Pennsylvania Landlord Wage Garnishment Exception

Pennsylvania bans wage garnishment for nearly all civil judgments — but landlords have a narrow exception. If you won a judgment against a tenant for unpaid rent or physical lease damages, you may be able to garnish their wages under 42 Pa.C.S. § 8127(a)(3.1). This is the only type of standard civil judgment in Pennsylvania that can reach a debtor's paycheck at the employer level.

What the Exception Allows

The landlord wage garnishment exception applies specifically to final judgments arising out of a residential lease. That covers:

• Unpaid rent
• Physical damage to the rental property beyond normal wear and tear
• Other monetary amounts awarded under the lease

The garnishment is capped at 10% of the tenant's net wages per pay period — or an amount that does not reduce the tenant's take-home pay below the federal poverty guidelines, whichever is less. If the tenant earns close to the poverty line, the garnishment drops to zero regardless of the judgment amount.

Important Limitations

Security deposit credit. A security deposit held and forfeited by the tenant is deducted from the amount subject to attachment unless it has been applied to rent due on the same premises. The landlord must prove any such application. You can attach only the remaining amount.

Residential leases only. The exception covers residential leases — not commercial leases. If your judgment arises from a commercial tenant's breach of a business lease, the standard wage garnishment ban applies and you'll need to pursue bank account garnishment or property execution instead.

Final judgment required. The judgment must be final — meaning the 30-day appeal period has expired without the tenant filing a notice of appeal to the Court of Common Pleas. If the tenant appeals, the judgment is stayed and no garnishment can proceed until the appeal resolves.

How to File for Landlord Wage Garnishment

The general process involves:

1. If your judgment was entered by an MDJ, transfer it to the Court of Common Pleas by filing a certified transcript with the Prothonotary. This wage-attachment procedure also applies to qualifying judgments entered in Common Pleas or Philadelphia Municipal Court.
2. Within five years of the original judgment, file a Praecipe for Notice of Intent to Attach Wages with the Prothonotary in a county where the judgment is entered and the tenant resides, works, or the rental property is located, under Pa.R.C.P. 3302 and 3311.
3. The sheriff serves the notice on the tenant. The tenant has 30 days after service to claim an exemption based on the federal poverty guidelines. If a timely claim is filed, the creditor must challenge it by motion before a writ issues.
4. If no timely exemption claim is filed, request a Writ of Attachment of Wages under Pa.R.C.P. 3304. The Prothonotary mails it to the employer and tenant. The employer withholds the allowed amount and sends it to the Prothonotary within 15 days after the close of the last pay period in each month; the Prothonotary forwards the funds to the landlord.

The employer must comply with the writ and may deduct bookkeeping costs of up to $5 from the amount collected from each employee.

When Bank Garnishment Is Better

Even with the landlord exception available, wage garnishment at 10% of net pay can be slow. On a tenant earning $2,500 net per month, and if the poverty-guideline limit does not reduce the attachment, you'd collect $250 monthly — a $3,000 judgment would take about a year to satisfy.

Bank account garnishment, by contrast, freezes the full balance in one action. If the tenant has a few thousand dollars in a checking or savings account, a single bank levy can satisfy the judgment immediately.

Many landlords use the wage garnishment as a backstop — file for bank garnishment first, and if the accounts come up empty, switch to ongoing wage garnishment for steady recovery.

For the full landlord wage garnishment procedure, bank levy instructions, and the enforcement decision matrix, the Pennsylvania Judgment Collection Guide covers every tool available to landlord creditors.

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