Wages can be garnished after a complaint is filed in a lawsuit and they obtain a final judgment. Unfortunately, they can garnish up to 25% of your wages, so it's a pretty hefty amount. There are sometimes exemptions that might apply, such of head of household, Social Security, some other things like that but garnishment is a very important step that the creditor will take in order to get paid. One of the problems is, is that you typically can't negotiate a debt after they have started garnishment because they're getting paid and it's court-ordered. If there's any negotiations to be taken place, they need to take place before a garnishment occurs.