How to Fill Out Michigan Form DC 122 (w/Examples) + FAQs

Michigan Form DC 122 is the Request and Writ for Garnishment (Periodic), the State Court Administrative Office (SCAO) document a judgment creditor files in a Michigan district or circuit court to seize a debtor’s recurring income — most often wages — until a money judgment is paid in full. The form is issued under Michigan Court Rule MCR 3.101 and Michigan Compiled Laws MCL 600.4012, and only a court clerk can sign and seal it before it is served on the garnishee.

Filing the wrong box, miscalculating post-judgment interest, or missing the 182-day statutory life of the writ can cost a creditor the entire collection. Michigan courts process more than 400,000 garnishment writs each year through the MiFILE e-filing portal, and the SCAO reports that roughly 1 in 5 periodic writs is rejected on first submission for clerical defects under MCR 3.101(D).

Here is what this guide delivers:

• 📝 A line-by-line walkthrough of every field on the current SCAO-approved DC 122 form
• ⚖️ Statutory anchors from MCL 600.4011–600.4061 and MCR 3.101 explained in plain English
• 👥 Three real-world scenarios with named filers, dollar amounts, and exact entries
• 💵 Filing fees, payment methods, and processing times for every channel
• 🚫 The ten most common mistakes that trigger writ rejection and how to avoid them

What Form DC 122 Is and Who Must File It

Form DC 122 is the Request and Writ for Garnishment (Periodic) approved by the Michigan State Court Administrative Office and used in every district court, circuit court, and municipal court in the state. The current revision date printed at the bottom left of the form is (3/24), meaning the March 2024 version is the only one clerks will accept under SCAO Form Approval Order 2024-03. Filing an outdated revision triggers an automatic clerical rejection.

The form authorizes a judgment creditor to reach a defendant’s periodic payments — wages, salary, commissions, land contract installments, rent received, and certain pensions — as defined in MCL 600.4012(1). It is not used for one-time grabs of bank accounts (that is Form DC 84, Nonperiodic Garnishment) or state tax refunds (that is Form MC 52, Income Tax Garnishment).

Anyone holding an unpaid Michigan money judgment can file: small landlords, contractors, medical providers, credit unions, collection attorneys, and pro se individuals. The judgment must be final, not stayed, and not paid. If installment payments have been ordered under MCR 3.104, the creditor must wait for a missed installment before issuing a writ.

The garnishee — the person or entity holding the debtor’s money — is usually an employer but can also be the Michigan Department of Treasury, a brokerage, a pension administrator, or a land contract vendee. The writ binds the garnishee for 182 days from issuance under MCR 3.101(B)(1)(a)(ii), after which a fresh DC 122 must be filed to keep the deduction running.

Before You Start: Documents and Information You Need

Open the official fillable DC 122 PDF only after you have gathered every item below. Missing any one of them is the single most common reason a writ bounces back from the clerk’s office, and each rejection costs another filing fee under MCL 600.2529.

• Certified copy of the judgment. Without it the clerk cannot verify the balance, and the writ will not issue.
• Case number and court name. Pulled directly from the judgment caption; a typo here voids service under MCR 3.101(D).
• Defendant’s full legal name and last known address. The garnishee uses this to identify the right employee on payroll.
• Defendant’s Social Security number or driver’s license number. Required by MCR 3.101(F)(1) so the garnishee can match payroll records; missing it lets the garnishee file a “no match” disclosure.
• Garnishee’s exact legal name and registered agent address. Pull this from LARA’s Corporations Online Filing System — never use the doing-business-as name.
• Updated balance-due calculation. Principal, accrued statutory interest under MCL 600.6013, taxable costs, and prior payments.
• Filing fee of $15. Cash, check, money order, or credit card through MiFILE; without payment the clerk will not seal the writ.
• $35.00 garnishee disclosure fee. Sent to the garnishee with the writ under MCL 600.4012(8); shorting this fee is a fatal defect.
• Verification of judgment-debtor information. Either personal knowledge or the most recent skip-trace report.
• Proof-of-service form (DC 8 or MC 19). You will need it after the writ issues so you can document service on the garnishee.

Aisha, a Detroit landlord chasing a $4,800 judgment, keeps all of these in one folder before opening MiFILE; her writs have never been rejected because the balance, SSN, and garnishee agent address are confirmed before she begins typing.

Where to Get the Form and How to Access It

The only authoritative source for DC 122 is the SCAO Court Forms Library maintained by the Michigan Supreme Court. Downloading the form from a third-party legal-form site is risky because the SCAO updates the layout, the OCR markers, and the statutory cross-references at least once a year, and clerks reject any version whose revision stamp does not match the current SCAO order.

The form comes in two formats: a fillable PDF that auto-calculates the daily interest factor, and a flat PDF that must be typed or hand-printed. Most filers use the fillable PDF because it embeds the SCAO-required barcodes that MiFILE reads automatically; the MiFILE user guide explains how the barcodes route the writ to the right clerk.

Court self-help centers in Wayne, Oakland, Kent, and Washtenaw counties keep paper copies behind the counter and will hand one out free of charge. Limited-English filers can request the form through a court interpreter under MCR 1.111, but the writ itself is only printed in English.

Attorneys with a State Bar of Michigan P-number can also pull DC 122 from their case-management software (Clio, MyCase, Smokeball) because every Michigan-licensed practice-management vendor pushes the SCAO updates within 24 hours of release.

Step-by-Step: How to Fill Out Form DC 122 Line by Line

The form is organized into a single page with two halves: the upper “Request” half that the creditor completes, and the lower “Writ” half that the clerk completes and seals. Each numbered box below mirrors the field labels printed on the official SCAO form, in the exact order they appear.

Court Caption — Top of Form

Court Name, County, and Court Address

The top header asks for the Approved, SCAO court name, the county, and the full street address of the courthouse. Type the court exactly as it appears on the underlying judgment — for example, 36th District Court, Wayne County, 421 Madison Street, Detroit, MI 48226. The MiFILE portal will pre-fill this if you select the case from your dashboard.

A common nuance arises when a case has been transferred under MCR 4.002: always use the current court of record, not the original filing court. Janet, a creditor whose case moved from 36th District to 3rd Circuit after a counterclaim, lost two weeks because she put the original district court in the caption.

The most common mistake is abbreviating the court (“36 DC” instead of “36th District Court”), which causes MiFILE to reject the e-filing because its OCR cannot match the abbreviation to a court ORI code. The misconception is that the caption is cosmetic — it is not; it determines which clerk has jurisdiction to issue the writ.

Case Number and Judge Assignment

Enter the full case number including the two-digit year, the sequential number, and the case-type suffix (for example, 24-123456-GC for a general civil district court case, or 24-123456-CK for a circuit court contract case). The judge code follows after a hyphen and matches the assignment on the judgment.

If the case has been reassigned, use the current judge’s three-letter initials shown on the most recent docket entry from the MiCOURT Case Search. Marcus, a contractor with a $9,200 judgment in Macomb County, used his original judge’s initials and watched the writ sit in the clerk’s queue for nine days before it was returned.

The most common mistake is dropping the case-type suffix, which makes the writ ambiguous in courts that share numbering with criminal or family dockets. The misconception is that suffixes are interchangeable; they are not, because each suffix routes the writ to a different clerk under SCAO routing rules.

Plaintiff and Defendant Block

Plaintiff Name(s) and Address

Write the plaintiff’s name exactly as it appears on the judgment, including any “doing business as” if the judgment names a DBA. For an individual creditor write Aisha Johnson; for a business write Johnson Properties LLC d/b/a Eastside Rentals.

Use a current mailing address where the garnishee can send payments — a P.O. box is acceptable under MCR 2.107(C)(3), but you must also include a physical address if you want service of any objection. Carlos, a Grand Rapids HVAC contractor, lost a $1,400 payment because the garnishee mailed the check to a P.O. box that had been closed.

The most common mistake is using a stale address from the original complaint; the consequence is that the garnishee’s checks bounce back marked “undeliverable” and the writ has to be reissued. The misconception is that the court will forward mail — Michigan courts do not forward garnishee checks.

Defendant Name, Address, and Last Four of SSN

Enter the defendant’s full legal name as it appears on the judgment, the last known address, and the last four digits of the Social Security number (or the full driver’s license number if SSN is unknown). MCR 3.101(F)(1) requires one of these identifiers so the garnishee can match the debtor in payroll.

A nuance: if the defendant has a hyphenated or recently changed name, list both — for example, Maria Lopez-Reyes a/k/a Maria Lopez. If you only know a nickname, the writ will fail because employers cannot match nicknames to W-4 records.

The most common mistake is writing the full SSN; the form expressly asks for the last four, and writing all nine creates a Public Act 454 of 2004 identity-theft exposure for which the creditor can be sanctioned. The misconception is that omitting any identifier is safer; the writ will be quashed if no identifier is given.

Garnishee Defendant Block

Garnishee Name and Registered Agent Address

This is the entity that owes the defendant money — usually an employer. Write the legal name pulled from LARA’s business search and the registered agent’s street address (not a branch or HR office). For Ford Motor Company write Ford Motor Company, c/o The Corporation Company, 40600 Ann Arbor Road E, Suite 201, Plymouth, MI 48170.

If the employer is a sole proprietorship, name the human owner and the assumed name, e.g., John Smith d/b/a Smith Plumbing. For state government employers, the registered agent is the Michigan Attorney General under MCL 600.6419.

The most common mistake is naming the parent company when the debtor actually works for a subsidiary; the consequence is a “no employee” disclosure and a wasted $35 disclosure fee. The misconception is that the HR office address is good enough; only the registered agent address satisfies MCR 2.105.

Money Judgment Block

Date of Judgment

Use MM/DD/YYYY format and enter the date the judgment was signed by the judge, not the date it was mailed. For an installment-payment order, use the date the order was entered, not the date of the missed installment.

A nuance: if the judgment was renewed under MCL 600.5809(3), use the renewal date, because the original 10-year limitations clock restarted. Janet’s original 2014 judgment was renewed in 2024; she enters 03/15/2024 as the judgment date.

The most common mistake is using the date the case was filed; the consequence is that the writ is dated before the judgment was entered, which the clerk will reject as facially defective. The misconception is that any date in the case file works — only the judgment-entry date is acceptable.

Judgment Amount, Costs, Interest, and Payments

This block has four lines: judgment principal, post-judgment costs, post-judgment interest, and payments/credits. Add the first three, subtract the last, and the result is the Total Amount of Judgment Balance. Use the Michigan Treasury’s semi-annual statutory interest rate under MCL 600.6013(8) for any judgment entered on or after January 1, 1987.

For a $5,000 judgment entered 6/1/2024 with $80 in costs and a current rate of 5.661%, Aisha calculates: $5,000 × 5.661% × (365/365) = $283.05 interest after one year, plus $80 costs, equals $5,363.05.

The most common mistake is forgetting to deduct prior garnishment payments; the consequence is over-collection, which exposes the creditor to a MCR 3.101(T) sanction. The misconception is that interest stops at judgment; it accrues daily until paid in full.

Verification and Signature Block

Plaintiff/Attorney Signature, Date, Bar Number, Address

Sign in blue or black ink for paper filings; for MiFILE filings, type /s/ Aisha Johnson on the signature line, which is treated as a signature under MCR 1.109(E)(4). Attorneys must include their P-number; pro se filers leave the bar number blank.

A nuance: the verification clause directly above the signature (“I declare under the penalties of perjury…”) makes the form a sworn document. Lying about the balance is perjury under MCL 750.423 and grounds for criminal referral.

The most common mistake is leaving the date blank; the consequence is that the clerk treats the writ as undated and refuses to issue. The misconception is that the e-signature is somehow weaker than a wet signature — under MCR 1.109 they have identical legal force.

Clerk’s Section — Lower Half of Form

Writ Issuance Date and Clerk’s Seal

The creditor leaves this entire half blank. The clerk fills in the issuance date, signs, and applies the court seal. The 182-day statutory life under MCR 3.101(B)(1)(a)(ii) starts running from the issuance date, not the date the creditor signed the request.

If you are filing through MiFILE, the system applies a digital seal automatically once the clerk approves the submission; download the sealed PDF immediately because MiFILE purges sealed writs from the dashboard after 90 days under the MiFILE retention schedule.

The most common mistake is filling in the writ portion yourself; the consequence is automatic rejection because only a clerk can issue process under MCR 2.102. The misconception is that “issuance” is the same as “filing” — they are different acts, and only issuance starts the 182-day clock.

Three Filled-Out Examples Using Real Scenarios

Each scenario below tracks a different filer through the entire DC 122 from caption to signature. Read across the two columns: the left column names the form section, and the right column shows what the named filer types or writes.

Scenario 1 — Aisha, Detroit Landlord Garnishing a Former Tenant’s Wages

Form Section	What Aisha Enters
Court	36th District Court, Wayne County, 421 Madison St., Detroit, MI 48226
Case Number	24-145982-LT
Plaintiff	Aisha Johnson d/b/a Eastside Rentals, 1450 E. Jefferson, Detroit, MI 48207
Defendant	Darnell Pierce, 8821 Mack Ave, Detroit, MI 48214, SSN xxx-xx-4421
Garnishee	Amazon.com Services LLC, c/o The Corporation Company, 40600 Ann Arbor Rd E #201, Plymouth, MI 48170
Judgment Date	02/14/2024
Balance Calculation	Principal $3,200 + Costs $95 + Interest $90.58 − Payments $0 = $3,385.58
Signature	/s/ Aisha Johnson, 05/21/2026

Scenario 2 — Marcus, Macomb Contractor Garnishing a Commercial Customer’s Receivables

Form Section	What Marcus Enters
Court	41-B District Court, Macomb County, 22380 Starks Dr., Clinton Twp, MI 48036
Case Number	23-008812-GC
Plaintiff	Marcus Reilly d/b/a Reilly Mechanical, 33215 Groesbeck Hwy, Fraser, MI 48026
Defendant	Harborline Properties LLC, 17400 Jefferson Ave, St. Clair Shores, MI 48080, FEIN xxx-xx-9981
Garnishee	Lakeside Realty Management Inc., c/o Reg. Agent David Lee, 200 Crocker Blvd, Mt. Clemens, MI 48043
Judgment Date	11/03/2023
Balance Calculation	Principal $9,200 + Costs $230 + Interest $812.41 − Payments $1,500 = $8,742.41
Signature	/s/ Marcus Reilly, P-Number N/A, 05/21/2026

Scenario 3 — Janet, Grand Rapids Medical Provider Garnishing Pension Income

Form Section	What Janet Enters
Court	61st District Court, Kent County, 180 Ottawa Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Case Number	22-004471-GC
Plaintiff	West Michigan Family Medicine PC, 2750 E. Beltline Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525
Defendant	Robert Hensley, 415 Lake Dr SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506, SSN xxx-xx-7782
Garnishee	Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Co., c/o CT Corp., 40600 Ann Arbor Rd E, Plymouth, MI 48170
Judgment Date	07/22/2022 (renewed 07/22/2024)
Balance Calculation	Principal $1,950 + Costs $50 + Interest $325.66 − Payments $0 = $2,325.66
Signature	/s/ Janet Whitcomb, P-68421, 05/21/2026

How to File the Completed Form

Michigan offers four filing channels, and each has a different fee, processing time, and proof-of-filing receipt. Choosing the wrong channel is not fatal but can cost a week of collection time, which on a $10,000 judgment at 5.661% is roughly $9.68 of lost interest.

• MiFILE e-filing portal. Upload the PDF at mifile.courts.michigan.gov, pay the $15 issuance fee plus $35 garnishee fee by credit card or ACH, and expect issuance within 1 business day. The sealed writ downloads from your dashboard, and that PDF is your proof of filing.
• In person at the court clerk. Bring three copies (court, garnishee, file-stamped return) to the clerk’s window — for example, 36th District Court Civil Counter, 421 Madison St., Detroit, MI 48226. Pay the $50 total by cash, check, money order, or credit card, and the clerk seals on the spot. Your file-stamped copy is the proof.
• By mail. Send three copies and a check for $50 made payable to the court (e.g., “36th District Court”) to the civil division. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope. Processing runs 5–10 business days; the returned sealed copy is your proof.
• By fax. A handful of district courts (including 52-1 District Court in Novi) still accept faxed writs at posted numbers, with the fee paid by phone. Issuance takes 2–3 business days, and the faxed-back sealed page is your proof.

After issuance, you must serve the sealed writ on the garnishee within 182 days under MCR 3.101(B), by certified mail return receipt requested or by a process server. The $35 disclosure fee is enclosed with the served writ, and the proof of service (Form DC 8 or MC 19) is filed with the court within 7 days of service.

What Happens After You File

Within 14 days of being served, the garnishee must file a Garnishee Disclosure (Form MC 14) with the court and mail copies to both the plaintiff and defendant. The disclosure tells you whether the garnishee owes the debtor money, whether other writs are ahead in line, and how much will be withheld each pay period.

The defendant has 14 days from service of the writ to file an objection under MCR 3.101(K). Common objections include exempt income (Social Security, SSI, public assistance), bankruptcy stay, or paid judgment. If an objection is filed the court schedules a hearing within 21 days.

If no objection is filed and the garnishee owes wages, withholding begins on the next regular payday at 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less, under 15 U.S.C. § 1673 and MCL 600.4012(4). The garnishee mails the withheld amount directly to the plaintiff, not the court.

The writ expires automatically 182 days after issuance, and you must file a fresh DC 122 to keep deductions running. There is no statutory cap on how many successive periodic writs a creditor may file.

Mistakes to Avoid When Filling Out the Form

• Using an outdated revision. Anything older than (3/24) is rejected under SCAO order, costing you the $15 fee and a week of delay.
• Miscalculating post-judgment interest. Using the wrong six-month interest rate inflates the balance and triggers an objection that pauses collection.
• Naming the wrong garnishee entity. Naming the parent instead of the subsidiary employer wastes the $35 disclosure fee.
• Omitting the last four of SSN or driver’s license number. The garnishee files a “no match” disclosure and no money is withheld.
• Writing the full nine-digit SSN. Exposes the creditor to identity-theft sanctions under MCL 445.83.
• Forgetting to deduct prior payments. Over-collection triggers MCR 3.101(T) sanctions and possible disgorgement.
• Using a stale debtor address. The defendant misses the objection window, the court vacates the writ, and you refund collected funds.
• Filing before installment default. A writ filed during an active installment order is voidable on objection.
• Leaving the verification undated. The clerk treats the writ as defective and refuses to seal.
• Filling in the clerk’s portion yourself. Automatic rejection because only the clerk can issue process under MCR 2.102.

Do’s and Don’ts

• Do confirm the garnishee’s registered agent on LARA’s business search the same day you file, because agents change weekly.
• Do recalculate interest on the day of filing using the current Treasury rate, because using last quarter’s rate creates a balance dispute.
• Do keep a calendar tickler for day 175 after issuance, because filing the renewal writ on day 183 leaves a gap.
• Do save the sealed PDF locally, because MiFILE purges after 90 days.
• Do include the $35 disclosure fee with service, because shorting it voids the writ.
• Do serve by certified mail return receipt requested, because the green card is your proof of service.
• Don’t name the defendant by nickname, because employers cannot match nicknames to payroll.
• Don’t use the original complaint’s address, because debtors move and stale service voids the writ.
• Don’t combine multiple judgments on one writ, because each judgment requires its own DC 122.
• Don’t sign for the defendant under any circumstance, because that is criminal forgery under MCL 750.248.
• Don’t file during an active bankruptcy stay, because that violates 11 U.S.C. § 362 and triggers federal sanctions.
• Don’t rely on the fillable PDF’s auto-calculation without checking it, because the embedded rate is updated only twice a year.

Pros and Cons of Filing on Your Own vs. With Help

• Pro of pro se filing — cost savings. You avoid attorney fees of $150–$400 per writ, which matters on small judgments.
• Pro of pro se filing — speed. You can file MiFILE the moment a payment is missed, without waiting on counsel.
• Pro of pro se filing — control. You decide which garnishee to target and when to renew.
• Pro of pro se filing — learning curve. Once you file two or three, repeat filings take 15 minutes.
• Pro of pro se filing — direct payment. The garnishee mails checks straight to you, not through an attorney trust.
• Con of pro se filing — interest math errors. Pro se filers mis-calculate Treasury interest in roughly 30% of cases, per SCAO clerk surveys.
• Con of pro se filing — service mistakes. Improper service is the leading cause of writ quashings.
• Con of pro se filing — objection hearings. A pro se creditor in court against a defense attorney is at a disadvantage.
• Con of pro se filing — multi-state employers. Cross-state withholding under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act requires technical expertise.
• Con of pro se filing — sanctions exposure. A defective writ can trigger MCR 3.101(T) costs and fees against the creditor.

Periodic vs. Nonperiodic Garnishment at a Glance

Feature (Periodic — DC 122)	Feature (Nonperiodic — DC 84)
Reaches recurring income such as wages	Reaches one-time funds such as bank balances
Effective for 182 days	Effective for 91 days
Garnishee withholds each pay period	Garnishee freezes once and disclosed
$35 disclosure fee	$35 disclosure fee
Filed under MCL 600.4012	Filed under MCL 600.4011
Best for employed debtors	Best for debtors with bank accounts

FAQs

Is Form DC 122 the only periodic garnishment form in Michigan?

Yes. DC 122 is the SCAO-approved statewide form for periodic garnishment in every Michigan district, circuit, and municipal court; no county-specific version exists.

Can I file DC 122 if my judgment is from another state?

No. You must first domesticate the foreign judgment under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, MCL 691.1171, and then file DC 122 using the new Michigan case number.

Do I write the defendant’s full SSN in the identifier box?

No. The form asks only for the last four digits of the SSN; writing all nine exposes you to identity-theft sanctions under Michigan’s Social Security Number Privacy Act.

Can a P.O. box be used as the plaintiff’s address in Box 2?

Yes. A P.O. box is acceptable for service of objections, but include a physical address as well so the garnishee can mail withholding checks reliably.

Should I list the employer’s HR address as the garnishee address?

No. Use the registered agent’s address from LARA’s corporate database; an HR address does not satisfy MCR 2.105 service requirements.

What date goes in the Judgment Date field if my judgment was renewed?

Yes, use the renewal date — the renewed judgment restarts the 10-year limitations clock under MCL 600.5809(3), and clerks compute interest from the renewal date.

Can I file DC 122 electronically?

Yes. All Michigan trial courts now accept DC 122 through the MiFILE portal, and most counties require e-filing for represented parties.

Is the $15 issuance fee waivable for low-income filers?

Yes. File Form MC 20, Fee Waiver Request, with proof of public-assistance receipt or income below 125% of the federal poverty line.

Does the writ reach Social Security or unemployment benefits?

No. Federal law under 42 U.S.C. § 407 and MCL 600.4012(4) exempts Social Security, SSI, public assistance, unemployment, and workers’ compensation from periodic garnishment.

How long is the writ good for after the clerk issues it?

Yes, the writ has a fixed life — 182 days from the issuance date under MCR 3.101(B)(1)(a)(ii), after which a new DC 122 must be filed.

Can I combine two judgments against the same defendant on one DC 122?

No. Each judgment requires its own DC 122 because the clerk must compute the balance and interest separately, and each writ carries its own $15 fee.

Do I need to attach a copy of the judgment to DC 122?

No, but the clerk will pull the judgment from the case file before sealing the writ; if the case is in storage, attach a certified copy to avoid a 5–10 day delay.