West Virginia
West Virginia Debt Collection Laws: The 20% Cap, a Real Cure Right, and a Deficiency Cutoff
Independently fact-checked against primary sources (last audited August 12, 2026). · 5 primary sources cited on this page. How we verify our legal content
A West Virginia creditor cannot garnish your paycheck without a court process. It has to sue you, win a judgment, and then get a suggestee execution or a garnishment order issued against your wages. Most West Virginia debt judgments are entered by default, because the person sued never answered, so filing an answer is the single highest-value move available once you are served. Once a garnishment does happen, West Virginia protects more of a paycheck than the federal floor requires on every track, and gives car buyers a genuine window to catch up before a lender can repossess.
Wage Garnishment in West Virginia: 20% on Every Track
West Virginia runs three separate garnishment tracks, and all three land at the same 20% ceiling, stricter than the federal 25% default. For a consumer credit judgment, the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, 46A-2-130, caps garnishment at the lesser of 20% of weekly disposable earnings or the amount by which earnings exceed 50 times the federal minimum hourly wage, about $362.50 a week at today's $7.25 federal minimum. For any other judgment reaching wages that arise out of private employment, collected through a suggestee execution, 38-5A-3 imposes the same 20% limit and the same 50-times-minimum-wage floor.
The third track is easy to miss and matters to a lot of West Virginians. W. Va. Code 38-5B-3 governs suggestee executions against the salary or wages of officers and employees of the state, its agencies and its political subdivisions. It caps the lien at «twenty per centum thereof and no more,» so the 20% ceiling holds there too, but its floor is far lower: it bars only payments that would reduce what the employee takes home to less than $20 per week. So 80% of wages are exempt from every judgment creditor in West Virginia on all three tracks, while a public employee garnished on a judgment that did not arise from consumer credit does not get the 50-times-minimum-wage cushion that protects private-sector pay.
Bank deposits get a modest but automatic shield: $1,100 in funds on deposit at a federally insured institution is exempt under W. Va. Code 38-8-1, alongside $5,000 for a motor vehicle, $8,000 in household goods, $3,000 in tools of the trade, and an aggregate cap of $15,000. There is no head-of-household condition on any of these; they belong to any individual residing in the state.
Firing protection in West Virginia goes further than federal law's text in one respect and stops short of it in another. 46A-2-131 bars an employer from discharging «or taking any other form of reprisal against» an employee because a creditor subjected their wages to garnishment, with no limit to a single debt and no limit to discharge alone, so lesser forms of retaliation are covered too. The section carries its own limit, though. The protection runs only to a garnishment «for the purpose of paying a judgment arising from a consumer credit sale, consumer lease or consumer loan.» An employee fired over a garnishment on some other kind of judgment is outside this section entirely and has only the narrower federal one-debt rule to fall back on. What is also not resolved is how a state tax wage distraint interacts with the 20% caps: W. Va. Code 11-10-13 lets the Tax Commissioner levy on wages continuously after 10 days' written notice, but whether that distraint respects the 20%/50x exemptions built for consumer-credit and suggestee-execution garnishments was not confirmed in this research.
How Long Can You Be Sued, and West Virginia's Shorter Note Period
West Virginia gives written contracts an unusually long runway: 10 years under W. Va. Code 55-2-6, whether the contract is under seal or simply signed, among the longest written-contract statutes of limitations in the country. Unwritten contracts and open accounts get 5 years under the same section's residual clause. Whether credit card debt counts as the 10-year written period or the 5-year open-account period is not settled by the statute's text and depends on whether a signed card agreement can be produced; do not treat either figure as certain for card debt specifically.
Promissory notes are the exception to West Virginia's long-period pattern. W. Va. Code 46-3-118 sets a nonuniform 5-year period, not the 6 years most states use, running from the note's due date, with a 10-year bar for an unpaid demand note.
Revival requires a signed writing. W. Va. Code 55-2-8 says no promise, except in writing signed by the debtor or their agent, takes a claim out of the statute of limitations, though a signed written acknowledgment implying a promise counts. The statute says nothing about whether a bare payment alone, without any signed writing, restarts the clock on its own, a common-law question this research could not resolve. Do not assume payment alone works in West Virginia the way it does in states with an explicit payment-revival statute.
Car Repossession in West Virginia: A Real Cure Right With a Real Limit
West Virginia is not a plain self-help state for consumer vehicle loans. W. Va. Code 46A-2-106 requires a notice-and-cure process before repossession: after a consumer defaults on a scheduled payment for 5 days, the creditor may send notice of the right to cure, and the consumer then has 10 more days to pay everything due, without acceleration, plus any permitted delinquency or deferral charges. That cure right is not unlimited; it is lost once the consumer has defaulted and been notified three or more times on the same obligation.
Once a repossession does happen, West Virginia caps the fallout on smaller loans. W. Va. Code 46A-2-119 bars any deficiency judgment against the buyer if the unpaid balance at the time of repossession was $1,000 or less, the buyer walks away owing nothing further, unless the buyer damaged the collateral or refused to surrender it after a proper demand. Above that threshold, the standard UCC disposition and deficiency rules apply, with every aspect of the resale required to be commercially reasonable.
If You Are Being Garnished or Sued in West Virginia
If you are served with a debt lawsuit in West Virginia, answer it. A default judgment opens every collection tool at once and forfeits defenses, including an expired statute of limitations, that a court will not raise for you. If a garnishment has started, work out which of the three tracks applies: the 20% ceiling and the 80%-protected remainder hold on all of them, but the weekly dollar floor underneath is much lower for state and local government employees than for private-sector workers. If a car loan default notice arrives, act inside the 10-day cure window under 46A-2-106 rather than waiting, and keep in mind the cure right disappears after a third default on the same loan. And if judgments are piling up faster than any single step can resolve, bankruptcy's automatic stay halts collection activity while the larger financial picture gets addressed.
Overwhelmed by debt in West Virginia? Get a free bankruptcy consultation
Bankruptcy can stop foreclosure, wage garnishment, and creditor calls, and which debts you can clear and what property you keep depend on West Virginia's exemptions. Get a free, confidential consultation with a West Virginia bankruptcy attorney to understand your options. There is no obligation.
Information last verified on 2026-08-12. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.
Related Resources
For the national picture, see debt collection laws by state, statute of limitations on debt, how to stop wage garnishment, and car repossession laws. Social Security and other federal benefits have their own protection rules, covered in can Social Security be garnished. For deadlines on other West Virginia claim types, see the West Virginia statute of limitations. Child support garnishment is a separate, higher-priority process, covered in West Virginia child support laws. If the debts themselves have become unmanageable, West Virginia bankruptcy explains the state's exemptions.
Last updated: 2026-08-12.
More West Virginia Laws
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of my wages can be garnished in West Virginia?
At most 20%, on all three of West Virginia's tracks: the consumer-credit track under 46A-2-130, the suggestee execution against private-employment wages under 38-5A-3, and the separate track for state and local government employees under 38-5B-3. West Virginia protects 80% of wages from every judgment creditor, stricter than the federal 25% default. The weekly dollar floor underneath that cap is not the same everywhere, though: it is 50 times the federal minimum hourly wage on the first two tracks, but only $20 per week for public employees under 38-5B-3.
Does West Virginia give me a chance to cure a missed car payment before repossession?
Yes. W. Va. Code 46A-2-106 requires a notice of the right to cure after 5 days of default, and gives the buyer 10 more days to pay what is owed without acceleration. That right is lost after three defaults on the same loan.
Can I owe money after my car is repossessed in West Virginia?
Not if the unpaid balance was $1,000 or less at repossession. W. Va. Code 46A-2-119 bars any deficiency in that case, unless you damaged the collateral or refused to surrender it. Above $1,000, standard deficiency rules apply.
What is the statute of limitations on debt in West Virginia?
10 years for a signed written contract, 5 years for an unwritten one or an open account, both longer than in most states. Promissory notes are shorter, only 5 years, under West Virginia's nonuniform version of the UCC.
Does making a payment restart the clock on old debt in West Virginia?
West Virginia law requires a signed writing to revive a time-barred claim. Whether a bare payment alone, without any signed writing, also restarts the clock has not been resolved by any West Virginia authority found in this research, so it should not be assumed either way.
Can I be fired for a wage garnishment in West Virginia?
Not for a consumer debt garnishment. W. Va. Code 46A-2-131 bars an employer from discharging or retaliating against an employee because their wages were garnished, with no limit to a single debt, which is broader than the federal one-debt protection. But that section reaches only garnishment to pay a judgment arising from a consumer credit sale, consumer lease or consumer loan. For a garnishment on any other kind of judgment, only the narrower federal one-debt rule applies.
Updates
Corrected the garnishment and job-protection sections: West Virginia runs a third garnishment track for state and local government employees whose weekly floor is only $20, not 50 times the federal minimum wage, and the state's anti-firing protection applies only to garnishments paying a consumer credit judgment.
Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources
The Law Behind This Article
This article rests on the statutory provisions below, held in our own legal record and retrieved from the official source. Tap a section to read the operative text.
West Virginia Code
§ 46A-2-130Limitation on garnishment.In force
(1) For the purposes of the provisions in this chapter relating to garnishment: (a) "Disposable earnings" means that part of the earnings of an individual remaining after the deduction from those earnings of amounts required by law to be withheld; and (b) "Garnishment" means any legal or equitable procedure through which the earnings of an individual are required to be withheld for payment of a debt. (2) The maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subjected to garnishment to enforce payment of a judgment arising from a consumer credit sale or consumer loan may not exceed the lesser of: (a) Twenty percent of his or her disposable earnings for that week, or (b) The amount by which his or her disposable earnings for that week exceed fifty times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by section 6(a) (1) of the "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938," U.S.C. Title 19, Sec. 206(a)(1), in effect at the time the earnings are payable.
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-09-02 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at code.wvlegislature.gov
§ 38-5A-3Application for suggestee execution against salary or wages; extent of lien and continuing levy; exemption; priority among suggestee executions.In force
(a) A judgment creditor may apply to the court in which the judgment was recovered or a court having jurisdiction of the same, without notice to the judgment debtor, for a suggestee execution against any money due or to become due within one year after the issuance of such execution to the judgment debtor as salary or wages arising out of any private employment. If satisfactory proof shall be made, by affidavit or otherwise, of such facts and the fact that the amount due or to become due as salary or wages after the deduction of all state and federal taxes exceeds in any week fifty times the federal minimum hourly wage then in effect, the court, if not a court of record, or if a court of record the clerk thereof, shall issue a suggestee execution against the salary or wages of the judgment debtor and upon presentation of such execution by the officer to whom delivered for collection to the person or persons from which such salary or wages are due and owing or thereafter may become due and owing to the judgment debtor, the execution and the expenses thereof shall become a lien and continuing levy upon the salary or wages due or to become due to the judgment debtor within one year…
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at code.wvlegislature.gov
§ 46A-2-106Notice of consumer's right to cure default; cure; acceleration.In force
After a consumer has been in default on any installment obligation or any other secured obligation for five days for failure to make a scheduled payment or otherwise perform pursuant to such a consumer credit sale, consumer lease or consumer loan other than with respect to a covenant to provide insurance for or otherwise to protect and preserve the property covered by a security interest, the creditor may give him or her notice of such fact in the manner provided for herein. Actual delivery of such notice to a consumer or delivery or mailing of same to the last known address of the consumer is sufficient for the purpose of this section. If given by mail, notice is given when it is deposited in a mailbox properly addressed and postage prepaid. Notice shall be in writing and shall conspicuously state the name, address and telephone number of the creditor to whom payment or other performance is owed, a brief description of the transaction, the consumer's right to cure such default and the amount of payment and other required performance and date by which it must be paid or accomplished in order to cure the default.
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at code.wvlegislature.gov
Cited in 2 court opinions in our collectionLatest citing opinion in our collection: 2024
Opinions citing this section in our collection:
- Daimler Chrysler Financial Services Americas LLC v. Jones (In Re Jones) (District Court, S.D. West Virginia 2008, 397 B.R. 775)“…cy. The bankruptcy court held that DaimlerChrysler violated W. Va.Code § 46A-2-106 by repossessing the vehicle without fir…”
- Graves v. Elkins (District Court, S.D. West Virginia 2024)“…to be cured by consumers. See Pl.’s Resp. at 10; W. Va. Code § 46A-2-106. Yet this provision, part of the West…”
Identified automatically from the court opinions citing this section — not a ranking of which case controls.
§ 46A-2-119Restrictions on deficiency judgments.In force
(1) This section applies to a deficiency on a consumer credit sale of goods or services and on a consumer loan in which the lender is subject to claims and defenses arising from sales. (2) If the seller repossesses or voluntarily accepts surrender of goods which were the subject of the sale and in which he has a security interest and the balance owed for the goods repossessed or surrendered was at the time of such repossession or surrender $1,000 or less, the buyer is not personally liable to the seller for the unpaid balance of the debt arising from the sale of the goods, and the seller's duty to dispose of the collateral is governed by the provisions on disposition of collateral of the "Uniform Commercial Code." (3) If the seller repossesses or voluntarily accepts a surrender of goods which were not the subject of the sale but in which he has a security interest to secure a debt arising from a sale of goods or services or a combined sale of goods and services and the balance owed on such debt was at the time of such repossession or surrender $1,000 or less, the buyer is not personally liable to the seller for the unpaid balance of the debt arising from the sale, and the…
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at code.wvlegislature.gov
§ 46A-2-131No discharge or reprisal because of garnishment.In force
No employer shall discharge or take any other form of reprisal against an employee for the reason that a creditor of the employee has subjected or attempted to subject unpaid earnings of the employee to garnishment or like proceedings directed to the employer for the purpose of paying a judgment arising from a consumer credit sale, consumer lease or consumer loan.
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at code.wvlegislature.gov
§ 38-8-1Exemptions of personal property.In force
(a) Any individual residing in this state, or the dependent of such individual, may set apart and hold as exempt from execution or other process the following personal property: (1) Such individual’s interest, not to exceed $5,000 in value, in one motor vehicle; (2) Such individual’s interest, not to exceed $8,000 in aggregate value, in household goods, furniture, toys, animals, appliances, books and wearing apparel that are held primarily for the personal, family or household use of such individual; (3) Such individual’s aggregate interest, not to exceed $3,000, in any implements, professional books or tools of such individual’s trade; (4) Such individual’s funds on deposit in a federally insured financial institution, not to exceed $1,100; and (5) Funds on deposit in an individual retirement account (IRA), including a simplified employee pension (SEP), in the name of such individual: Provided, That the amount is exempt only to the extent it is not, or has not been, subject to an excise or other tax on excess contributions under Section 4973 or Section 4979 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or both sections, or any successor provisions,…
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at code.wvlegislature.gov
Cited in 3 court opinions in our collectionLatest citing opinion in our collection: 2021
Opinions citing this section in our collection:
- In Re Morrell (United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. West Virginia 2008, 394 B.R. 405)“…Other differences are more minor. Cf. W. Va.Code § 38-8-1(1) (allowing a non-bank *411…”
- Brothers of the Wheel M.C. Executive Council, Inc. v. Mollohan (District Court, S.D. West Virginia 2021)“…ue,” and up to $1,100 of the funds in his bank account(s). W. Va. Code § 38-8-1(a)(1), (a)(4). He cannot exempt the e…”
- Hanson v. Putnam County Commis (Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 1996)“…ndants did not violate Hanson's right to an exemption under W. Va. Code § 38-8-1 (1985). Hanson did not complete a suffi…”
Identified automatically from the court opinions citing this section — not a ranking of which case controls.
§ 55-2-6Actions to recover on award or contract other than judgment or recognizance.In forcecited in 4 of our articles
Every action to recover money, which is founded upon an award, or on any contract other than a judgment or recognizance, shall be brought within the following number of years next after the right to bring the same shall have accrued, that is to say: If the case be upon an indemnifying bond taken under any statute, or upon a bond of an executor, administrator or guardian, curator, committee, sheriff or deputy sheriff, clerk or deputy clerk, or any other fiduciary or public officer, within ten years; if it be upon any other contract in writing under seal, within ten years; if it be upon an award, or upon a contract in writing, signed by the party to be charged thereby, or by his agent, but not under seal, within ten years; and if it be upon any other contract, express or implied, within five years, unless it be an action by one party against his copartner for a settlement of the partnership accounts, or upon accounts concerning the trade or merchandise between merchant and merchant, their factors or servants, where the action of account would lie, in either of which cases the action may be brought until the expiration of five years from a cessation of the dealings in which they are…
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at code.wvlegislature.gov
Cited in 14 court opinions in our collectionLatest citing opinion in our collection: 2026
Opinions citing this section in our collection:
- Duttine v. Savas (District Court, S.D. West Virginia 1978, 455 F. Supp. 153)“…statutory period, as conceded by the parties, is ten years. W.Va.Code § 55-2-6 (1961). It is thus clear that the statu…”
- Phillip Alig v. Rocket Mortgage, LLC (Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 2022, 52 F.4th 167)“…a ten- year limitations period—are time-barred. See W. Va. Code § 55-2-6. 11 Af…”
- Phillip Alig v. Quicken Loans Inc. (Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 2021, 990 F.3d 782)“…ject to a ten- year limitations period—are time-barred. See W. Va. Code § 55-2-6. 11 After a 2015 amend…”
Identified automatically from the court opinions citing this section — not a ranking of which case controls.
Also relied on in: West Virginia Statute of Limitations: Filing Deadlines by Case Type, West Virginia Final Paycheck Laws: Double Damages and the 7-Day Safe Harbor
§ 46-3-118Statute of limitations.In force
(a) Except as provided in subsection (e), an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay a note payable at a definite time must be commenced within five years after the due date or dates stated in the note or, if a due date is accelerated, within five years after the accelerated due date. An action to enforce the obligation of a demand, savings, or time deposit, including a deposit that is automatically renewable, brought more than 10 years after the initial date of the maturity shall be presumed to have been paid and redeemed absent evidence of: (1) Owner consent in a record on file with the holder to renewal at or about the time of renewal pursuant to §36-8-2 of this code; or (2) Escheatment to the state pursuant to §36-8-1 et seq. of this code. (b) Except as provided in subsection (d) or (e), if demand for payment is made to the maker of a note payable on demand, an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay the note must be commenced within five years after the demand.
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at code.wvlegislature.gov
§ 55-2-8Acknowledgment by new promise.In force
If any person against whom the right shall have so accrued on an award, or on any such contract, shall by writing signed by him or his agent promise payment of money on such award or contract, the person to whom the right shall have so accrued may maintain an action or suit for the moneys so promised within such number of years after such promise as it might originally have been maintained within upon the award or contract, and the plaintiff may either sue on such a promise, or on the original cause of action, and in the latter case, in answer to a plea under the sixth section, may, by way of replication, state such promise, and that such action was brought within such number of years thereafter; but no promise, except by writing as aforesaid, shall take any case out of the operation of the said sixth section, or deprive any party of the benefit thereof. An acknowledgment in writing as aforesaid, from which a promise of payment may be implied, shall be deemed to be such promise within the meaning of this section.
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at code.wvlegislature.gov
§ 46-9-609Secured party's right to take possession after default.In force
(a) Possession; rendering equipment unusable; disposition on debtor's premises. After default, a secured party: (1) May take possession of the collateral; and (2) Without removal, may render equipment unusable and dispose of collateral on a debtor's premises under section 9-610. (b) Judicial and nonjudicial process. A secured party may proceed under subsection (a) of this section: (1) Pursuant to judicial process; or (2) Without judicial process, if it proceeds without breach of the peace. (c) Assembly of collateral. If so agreed, and in any event after default, a secured party may require the debtor to assemble the collateral and make it available to the secured party at a place to be designated by the secured party which is reasonably convenient to both parties.
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at code.wvlegislature.gov
§ 11-10-13Levy and distraint.In force
(a) Authority of Tax Commissioner. -- If any tax administered under this article is shown to be due on a return, it is required to be paid at the time a return is filed and if any portion of such tax is not so paid, or if an assessment of tax is made by the Tax Commissioner and notice thereof is given as required by this article and such assessment has become final and is not subject to administrative or judicial review, then, if any person liable to pay any tax administered under this article neglects or refuses to pay the same within fifteen days after notice and demand, it shall be lawful for the Tax Commissioner (or his delegate) to collect such tax (and such further sum as is sufficient to cover the expense of the levy) by levy upon all property and rights to property belonging to such person or on which there is a lien provided in this article, or any article administered under this article, for payment of the tax.
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-30 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at code.wvlegislature.gov
Cited in 1 court opinions in our collectionLatest citing opinion in our collection: 2016
Opinions citing this section in our collection:
- Flint v. West Virginia State Tax Department (In re Flint) (United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. West Virginia 2016, 557 B.R. 461)“…Plaintiff independent of the issuance of such statements. W. Va. Code § 11-10-13 (a)-(b). Moreover, consideration of the…”
Identified automatically from the court opinions citing this section — not a ranking of which case controls.
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Sources and References
- West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, W. Va. Code 46A-2-130 (Garnishment Limitations) and 46A-2-131 (Employer Discrimination Prohibited)(code.wvlegislature.gov).gov
- W. Va. Code 38-5A-3 (Suggestee Execution Against Salary or Wages) and 38-8-1 (Exempt Property)(code.wvlegislature.gov).gov
- W. Va. Code 46A-2-106 (Notice of Right to Cure Default) and 46A-2-119 (No Deficiency Judgment for Small Balances)(code.wvlegislature.gov).gov
- W. Va. Code 55-2-6 (Limitation on Actions on Contracts) and 55-2-8 (Written Promise Required to Revive Barred Claim)(code.wvlegislature.gov).gov
- W. Va. Code 46-3-118 (Statute of Limitations on Negotiable Instruments) and 46-9-609 (Secured Transactions - Right to Take Possession)(code.wvlegislature.gov).gov
- W. Va. Code 38-5B-3 (Suggestee Execution Against Salary or Wages of Officers and Employees of the State and Its Political Subdivisions)(code.wvlegislature.gov)
- W. Va. Code 46A-2-131 (Employer Discrimination Prohibited: discharge or reprisal for garnishment paying a consumer credit judgment)(code.wvlegislature.gov)