A landlord took us to court over 2 months of unpaid rent back in 2002, he won the case against us and the judge ordered us to pay $3k. We were not given any documentation of this decision by the judge or anyone in court. The plaintiff's atty told us at the courthouse that we would be receiving paperwork from them within 2 weeks. I thought all I had to do was wait to receive documentations (we're totally ignorant on how this legal process works and we self-represented - no $$ for a lawyer). It's been a month and a half and no communication from them. Yesterday my husband's bank account was levied. They took only $500 that were in there but his account now reflects -$6k. The pl. atty says that's the norm, they double the amount. Is this legal? To levy an account for twice what's owed and to never receive notice of this from plaintiff attorney or my bank? PLEEEEEEASE give me some advice (I live in NYC - just in case that matters). Thanks.

First, its perfectly legal to attach your assets without notice. Once they were awarded the judgement they could use it to attach assets and garnish wages.

But no, its not legal to take more than the amount awarded.

Did you indicate you were not going to pay the judgement? Are you prepared to pay the $3K?

Sort of, I was hoping to negotiate w/ the landlord for 2k (in cash) instead. But I was told by his atty to wait for all paperwork from their office and then we'd discuss. I've been in talks w/ him today and I'm ready to give them the 2k (plus the $500 they already took) so in actuality I'd be settling for $2500. He said he needs to speak to his client and see if he accepts (though he mentioned he's a total greedy jerk and may not go for it). Is there anything I can do to remove the levy? Can I further complain to the court about never being notified AND MOST OF ALL having this firm double the levy? Should I have received documentation of this decision at the courthouse that same day? And can I raise hell w/ my bank for never contacting me either?

Like I said, the levy is legal expect for the amount. And I don't think that will give you grounds for any action. Your bank was under no obligation to inform you of anything.

However, you should have gotten a copy of the judgement from the court clerk that day. But that's what you get for self representing.

You MIGHT be able to report the atty to the bar association. If you gave him to understand that you wanted to negotiate a settlement and he proceeded with a levy without giving you that opportunity there might be an ethics violation. I would talk to the local Bar association about that, you may be able to use it as leverage.

That's exactly what I was thinking, to file a complaint w/ the NYS Bar Association, but I'll wait to see if the landord and atty are cooperative with my offer first. Guess I don't have much recourse now, except to try and stop my husband's direct deposit and/or close the account. I'll also try to go to court and obtain a copy of the judgement. Thank you very much for your help ScottGem, at least now I'm better informed.

I'm curious, what was the dispute with the LL about?

First get all this silly idea of offer out of your head, that is what you do before they get a judgement. Once they get a judgement, they can attach your bank accounts and garnish your pay check. ( if allowed in your state)
So they have no reason at all to settle for anything less thanthier 3000 dollars.

While Chuck has a point, unless they know where to get it all in one lump, they may decide to settle. But that's also probably why they proceeded as they did. They figured you want to settle for less than the judgement amount and they want the whole thing.

Thank you very much for your advice (both of you), I was able to settle this debt for $500 less than what was owed and as it turns out my husband's account is only frozen - no money has been pulled out yet so I'll have to wait until Tuesday for the account to be released in order to use what's there and complete the settlement amount. What a RELIEF!
**Problem w/ LL: He rented the UNCARPETED 1BR apt upstairs to a family of 6 (inc. 2 young children) the noise was unbearable 24 hrs a day. Parties, kids running, playing marbles on the bare floor even bouncing a basketball!! He never enforced anything despite our many complaints. Stopped paying 2 months. Rent and put it into an escrow acct. Ultimately we left w/ 2 months to go on our lease - so he sued us for 4 months. Judge reduced it to 2 + atty fees, hence the $3200 debt.