APA Comments on Proposed Creditor Garnishment Legislation

In December, the APA submitted comments to bill sponsor Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C) on H.R. 9224, the Protecting Wages of Essential Workers Act of 2022, which will likely be reintroduced in 2023. The bill would amend the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) to raise creditor garnishment limits and add protections against predatory practices by collectors.

While the APA said it is pleased to support policies enacted by Congress, the association does not take positions on government decisions about consumer garnishment policy. The National Consumer Law Center contacted APA to ask for its support for the bill, which is why APA commented.

For payroll processing, APA’s interest is not about the burden on payroll departments as defined by the amount of the garnishment limits found in the CCPA or the number of garnishment orders as envisioned in H.R. 9224. Instead, the burden lies with the method of calculation, annual software or programming adjustments, and, in particular, the timing of adjustments, APA said.

Provisions APA Supports

The APA supports certain provisions of H.R. 9224. These include a provision that ends predatory practices such as demanding employee information from payroll departments and making threats about withholding said information.

The APA also supports a provision that prevents any adverse action being taken on an employee because of a garnishment order.

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Adam Prinzo is the Assistant Manager of Government Relations at APA.