Does Garnishment Affect Your Credit Score?

[Jason cook]

I’ve been reading mixed things online. From what I understand, the actual garnishment (like when money is taken out of your paycheck) doesn’t show up on your credit report. But the stuff that comes before it like missed payments, collections, and maybe even a court judgment does and can really mess up your score.

It’s kind of confusing though, especially since I read that judgments don’t appear on credit reports anymore. So I’m wondering… if someone ends up getting garnished is their credit already damaged by that point? Or does the garnishment somehow make things worse?

If anyone’s been through this or knows the deal, I’d love to hear your thoughts. How did it affect your score, and how long did it take to recover?

 

[calar pipe]

Garnishment itself doesn’t hit your report anymore, but like you said, everything that leads up to it absolutely torpedoes your score. Collections, missed payments, charge-offs… it’s a credit massacre

 

[Sophia. Davis]

Yup, been through it. My score tanked from 720 to 540 before the garnishment even started. Took me 3 years and a lot of secured credit cards to crawl back.

 

[Jackson White]

This is one of those "technically no, but practically yes" situations. The garnishment doesn’t show up but it’s the end result of a bunch of terrible credit events.

 

[Mia Harris]

Judgments used to show up until 2017 when credit bureaus dropped most public records like tax liens and civil judgments due to accuracy concerns.

 

[Belly]

Just got garnished this year. Credit score was already trash, so it didn’t make it worse. Honestly it just felt like insult to injury

 

[Jack layers]

Depends on the lender. Some payday loans report nothing, some report everything. Ask me how i know

 

[Joshi J]

You ever see your paycheck go from $1,200 to $500 overnight? That’s the real trauma....not the credit report.

 

[Sultan111]

After my garnishment i used Self (the credit builder app) and a secured Capital One card. Got back to 680 in about 18 months.

 

[Sultan112]

I think people underestimate how bad it gets before garnishment. Most creditors only go that route when you’ve ghosted them for months or years.

 

[Ethan Miller]

Are we sure they don’t report garnishment anymore? I swear I saw Wage Garnishment listed under public records in my old report.

 

[Olivia Tom]

You’re not crazy, some older reporting still shows that stuff. But it’s usually not from the big 3 (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) anymore.

 

[Aaron Clark]

My ex got garnished for child support and it did show up under employment data, not credit though.....weird loophole.

 

[lily Martin]

I’d rather get ghosted by my crush than garnished again. Both hurt but only one ruins your Taco Bell budget.

 

[Noah Martinez]

Ugh i remember crying in the parking lot when my first paycheck after garnishment hit. The emotional toll is REAL.

 

[Emma Thompson]

Weirdly enough my garnishment motivated me to get my act together. Started budgeting, tracking expenses, whole Dave Ramsey starter pack.

 

[Kevin Wilson]

My credit score didn’t drop from the garnishment.......it already fell off the cliff from the missed payments that caused it.

 

[Megan Brown]

Wait… you’re telling me judgments aren’t on credit reports anymore?? When did that happen??

 

[Andrew Jones]

If you pay off the judgment before they start garnishment, some creditors will file a satisfaction of judgment, which can help during manual underwriting.