a nationwide search by name. Once you find the case, you can open the docket and individual documents. Access costs 10 cents per page, capped at $3.00 per document, and fees are waived entirely if your quarterly charges stay at $30 or less.2PACER. Public Access to Court Electronic Records Cases filed before 1999 may exist only on paper at the courthouse or a Federal Records Center.
Check for an IRS Wage Levy
IRS wage levies skip the court system, so there’s no docket to search. The IRS sends a sequence of letters before it levies, and the final warning is Notice CP504, formally titled “Notice of Intent to Levy.” That notice tells you the IRS plans to seize wages, bank accounts, or other property to cover an unpaid balance.3Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP504 Notice
If you suspect a levy but never saw the notice, check with payroll first. You can also call the IRS at the number on your most recent notice, or the general line at 800-829-1040. Once a levy is active, your employer sends a portion of each paycheck to the IRS until you pay the balance, set up a payment arrangement, or the levy is released.4Internal Revenue Service. Information About Wage Levies Unlike court garnishments, IRS levies use their own exempt-amount tables tied to your filing status and dependents, published annually in IRS Publication 1494.
Check for a Federal Student Loan Garnishment
If you’ve defaulted on federal student loans, the Department of Education or a guaranty agency can garnish up to 15 percent of your disposable pay without a court order.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 US Code 1095a – Wage Garnishment Requirement After a long pause, administrative wage garnishment for defaulted federal student loans resumed in early 2026, affecting millions of borrowers who did not enter rehabilitation or repayment before the deadline.
To see your status, log into the Department of Education’s Debt Resolution portal at myeddebt.ed.gov, which displays defaulted federal loan balances and collection activity.6Department of Education. Debt Resolution This is a separate system from studentaid.gov, so you may need to create a new account. Before garnishment begins, the Department must send written notice at least 30 days in advance, and you have the right to request a hearing, inspect your loan records, or negotiate a repayment plan.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 US Code 1095a – Wage Garnishment Requirement
What a Garnishment Record Should Show
Once you have the document in front of you, it will include the creditor’s name, the original debt amount, the date the judgment was entered, the issuing court, and a case number you’ll need for any follow-up. Most important, the order specifies how much comes out of each paycheck, either as a dollar amount or as a percentage of your disposable earnings.
“Disposable earnings” is the figure that drives garnishment math, and it is not your gross pay or your take-home pay. It’s what remains after legally required deductions: federal, state, and local income taxes, Social Security, Medicare, and state unemployment insurance. Voluntary deductions like health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, and union dues do not reduce disposable earnings for garnishment purposes.7U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30 – Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) Your garnishable income is often noticeably higher than what actually lands in your bank account.
Check the Withholding Against Federal Limits
Federal law caps how much any creditor can take, and comparing the number on your order against the cap is one of the best reasons to look the record up in the first place.
For ordinary debts like credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans, the maximum garnishment is the lesser of two amounts: 25 percent of disposable earnings, or the amount by which your weekly disposable earnings exceed $217.50 (which is 30 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25).8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 US Code 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment If disposable earnings are $217.50 or less a week, nothing can be taken.
- $217.50 or less per week: no garnishment allowed
- $217.51 to $289.99 per week: only the amount above $217.50 can be taken
- $290.00 or more per week: up to 25 percent of disposable earnings
Child support and alimony run higher. If you are supporting another spouse or child, up to 50 percent of disposable earnings can be withheld for support. If you aren’t, the ceiling is 60 percent. Either figure rises another 5 percentage points if you are more than 12 weeks behind.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 US Code 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment Federal administrative garnishments for non-tax debts, including student loans, are capped at 15 percent of disposable pay.9GovInfo. 31 US Code 3720D – Garnishment IRS levies use a separate calculation based on filing status and dependents and have no fixed percentage cap.
If the withholding on your order exceeds these limits, that’s worth investigating. Employers occasionally miscalculate, and errors happen.
If the Record Is Wrong or You Want to Challenge It
Finding the paperwork doesn’t lock you into it. You generally have the right to challenge the underlying debt, dispute the amount, or argue that the garnishment causes financial hardship.
For a court-ordered garnishment, file a motion with the court that issued the order to contest the debt or request a reduction. Procedure varies by jurisdiction, but most courts will hear an argument that the garnishment leaves you unable to cover basic living expenses.
For federal administrative garnishments, the process is more structured. You can request a hearing in writing. If the agency receives your request within 15 business days of mailing the initial notice, the agency cannot start withholding until after the hearing and a decision.10eCFR. 28 CFR 11.21 – Administrative Wage Garnishment A late request still gets a hearing, but withholding may proceed in the meantime. The hearing officer must issue a written decision within 60 days of receiving your request.
Financial hardship claims require documentation. You’ll need to show basic living expenses and income from all sources, and the reviewing official compares claimed expenses against IRS National Standards for families of similar size and income. Expenses above those standards can be allowed, but you carry the burden of proving them reasonable and necessary.11eCFR. 34 CFR 34.24 – Claim of Financial Hardship by Debtor Subject to Garnishment Pull together bank statements, rent or mortgage records, utility bills, and medical expenses before filing.
Job Protection While You Sort It Out
Federal law bars an employer from firing you because your wages are being garnished for a single debt. The Consumer Credit Protection Act backs that up with a fine of up to $1,000, up to a year in prison, or both.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 US Code 1674 – Restriction on Discharge from Employment by Reason of Garnishment The key word is “one.” Once a second, separate debt reaches your employer, that federal protection no longer applies, though some states go further. If you believe you were fired over a garnishment, file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.