Arizona Wage Garnishment Laws
Arizona is one of the hardest states in the country to garnish wages, and it became dramatically harder in late 2022. Proposition 209, the Predatory Debt Collection Act, cut the wage-garnishment cap to ten percent of disposable earnings and lifted the protected floor to sixty times the highest applicable minimum wage. Many older guides still quote the pre-reform numbers, and creditors who rely on them garnish far less than they expect. This page lays out the current rule, the worked math, the Arizona writ-of-garnishment procedure, and why collecting a judgment in this state still begins with finding the debtor and the debtor’s employer.
The Short Version
For an ordinary money judgment, Arizona now lets a creditor garnish the lesser of ten percent of the debtor’s weekly disposable earnings or the amount by which those earnings exceed sixty times the highest applicable minimum wage, under A.R.S. 33-1131. Proposition 209 cut the cap from the old twenty-five percent and raised the floor from thirty times the federal minimum, so a worker has to earn well above the floor before any consumer-debt garnishment touches their paycheck at all. Child support and federal tax levies are carved out and follow their own, much higher limits. To garnish anyone, a creditor first needs a judgment, then a writ of garnishment of earnings served on the debtor’s employer, which means knowing where the debtor works. We are a public-records research firm that locates debtors and their employers so a lawful Arizona garnishment can actually be served, typically within 24 hours.
Watch: Garnishing Wages in Arizona
How Proposition 209 reshaped what a creditor can collect.
Watch Overview
The Arizona Rule: Ten Percent, Over a High Floor
Two limits run at once, and the creditor gets whichever is smaller.
Arizona’s wage-garnishment limit for ordinary debts is set by A.R.S. 33-1131, and after Proposition 209 it reads very differently than the version most older articles describe. For a non-support money judgment, the maximum a creditor may take from any single pay period is the lesser of two figures: ten percent of the debtor’s disposable earnings for that week, or the amount by which those weekly disposable earnings exceed sixty times the highest applicable minimum wage. Disposable earnings means gross pay minus the deductions the law requires an employer to make, principally federal and state income tax, Social Security, and Medicare; it is not take-home pay after voluntary deductions like retirement contributions or health insurance.
The two-test structure matters because each part protects workers in a different way. The ten-percent cap limits how aggressively any one paycheck can be tapped. The sixty-times-minimum-wage floor protects low earners entirely: if a debtor’s weekly disposable earnings do not clear that floor, the excess is zero, and zero is the lesser figure, so nothing can be garnished for a consumer debt no matter how large the judgment. Because Arizona uses the highest applicable minimum wage, including any higher city minimum such as the Flagstaff or Tucson rates where they apply, the protected floor in practice sits in the neighborhood of nine hundred dollars of weekly disposable earnings and rises whenever the minimum wage does.
What Proposition 209 actually changed
Voters passed Proposition 209, the Predatory Debt Collection Act, in November 2022, and it took effect that December. Before it, Arizona tracked the federal pattern closely: creditors could garnish up to twenty-five percent of disposable earnings, with a floor set at thirty times the federal minimum wage. The proposition cut the percentage cap by more than half, from twenty-five down to ten, and doubled the floor multiplier from thirty to sixty while pegging it to the higher Arizona minimum rather than the federal one. The combined effect is that Arizona consumer-debt garnishment is now among the most debtor-protective regimes in the nation, and a judgment that once produced a meaningful monthly check now produces far less, or nothing, against a modest earner.
Arizona vs. Federal Garnishment Limits
Why the Prop 209 numbers, not the old ones, decide what you collect.
| Standard | Cap on Disposable Earnings | Protected Floor | Applies To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona today (post-Prop 209)Current | Ten percent of disposable earnings | Earnings over 60x highest applicable minimum wage | Ordinary consumer and contract judgments |
| Arizona before Dec 2022 | Twenty-five percent of disposable earnings | Earnings over 30x federal minimum wage | The repealed pre-reform rule (do not rely on it) |
| Federal floor (CCPA) | Twenty-five percent of disposable earnings | Earnings over 30x federal minimum wage | The national minimum; Arizona is stricter, so Arizona controls |
| Child support | Up to fifty percent in Arizona (federal CCPA allows 50 to 65 percent) | No ten-percent cap; support is carved out | Income-withholding orders for support |
| Federal tax levy (IRS) | Set by IRS exemption tables, not ten percent | A small statutory exempt amount | Unpaid federal taxes |
The federal Consumer Credit Protection Act, codified at 15 U.S.C. 1673, sets a national ceiling of twenty-five percent. When a state protects the debtor more than federal law does, the more protective rule governs, so in Arizona the ten-percent cap controls every ordinary garnishment. The lesson for creditors is simple: the only numbers that matter for an Arizona paycheck are the post-Prop-209 figures. Anyone budgeting a collection off the old twenty-five-percent assumption will badly overestimate the recovery.
The Math, Worked Out
What ten percent over a high floor really collects.
The abstract rule is easier to trust once you run it. Take a debtor with weekly disposable earnings of twelve hundred dollars. The first test is ten percent, which is one hundred twenty dollars. The second test is the excess over the floor: with the floor near nine hundred dollars, the excess is roughly three hundred dollars. The creditor takes the lesser of the two, so the garnishment is one hundred twenty dollars that week. Under the repealed pre-2022 rule, the same paycheck would have surrendered twenty-five percent, or three hundred dollars, before the floor even came into play. That is the practical weight of Proposition 209: on this paycheck the creditor now collects roughly forty percent of what the old law allowed.
Now move the debtor down to weekly disposable earnings of eight hundred fifty dollars, just below the floor. The ten-percent test would be eighty-five dollars, but the second test, the excess over the floor, is zero because the earnings never reach it. The lesser figure is zero, so the creditor collects nothing that week, and would have collected over two hundred dollars under the old twenty-five-percent rule. This is the floor doing exactly what it was designed to do: it shields the wages of lower earners from consumer-debt garnishment entirely, while still letting creditors reach the surplus income of higher earners at the reduced ten-percent rate. For a creditor, the takeaway is that collectibility now depends heavily on how far the debtor’s earnings rise above the protected floor, which is one more reason employment information is decisive before a writ ever issues.
Can a Creditor Garnish Wages in Arizona?
Yes, but only after several gates are cleared.
A creditor cannot reach into a paycheck on the strength of an unpaid bill alone. For an ordinary consumer or contract debt, garnishment in Arizona requires a money judgment first. That means the creditor has to file suit, serve the debtor properly, and either win at trial or, far more often, take a default judgment when the debtor does not respond. Only once a court has entered judgment does the creditor gain the statutory tools to collect, of which a writ of garnishment of earnings is the most common against a wage earner.
Support obligations and government claims are the exceptions that prove the rule. A child-support income-withholding order does not need a separate civil judgment, and it follows its own withholding limits rather than the ten-percent consumer cap. The IRS and the Arizona Department of Revenue can levy wages administratively for unpaid taxes without going to court at all, and those levies are governed by their own exemption tables rather than A.R.S. 33-1131. For everyone else, the path runs through a courtroom and a docketed judgment, and the protections of Proposition 209 attach the moment the creditor tries to convert that judgment into withheld wages.
The Raised Asset Exemptions
Prop 209 also expanded what creditors cannot touch at all.
Wages are only one front. Proposition 209 also enlarged the property exemptions that shelter a debtor’s assets from collection, which reshapes the calculus for any creditor weighing whether a judgment is worth pursuing. The homestead exemption, found in A.R.S. 33-1101, jumped to four hundred thousand dollars of equity in a primary residence, far above the figure in the old statute and one of the more generous homestead protections in the country. A debtor with a paid-down house may have substantial equity that is simply off limits to an ordinary judgment creditor.
The same package raised the protections on everyday assets. Equity in a single bank account is protected up to five thousand dollars, and up to ten thousand dollars for a jointly owned account, which blunts the bank-levy route that creditors often try when wages are thin. Household furnishings and goods are protected up to fifteen thousand dollars, and equity in a vehicle is protected up to fifteen thousand dollars, rising to twenty-five thousand dollars for a debtor with a physical disability. Taken together, the expanded floors mean that against a working-class Arizona debtor, a creditor may find very little that is reachable at all. The deeper treatment of these limits lives in our companion guide to Arizona asset exemptions from creditors, which walks each category in turn.
How an Arizona Creditor Actually Collects
The writ-of-garnishment-of-earnings procedure, step by step.
The earnings-garnishment process is governed by A.R.S. 12-1598 and the sections that follow it, which set out a sequence built around the employer as garnishee. After a creditor has a judgment, it applies to the court for a writ of garnishment of earnings, naming the debtor’s employer. The court issues the writ, and the creditor serves it on the employer along with the statutory notice and the forms the debtor needs to claim an exemption. None of this can happen without one critical fact: the identity and address of the current employer. A writ served on a former employer collects nothing.
The employer’s answer
Once served, the employer becomes the garnishee and must file an answer within the statutory window, stating whether the debtor works there and how much it withholds from each pay period under the ten-percent and floor calculation. The employer then withholds from each paycheck and remits to the court or the creditor until the judgment, plus accrued interest and costs, is satisfied, the debtor leaves the job, or the writ otherwise terminates. Arizona has issued appellate guidance reminding employers that they must apply the Proposition 209 limits even on garnishments that were in place before the reform took effect, so an employer that keeps withholding the old twenty-five percent is exposed to liability.
The debtor’s exemption claim
The debtor is not a bystander. Along with the writ, the debtor receives notice of the right to object and to claim exemptions, and a debtor who can show that the standard withholding leaves too little to live on may petition the court for a special hardship exemption that reduces the garnishment below the ten-percent figure. The court can grant a smaller percentage where extreme economic hardship is demonstrated. Between the high floor, the ten-percent cap, and the hardship safety valve, Arizona builds in three separate layers of debtor protection on the wages side alone.
Support and Tax Are Different
The ten-percent cap does not apply to these.
The ten-percent ceiling is a consumer-debt rule, and two big categories sit outside it entirely. Child support and spousal maintenance are collected through income-withholding orders that follow the federal support framework, not A.R.S. 33-1131. In Arizona an income-withholding order for support can reach up to fifty percent of disposable earnings, and the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act allows states to go as high as sixty-five percent when the obligor supports no other family and is more than twelve weeks in arrears. Support withholding also takes priority: it comes out before an ordinary consumer garnishment, and where both compete, support is satisfied first.
Tax debts are the other carve-out. A federal tax levy under the Internal Revenue Code is not capped at ten percent or twenty-five percent; instead the IRS leaves the taxpayer only a modest exempt amount set by published tables that depend on filing status and dependents, and takes the rest. The Arizona Department of Revenue has parallel administrative authority for state tax debts. A creditor evaluating an Arizona debtor therefore has to know what other claims are already pulling on the paycheck, because a support order or tax levy can consume the withholding capacity that an ordinary judgment would otherwise have reached.
When Multiple Creditors Compete
Priority, not a free-for-all, decides who collects.
A paycheck has a finite amount that can be reached, and when several creditors chase the same wages the order of priority controls. Support withholding sits at the top: a child-support or spousal-maintenance order is satisfied before any consumer garnishment touches the same earnings. Federal and state tax levies likewise take precedence over ordinary judgment creditors. Only after those superior claims are met does the ten-percent consumer slice become available, and Arizona does not let two ordinary creditors stack garnishments on top of each other to exceed the cap.
Among ordinary judgment creditors, Arizona generally honors the writ that was served first; a competing creditor’s writ typically has to wait in line until the earlier one is satisfied or released. For a creditor, that turns timing and accurate employer information into a real advantage. The creditor who knows where the debtor works, serves a valid writ first, and survives any exemption claim is the one who actually collects, while a creditor working from a stale employer record waits behind everyone who moved faster. This is why locating the current employer is not a clerical detail but the hinge the entire collection turns on.
A Ten-Year Judgment and Collectibility
Time is on the patient creditor’s side, but only if the judgment lives.
An Arizona judgment is enforceable for ten years from entry under A.R.S. 12-1551, and it can be renewed before it expires, either by filing an affidavit of renewal or by bringing a new action on the judgment, which restarts the clock. A renewed judgment can keep a debt collectible for decades. Because the ten-percent cap stretches collection out over a long horizon rather than clearing the balance in a few large bites, the renewable ten-year life of an Arizona judgment matters more than ever after Proposition 209.
That long runway only helps a creditor who can keep finding the debtor as life changes. Over ten or twenty years a debtor will change jobs, move across town or out of state, and rebuild assets after a lean stretch. A judgment that was uncollectible against an underemployed debtor in one year may be very collectible three years later when the same person lands a salaried position above the floor. The creditors who win the long game are the ones who periodically re-locate the debtor and the current employer rather than filing the judgment away and forgetting it. Our overview of collecting a judgment in Arizona covers the renewal and enforcement timeline in more depth, and the related Arizona debt collection statute of limitations explains the separate clock that governs how long a creditor has to sue in the first place.
Where Arizona Collections Go Wrong
The avoidable mistakes that leave a valid judgment uncollected.
Using the Old Math
Budgeting a recovery on the repealed twenty-five-percent rule overstates what a paycheck will actually surrender under the current ten-percent cap.
Serving a Stale Employer
A writ served on a job the debtor already left returns nothing and burns weeks before the creditor learns the record was wrong.
Ignoring the High Floor
Chasing a debtor whose disposable earnings sit below sixty times the minimum wage yields nothing, no matter how large the judgment.
Missing Prior Withholding
A support order or tax levy already on the paycheck can leave nothing for an ordinary garnishment, so the priority picture must be checked first.
Letting the Judgment Lapse
An Arizona judgment dies at ten years if it is not renewed, quietly closing the door on a debt that was still collectible.
Self-Employed Blind Spot
A debtor paid as a contractor has no employer to serve, so collection has to pivot to bank levies or other assets entirely.
Why Collection Turns on Locating the Debtor
The law tells you the cap; finding the employer tells you the check.
Every limit on this page assumes a fact the statute never supplies: where the debtor works. A writ of garnishment of earnings is only as good as the employer it names, and Arizona’s reforms make accurate employment information more valuable, not less. Because the ten-percent cap collects slowly, a creditor needs the right job and a long enough collection horizon to recover a meaningful sum, and because the high floor exempts lower earners entirely, the creditor needs to know whether the debtor earns enough above the floor for a garnishment to produce anything at all. Both questions are employment questions.
That is the work we do. As a public-records research firm operating under permissible-purpose rules, we locate a judgment debtor’s current address and place of employment from public records and licensed databases, so a lawful Arizona garnishment can be served on a real, current employer rather than a stale guess. We do not give legal advice, set the percentage, or file the writ; your attorney or your in-house collections team does that. What we deliver is the locate that makes the writ land. You can read more about that specific service in our guides to finding a debtor’s employer for wage garnishment and the broader techniques for finding someone’s current employer, and our state-by-state reference on wage garnishment laws by state puts Arizona’s ten-percent rule in national context.
From Judgment to Collected Wages
How we turn a name on a judgment into a serveable employer.
Send the Judgment Details
The debtor’s name, last known address, date of birth, prior employer, or phone number, plus the case number, becomes the starting point.
We Research
A current address and place of work are rebuilt from public records and licensed databases, cross-checked against associates and prior filings.
We Verify the Employer
Candidate employers are confirmed and ranked so your writ of garnishment of earnings is served where the debtor actually works today.
You Garnish or Re-Check
Hand the verified employer to your counsel for the writ. If the debtor moves jobs, we re-locate so the next writ lands too.
Who We Help Collect
We find the debtor and the employer; you enforce the judgment.
Judgment Creditors
Employer located to serve a writ
Collections Attorneys
Debtors and assets traced lawfully
Collection Agencies
Current employment verified
Small-Business Owners
Self-represented on a judgment
Landlords
Former tenants located for a judgment
Process Servers
Debtor and garnishee addresses
Whoever you are, the wall is the same: Arizona’s law tells you the most you can take, but it cannot tell you where to serve the writ. We locate the debtor and the current employer through lawful public-records research, deliver verified employment and address information, and re-check it when the debtor moves on. For a legitimate post-judgment collection matter, a verified employer locate typically comes back within 24 hours. We do not file your garnishment or set the percentage; we make sure the writ your counsel prepares is served where it will actually collect.
Our Commitment
We find the debtor and the employer so your Arizona judgment can be enforced under the current ten-percent cap, with verified, current employment and address information drawn lawfully from public records. Court-ready locating for creditors, attorneys, and collection professionals since 2004.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much of a paycheck can be garnished in Arizona?
For an ordinary money judgment, a creditor may take the lesser of ten percent of the debtor’s weekly disposable earnings or the amount by which those earnings exceed sixty times the highest applicable minimum wage, under A.R.S. 33-1131. Proposition 209 cut the cap from the old twenty-five percent.
What did Proposition 209 change about garnishment?
Effective December 2022, Proposition 209 reduced the consumer wage-garnishment cap from twenty-five percent to ten percent of disposable earnings, doubled the protected floor from thirty to sixty times the minimum wage, and raised several asset exemptions, including the homestead exemption.
What counts as disposable earnings in Arizona?
Disposable earnings are gross pay minus the deductions the law requires an employer to make, principally federal and state income tax, Social Security, and Medicare. It is not take-home pay after voluntary deductions such as retirement contributions or health insurance premiums.
Can an Arizona garnishment be reduced below ten percent?
Yes. A debtor who shows extreme economic hardship can petition the court for a special exemption that reduces the garnishment below the standard ten percent, so the high floor and the cap are not the only protections the law provides.
Are child support and taxes limited to ten percent?
No. Child support follows income-withholding limits up to fifty percent of disposable earnings in Arizona, and federal and state tax levies follow their own exemption tables. Both are carved out of the ten-percent consumer cap and generally take priority over an ordinary garnishment.
How does a creditor start a wage garnishment?
After obtaining a judgment, the creditor applies for a writ of garnishment of earnings under A.R.S. 12-1598, names the debtor’s employer, and serves the writ with notice to the debtor. The employer answers and begins withholding. Without the correct current employer, the writ collects nothing.
How long can a creditor collect on an Arizona judgment?
An Arizona judgment is enforceable for ten years from entry under A.R.S. 12-1551 and can be renewed by affidavit or a new action before it expires. Renewal can keep a debt collectible for decades, which rewards creditors who keep relocating the debtor over time.
Do you garnish wages or set the percentage?
No. We are a public-records research firm that locates the debtor and the current employer so a lawful garnishment can be served. Your attorney or collections team files the writ and applies the statutory percentage. A verified employer locate typically comes back within 24 hours.
Have a Judgment but No Employer?
We locate the Arizona debtor and the current employer so your writ of garnishment of earnings can be served where it will actually collect under the ten-percent cap, typically within 24 hours. Contact us to get started.
Start Your Request →
