I have a single checking account that's is being garnished.

1. No notification that the garnishment was taking place or in affect.
2. My work requires direct deposit.
3. Every dime I make is gone the moment it is deposited.
4. I went to court about a year ago and signed saying I agreed to pay this debt.
5. The debt is about 9,000 dollars.

When I found out about the garnishment I got the bank to give me a print out. The Date the garinshment Started was Mar. 02, 06 The print out says
Holds Expiration Date
9,000 Garnishment from Creditor Apr 02, 06


I have two questions.
1. Can they garnish without notifying me, and if so can they take my entire income leaving me with nothing to pay rent, bills, food etc..?

2. Does this expire like the expiration date on the print out the bank gave me says??


TIA for any answers...

1. No they cannot garnish without notification.
2. Yes, they can take the whole balance.
3. Not sure about the expiration.

I would go to your local court to get the file. Make copies of it all and read it all very carefully.

Also, don't put more money in that account.

Definitely get that file from the court.

PS: Here's the law about notification for the state of MO:
http://fair-debt-collection.com/state-garnishment-laws-3.html#26

OK, first this is an attachment of your bank account, you would have been better off with a garnishment of your pay, since they would only be taking 25 percent of your pay ( some places allow up to 50 percent if you don't have a family)

The attachment basically allows them to take any and all money in your banking or checking account.

Yes you would have been notified at the address they have on file for you.
And there would have been at least two court hearings, one getting a judgement, another getting a garnishment and/or an attachment.

You may have well signed the agreement in court that was the judgement, once they have that, the remainder is easy to do.

Also there is no law that says you have to use a direct deposit, so talk to your employer to cancel that direct deposit.

Go back to court and see if you can get them to accept a garnishment instead of an attachment of that account.

In the state of Missouri, it is a continuous process from the date the garnishment is served on your bank. They will put a hold on your account until the garnishment is fully funded then they will release the hold on your account. The hold can be any length of time from 30 days to 120 days. After the garnishment is served your bank, you will receive a copy from the sheriff office in your county telling you the length of time the garnishment will be on your account. The hold will only be released unless you fulfill the garnishment amount or you wait until the garnishment expires which can be from 30 days to 120 days according to the garnishment order from the court.

Can you open a new account without the worry of being garnished? Or will that be attached as well? Does the banks have access to garnished accounts? What happens to automatic payments that need to come out of that account? What if they bounce?