I was notified that a garnishment on my bank account was put in place due to a judgement against me. Will the bank continue to freeze money direct deposited into the account if the deposit is more than the total amount of the garnishment, or does the bank only freeze up to the amount of the garnishment? The bank is in Georgia.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Once the debt is satisfied the account should be released.

Thanks, ScottGem. Does that mean that once the bank sends the money to the court for distribution to the plaintiff the funds remaining in the bank will continue to be frozen until the bank is notified by the court? Thanks.

It shouldn't. They have an order for a specific amount. If the amount in the order has been satisfied they should lift it. Have you talked to the bank manager about it?

Thanks for your answer. I will be speaking with the branch manager tomorrow morning (thank heaven for Saturday banking).

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Originally Posted by subcover

I was notified that a garnishment on my bank account was put in place due to a judgement against me. Will the bank continue to freeze money direct deposited into the account if the deposit is more than the total amount of the garnishment, or does the bank only freeze up to the amount of the garnishment? The bank is in Georgia.

Thanks in advance for any help.

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As a victim of a garnishment and in the same situation again, you must do it on a weekday because the branch manager will have to contact corporate to get the okay to release your funds. That will normally take three to four hours depending on your bank.

How did someone get a bank account garnishment without notifiying the debtor that they were after it in the first place. It was my understanding that if a creditor wanted to take that route, they had to serve you with notice and you would have your day in court. Maybe the laws are different here in WI. Can someone clarify?

The debtor may have been notified about the judgement, though its certainly possible for a default judgement to be entered without the creditor's knowledge. It is NOT necessary to give the debtor warning of a seizure of assets once the judgement has been obtained..

That must be just in your state, I know in the state of WI, they have to allow you your day in court. Because if there is another person listed on the bank account they can't attach a garnishment to it.

No, that's in most states. Why bother allowing garnishments in that case? If you were notified they were going to garnish your account, then you march right down to the bank and clean out the account before you go to court.

Some states do require that a freeze be placed first and a time goes by before the funds are transferred to the garnisher. This gives the debtor time to fight it. But it makes no sense to warn the debtor before freezing the account.

No not really because if you receive a notice that the creditor is wanting to garnish your bank account, you are given your day in court. In the state of WI when someone gets a judgment against you, you are required to fill out a financial disclosure statement. Which includes bank accounts and balance info, asset information. This will give the creditor information on what they can go after if anything. If you list on there that you have a checking or savings account but you only have $50 bucks in it. You are asked to prove it by providing them with 2 months recent bank statements or in some cases the last 12 months worth of bank statements. So its very obvious then if you run down to the bank and take all your money out, the judge will see right through that. I know in the state of WI any federal judgments or child support judgments they don't have to give you notice that they are garnishing your assets or even taking your tax returns. Any other judgments like civil they have to notify you and you get your day in court and an opportunity to show that you do not have any assets or that you do. You are then required to show proof.

You HAD your day in court. When the judgement was bought against you. THAT is when you should have fought it. Once you lose and a judgement is entered, then its simply a matter of collecting on it. Why should a debtor, someone who is denying the creditor money that is legally owed them, get ANOTHER day in court?

I hear what your saying Scott, it doesn't seem fair. But the court systems are in place to protect eveybody. Even the bad people. And what I explained above is how the law reads in the state I live in. Not sure about where you live, I know this because I had a judgment against someone over a dog that I purchased from them and I had to file another motion to try and take it out of his checking account. Just giving my personal experience.

Yes, in most places you have to file a specific motion to obtain an order of garnishment. You can't just take the judgement order to the bank. But that doesn't require a hearing. You simply present the order with a copy of the judgement and the judge signs it.