If a person files for protection under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 of the federal bankruptcy code, it automatically overrides a court order to seize somebody's wages.

While counties do not maintain statistics on wage seizures, attorneys say the recession and credit crisis have made lenders more aggressive about seeking court orders to grab borrowers' wages. The reason is simple: with the competition for collecting unpaid debts on the rise, a creditor that gets the authority to garnish wages gets the first grab at a person's finances, leaving others to fight over what's left.

The mere threat of a wage seizure is enough to cause some people to seek bankruptcy-court protection, attorneys say.

Still, credit collection companies view wage seizures as a tool of last resort, according to David Cherner, the director of state government affairs at ACA International, a trade group that has hundreds of debt collection members around the country.

"The debt collection industry isn't necessarily enjoying a lot of success at this point," in part because personal bankruptcies are on the rise, Cherner said. "While volume (of credit collection activity) is up, consumers are hurting."

In South Carolina, limits on wage seizures have given people leverage in their negotiations with creditors and have helped keep them out of bankruptcy court, said Carri Grube Lybarker, a staff attorney with the state's department of consumer affairs. Lybarker said those who are behind on their debts because of an emergency medical expenditure, divorce or job loss are sometimes able to regain their financial footing and make good on what they owe.

Professor Rich Hynes, who teaches and researches bankruptcy and finance issues at the University of Virginia School of Law, said he sees signs that garnishment is playing a role in bankruptcy rates, but he added that plenty of other factors are at play.

Bankruptcy rates may be influenced by a variety of state laws that protect consumers, including rules on how foreclosures can proceed, regulations on attorney advertising or debt-to-income ratios. Hynes also said issues such as the culture of local courts can play a role in those differences.

In Tennessee, which has the highest concentration of bankruptcies, Nashville-based attorney Edgar Rothschild said wage seizures frequently tip his clients over the edge, and into a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 filing. He also said the rates may be influenced by the differences of local judges, trustees and lawyers.

Cheryl Greer of Vinemont, Ala., sought protection from creditors under Chapter 7 of the federal bankruptcy code in May.