A collection company has placed a lien,frozen my account, on a checking account that has my Social Security direct deposit in it. Last month I made an additional $300 cash deposit into this account. Because of that can they put a lien on the Sociel Security money. How can I remove this lien?

They can take any benefits you may have. You can't remove the lien until all the money you owe is paid up.

You would need to go to court with a motion to have the lien released.
Most likely you will need an attorney.

Also in general they can not garnish the actual social security check, but in some areas once it is in the bank, it may be subject to attachment,
So you need to stop any direct depoisit for now, and not use that bank account unless this gets cleared.

duboisworks, anything, any payment, any benefit that is automatically deposited into an account is subject to garnishment. The gov't. Won't differentiate the deposit and not take it. That is why I said basically, if your social security cheque is in there, then it will be taken as well, to cover the debt. If the govt. wants your debt cleared off, and the direct deposit comes from them in the way of social security cheque, then good luck in having the direct deposit reversed.

I suggest you read the posts by kayakgirl who is a paralegal on this same subject. It will give you decent insite into your question and the subsequent postings in the same thread will be enlightening.

Copy this and take it to your bank, tell the bank they have violate the law and further action maybe coming their way, also go to the court that issued the lien and file a Motion to Vacate for the same reason.

For your information about Social Security Benefits


Safe from Garnishment



Federal law makes Social Security benefits exempt from levy, garnishment, and assignment- 42 USC 407(a) states. "In general the right of any future payments under this sub chapter SHALL NOT be Transferable or assignable. AND NONE of the moneys paid or payable or rights existing under this subchapter shall be subject to execution, levey, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process, or to the operation of any bankruptcy or insolvency law".

This means that even if a creditor or debt attorney, collection agency has a judgement against you they CAN NOT garnish your SS payments nor can they take the money from you after it has been paid to you; for example, the portion of your bank account that is attributable to your SS benefits is EXEMPT from LEVY OR ATTACHMENT

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Originally Posted by tickle

duboisworks, anything, any payment, any benefit that is automatically deposited into an account is subject to garnishment. The gov't. wont differentiate the deposit and not take it. That is why i said basically, if your social security cheque is in there, then it will be taken as well, to cover the debt. If the govt. wants your debt cleared off, and the direct deposit comes from them in the way of social security cheque, then good luck in having the direct deposit reversed.

I suggest you read the posts by kayakgirl who is a paralegal on this same subject. It will give you decent insite into your question and the subsequent postings in the same thread will be enlightening.

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I did not read what Kayakgirl has posted but, that having been said, this is absolutely not correct - SS is EXEMPT from garnishment for a debt.

It's Federal law.

Lets get the facts straight here. Social security payments are not garnishable. This means the creditor can't serve the SSA with a garnishment order. However, once the money is deposited into a bank account, it becomes commingled funds and IS subject to attachment. The bank cannot make any distinction between the source of the funds unless previously informed.

So you messed up, knowing there was a judgement against you, you should have informed your bank, that that account was used for direct deposit of social security payments which are exempt.

Now there is an additional problem of the $300. That money is not exempt so that may be attachable.

What you need to do now is what Mr Yet suggested. You need to inform the bank of the source of the funds and Give an accounting. You then need a to file a motion with the court that issued the garnishment to vacate or adjust the order.

I have a Social Security account direct deposit and in July I deposited the Stimulus check of $300 into it.It was spent to pay up my last seasons fuel bill. This August a collection company put a lien on this account and they asked for 3 months of statements from my bank account. Of course the $300 deposit was there. They say they can demand that money and are doing so.Can they?::confused:

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Originally Posted by duboisworks

I have a Social Security account direct deposit and in July I deposited the Stimulus check of $300 into it.It was spent to pay up my last seasons fuel bill. This August a collection company put a lein on this account and they asked for 3 months of statements from my bank account. Of course the $300 deposit was there. They say they can demand that money and are doing so.Can they?::confused:

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I believe they can - it's not SS benefits, it's a stimulus check.

I would believe they are attempting to determine if the money in your account was strictly SS (exempt) benefits of co-mingled funds. This has been addressed before in great detail in answer to your earlier post.

This $300 does make the money in your bank co-mingled funds and the monies can be seized.

I realize Mr Yet posted that according to law SS monies remain unattachable even if co-mingled; a friend of mine (on SS disability) just had this same situation and the account WAS frozen and seized because the Court said no one has the time or inclination to go through the account, item line by item line, and determine what was deposited, what was spent, whether the money spent came from the SS check or the other deposit. Therefore, she could not get the seizure lifted and the money came out of her account.

If the balance of your account is currently greater than $300 then yes they can demand that money. You can't prove that the $300 you spent was the same $300 that was deposited. Its commingled funds. So any non exempt funds that were deposited could be considered fair game.

If this were to go to court I think you would lose.

Judykay tee: Thanks, that's what I'm being told by the bank, who have added $75 charges to all of this.I'm also being told my account can be frozen every 6 months or more! It really sucks.

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Originally Posted by duboisworks

Judykay tee: Thanks, that's what I'm being told by the bank, who have added $75 charges to all of this.I'm also being told my account can be frozen every 6 months or more!! It really sucks.

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Did you stop the automatic deposit - or don't put anything else in the account. That would end it.

And then I would close the account and let them find you all over again.

If you can -

Judykaytee: Yes I've done all of that but when they put the lean on most of my SocSec money was in it with checks made out on those funds .Now it seems the bank is holding those checks and after the collection agency removes $300, the bank already collected its $75 many of my checks will bounce and the bank will charge me $25 a piece for that not to mention the charges from the companies I made the checks out to. Do you have any suggestions as to how to stop this snowballing?

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Originally Posted by duboisworks

judykaytee: Yes I've done all of that but when they put the lean on most of my SocSec money was in it with checks made out on those funds .Now it seems the bank is holding those checks and after the collection agency removes $300, the bank already collected its $75 many of my checks will bounce and the bank will charge me $25 a peice for that not to mention the charges from the companies I made the checks out to. Do you have any suggestions as to how to stop this snowballing?

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Wow, I wish I did but the banks sort of make up their own rules as they go along. Sounds like this is going to be a VERY expensive experience.

You could always consult with an Attorney to see what to do, perhaps get the whole "seizure" think knocked out of the question but that would also cost you money and I don't know that you can win.

Whatever you do, do not believe the banks. You can ask all you want and inform them of the SSI Direct Deposit payments, but getting through to their legal department is a lost cause. I experienced this with Chase. Finally, I contacted a attorney, who simply said... HAVE THE CHECK MAILED TO YOU, AND IT CAN'T BE TOUCHED. When the bank saw what was happening, they... unfroze the account, and deposited back again what was taken, plus all the charges.

They also used the old COMINGLED trick, but I raised so much heck that it finally changed. I still won't trust the bank. Regardless of what they say.

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Originally Posted by duboisworks

judykaytee: Yes I've done all of that but when they put the lean on most of my SocSec money was in it with checks made out on those funds .Now it seems the bank is holding those checks and after the collection agency removes $300, the bank already collected its $75 many of my checks will bounce and the bank will charge me $25 a peice for that not to mention the charges from the companies I made the checks out to. Do you have any suggestions as to how to stop this snowballing?

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It's a GET YOUR MONEY THING. The banks don't care. If they can get away with it, they will keep trying. They use the excuse... WE'RE BOUND. All of this happened to me because of $18,000.00 ID Theft.

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Originally Posted by Jim645D

The banks don't care. If they can get away with it, they will keep trying. They use the excuse...WE'RE BOUND.

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I have to comment on this. Banks don't get anything out of a levy. In fact it costs them money. But then, an attempt to fight it costs them even more.

You should never put the $300 in your checking as you do not want your creditors to find it. Just get a money order for the amount to be paid etc.I guess this is too late but this is for future info.My bank told me since the judgment was on my property & I need to get this off so that evil female will not get money that I do not owe, do not deposit any money into your checking at this time so the liars and courts will not see it or get it. Lay low with any money you get and hold on to it so no one sees it for now. Rita- YOu see how power plays a role in peoples lives who have more money that you. I cannot believe this has happened to me.This 2006 to present case has caused me to lose those years of my life. I had no money for atty. & typed, copy, mail, drive, lost sleep, stamps, mail copies to the 4 people involed in the case.I just hated to type the liars names on the docs & the envelopes.I did not want to see their faces in courts. Glad for these [email protected]