Vol. 9, No. 4, Pg. 29. Counterpoint. . .In Opposition to the Proposed Garnishment Bill.

• Author: By Lucy L. McDozy

South Carolina Lawyer

1998.

Vol. 9, No. 4, Pg. 29.

Counterpoint. . .In Opposition to the Proposed Garnishment Bill

29Counterpoint. . .In Opposition to the Proposed Garnishment BillBy Lucy L. McDozyAdding garnishment to the creditor's side of the scale would tilt the balance against debtors who even now can keep very little property from a determined creditor.

A sound analysis of any proposed law should first pinpoint who it will benefit and who it will hurt. Who will lose traditional rights? Who will get new rights? Will the result be a new balance that furthers the state's overall interests, or will the result unfairly skew the balance between competing interests? The effects of wage garnishment are likely to be the latter.

Essentially, wage garnishment is nothing more than a further constriction of South Carolina's exempt property laws, with its own special procedure for enforcement. Not only has South Carolina not previously enacted laws to permit wage garnishment by judgment creditors, but the General Assembly has affirmatively prohibited it since at least 1870:

The judge may order any property of the judgment debtor, not exempt from execution, in the hands either of himself or any other person or due to the judgment debtor, to be applied toward the satisfaction of the judgment, except that the earnings of the debtor for his personal services cannot be so applied. [S.C. Code Ann. §§ 15-39-410 (1977)].

While giving a red light to wage garnishment, however, the General Assembly has given judgment creditors a green light to seize and sell most of a debtor's non-wage assets. South Carolina's exempt property laws, which limit the property available for seizure by judgment creditors, are among the most creditor-friendly in the nation. Compared to the laws of other states, very little of a debtor's property is statutorily protected from seizure by judgment creditors.

South Carolina's exemption statutes list the types and amounts of property that debtors can retain against the demands of judgment creditors. Some of the exemptions most commonly claimed by an individual debtor are: $5,000 equity in a house or a mobile home used as the debtor's residence or $ 1,000 in funds, but not both; $1,200 equity in a motor vehicle; $2,500 in household goods; and all amounts receivable as Social Security, VA, welfare, or disability...