Administrative Wage Garnishment

The AWG order never said 25%...the orders are all standard. Your payroll department screwed up so the DOE is not at fault and they wont return anything. AWG instructions are pretty clear and you should have been able to resolve this within weeks, not months.

I would assume you would have recourse against your company and/or the payroll processor they use, since they erred in deducting too much.

However, since they remitted the funds on your behalf to the student loans and you received credit, I don't think the employer would be liable to you for $5134. A court may only award actual or consequential damages for the error, which you would have to prove to your detriment.

You might contact your state labor board, as there are usually labor laws regarding wage deductions. Ask them what would be the procedure in cases where the employer deducted amounts in excess of the legal rate.

Thank you. Soap lady the 25% is written within the order. Although it refers to multiple garnishment maximums, for instance if there was an additional order in place or added the maximum would be 25%. Since there is only one order against me the payroll company appears to have misinterpreted the per centum amount applicable to the order. With that said, resolution of matters has to come in writing from the collecting agency which in this case is a 3rd party collector. No matter how much I object, I am not in control of these actions, nor can I force correspondence between the collector and my employer. So why did it take so long to resolve? It took a letter to the Secretary on Educations office. The Collection agency would not respond in writing and The department of Ed deferred to the collection agency. Again Thanks!

There is actually a guide for employers on the DOE website which includes the calculation worksheet...it is very clear as to the amount of the wage garnishment that you could have shown them..

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DCS/Employers_Handbook.pdf

Thank you Soap Lady. I can tell in your postings that you rely on "personal responsibility" with regards to these matters. In all truth I agree. My biggest mistake was taking on loans as a 17 year old homeless kid with no parental support and not fully understanding
the program I opted for. I dont think loans should be available to anyone for anything. I have since devoted my life to "If you can't afford it you don't buy it" I WILL never own a home simply based on just the fact that I can't pay for it out right. Same thing with kids... "Can't afford them...Can't have them." This Direct loan program issue will be behind me in about 2 years. At that point I will be footloose and fancy free! AND I wont owe anyone anything EVER again. Makes no sense as money doesn't reproduce while my tax dollars sit in limbo every year, why would anyone pay more for something than it is worth? Silly lemmings Debt is for suckers, and Predatory lending is for loan sharks.