Mortgages

• When a person buys a home, he usually takes out a loan. In nearly all cases, the loan the person takes out -- his mortgage -- is secured by the property he is purchasing. This means that if he defaults on his payments, the lender can seize the property as collateral. In many states, a mortgage company has no right to collect additional payments; however, in some places it can.
  
  

Mortgage Fees

• In some states, known as "recourse" states, a mortgage company can charge a defaulted borrower with additional fees related to the foreclosure of the home if they are not covered through the sale of the house at auction. In these cases, the fees the borrower owes are just like any other bill and a mortgage company can attempt to collect on them just like any other debt, such as with garnishment.
  
  

Garnishment

• To secure a garnishment, the mortgage company would first have to receive permission to do so from a civil judge. A judge examines the circumstances of the foreclosure and determines how much the defaulted borrower owes the lender, if anything. If the debtor refuses to pay this amount, the judge may allow the mortgage company to garnish his wages. However, private creditors cannot garnish federal benefits such as Social Security.
  
  

Social Security

• Under federal law, mortgage companies are forbidden from garnishing all types of federal benefits. This includes Social Security, which is given out as part of a federal entitlement program. So, while a mortgage company could, under certain circumstances, garnish the wages of a debtor, it could not garnish his Social Security payments. A judge would not allow it and, under U.S. law, attempts to garnish money extrajudicially are illegal.