PRINTER'S NO. 3277
No. 2464 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY DENT, BROWNE, BAKER, BROWN, CIVERA, FLEAGLE,
GEIST, HALUSKA, HERSHEY, KENNEY, MAITLAND, McNAUGHTON, OLASZ,
SAYLOR, SERAFINI, STABACK, STEVENSON, E. Z. TAYLOR, WAUGH AND
WILT, MARCH 24, 1998
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 24, 1998
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the
2 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for
3 attachment of wages.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Section 8127(a)(3.1) and (3.2) and (c) of Title
7 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to
8 read:
9 § 8127. Personal earnings exempt from process.
10 (a) General rule and exceptions.--The wages, salaries and
11 commissions of individuals shall while in the hands of the
12 employer be exempt from any attachment, execution or other
13 process except upon an action or proceeding:
14 * * *
15 (3.1) For rent or for damages awarded to a judgment
16 creditor-landlord arising out of a residential lease upon
17 which the court has rendered judgment which is final.
1 However, the amount subject to attachment shall have deducted
2 from it any security deposit held by the judgment creditor-
3 landlord and forfeited by the judgment debtor-tenant under
4 section 511.1 of the act of April 6, 1951 (P.L.69, No.20),
5 known as The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, unless the
6 security deposit has been applied to payment of rent due on
7 the same premises for which the judgment for attachment has
8 been entered. The judgment creditor-landlord shall have the
9 burden of proving that such security deposit has been applied
10 to payment of rent due on the premises herein described. The
11 sum attached shall be no more than 10% of the net wages per
12 pay period of the judgment debtor-tenant or a sum not to
13 place the debtor's net income below the poverty income
14 guidelines as provided annually by the Federal Office of
15 Management and Budget, whichever is less. For the purposes of
16 this paragraph, "net wages" shall mean all wages paid less
17 only the following items:
18 (i) Federal, State and local income taxes.
19 (ii) F.I.C.A. payments and nonvoluntary retirement
20 payments.
21 (iii) Union dues.
22 (iv) Health insurance premiums.
23 (3.2) In the case of wage attachment for rent or damages
24 arising out of a residential lease, to implement the wage
25 attachment, the judgment creditor-landlord shall comply with
26 the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure and any applicable
27 local rules. The judgment of the district justice, magistrate
28 or any other court having jurisdiction over landlord and
29 tenant matters or a judgment before the court of common pleas
30 shall reflect that portion of the judgment which is for rent
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1 or damages arising out of a residential lease.
2 * * *
3 (c) Duty of employer.--
4 (1) For any wage attachment for rent or damages arising
5 out of a residential lease, the employer shall send the
6 attached wages to the prothonotary of the court of common
7 pleas within 15 days from the close of the last pay period in
8 each month. The employer shall be entitled to deduct from the
9 moneys collected from each employee the costs incurred from
10 the extra bookkeeping necessary to record such transactions,
11 not exceeding $5 of the amount of money so collected. If an
12 employer is served with more than one attachment for rent or
13 damages arising out of a residential lease against the same
14 judgment debtor, then the attachments shall be satisfied in
15 the order in which they were served. Each prior attachment
16 shall be satisfied before any effect is given to a subsequent
17 attachment, subject to subsection (a)(3.2). Upon receipt of
18 the wages, the prothonotary of the court of common pleas
19 shall record and send said wages to the judgment creditor-
20 landlord.
21 (2) For any wage attachment other than for rent or
22 damages arising out of a residential lease, the employer
23 shall send the attached withheld wages to the prothonotary of
24 the court of common pleas to be recorded, and upon receipt,
25 the wages shall be sent to the creditor.
26 * * *
27 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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