What happens if you're self-employed and a creditor tries to garnish your wages?

MoneyWatch: Managing Your Money What happens if you're self-employed and a creditor tries to garnish your wages? We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-moneywatch.jpg'); } By Angelica Leicht Angelica Leicht Senior Editor, Managing Your Money Angelica Leicht is the senior editor for the Managing Your Money section for CBSNews.com, where she writes and edits articles on a range of personal finance topics. Angelica previously held editing roles at The Simple Dollar, Interest, HousingWire and other financial publications. Read Full Bio Angelica Leicht May 7, 2026 / 12:34 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google If you're self-employed and in debt, a wage garnishment could be difficult, but that's not the only threat you face. Juleta Martirosyan / Getty Images Household debt levels are significantly elevated as we head into mid-2026, as are the interest rates tied to the more common short-term borrowing tools, like credit cards. In turn, more borrowers are falling behind on their debt payments, especially as the costs of everything from housing to gas and groceries continue to rise. As a result, creditors — particularly those armed with court judgments — are increasingly motivated to recover what they're owed. There are numerous ways to do that, but one approach that can be particularly effective is using wage garnishment to collect what's owed. The threat of wage garnishment often has the biggest impact on the borrowers who think they have the most to lose: hourly workers, salaried employees or anyone with a predictable paycheck that can be intercepted before it ever reaches their bank account. But there are millions of freelancers, independent contractors and small business owners who may be operating under a quiet assumption that they're somehow insulated from that particular form of...