Can they garnish wages without court?

I have a student loan in default and they have garnished my wages. Can they do that without taking me to court?

No, they cannot. It could easily be that you have ignored their letters... or it could be that they had a court order in absentia but have finally found you to have it applied. That requires that they send you NOTICE of the court action and that court action is where they get your current employer entered in the garnishment order. That means your company has a copy of that court order in order to give someone else a part of your wages. Ask them for it. Then take care to verify the amount, the dates, find out why you were not notified of court action (which is usually done by the local sheriff or by a local lawyer), complain to the court and to the creditor that you have lived ... wherever for x months and had no notice of court action. Then do your best to pay down that loan.... or contest what you don't think you owe.