When your debts are mounting and you find yourself unable to pay the minimum balance on each of them, it is important not to ignore this stressful reality. As much as you may want to burn, bury or simply ignore your bills, it is vitally important that you respond to your creditors, even if it is to simply say, “I cannot pay the minimum balance at this time, I am in need of a 30 day grace period.”

If a 30 day grace period is not going to allow you enough time to catch up on your bills, it may be a good idea to speak with an attorney experienced in matters of bankruptcy law and other debt relief strategies. The most pressing reason why you need to respond to your creditor or allow your attorney to make communications for you is that if your bills are outstanding for a long-enough period of time, your wages may be garnished until these debts are paid.

Not every kind of debt may result in wage garnishment. However, many kinds of common debt may result in wage garnishment if these debts are not attended to with regularity. It may surprise you to learn that one out of every 10 American adults aged 35 to 44 is currently struggling with wage garnishment, according to NPR. And yet, wage garnishment is so common that perhaps this statistic should not be surprising.

Medical debts, credit card debts and some student loans are among the types of debts that may be subjected to wage garnishment. Please, if you are struggling with overwhelming debts, please contact an experienced attorney in order to help prevent your wages from being garnished.

Source: National Public Radio, “Millions Of Americans’ Wages Seized Over Credit Card And Medical Debt,” Chris Arnold, NPR and Paul Kiel, ProPublica, Sept. 15, 2014