Code of Maine Rules
02 - DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL AND FINANCIAL REGULATION
029 - BUREAU OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Chapter 143 - MULTIPLE OF THE STATE OR FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE

SUMMARY

This Rule provides the method for calculating the portion of earnings that are subject to garnishment when an individual is not paid on a weekly basis.

Rule 120, last promulgated in 2005, provides guidance for those seeking to abide by the statutory limitations on garnishment found in the Maine Consumer Code ("the Code"). It is amended following enactment of P.L. 2007, Chapter 7, which changes the standard by which maximum garnishment ratios are computed. Previously, the Code limited garnishment arising from a consumer credit transaction to the lesser of 25% of the individual's disposable earnings for that week or the amount by which the individual's disposable earnings for that week exceeded 40 times the federal minimum hourly wage. The new law makes the State minimum hourly wage an alternative to the federal minimum hourly wage in the calculation, requires that comparison with disposable earnings be based on the higher of the State or federal minimum wage, and requires that maximum garnishment for a pay period other than a week be "equivalent in effect" to that for a week.

Chapter is a Joint Rule with 02-030 120