Today I received papers in the mail stating a company had filed a writ of garnishment against my husband for $3700, it was not for garnishment of his wages but to his bank account. I logged on and sure enough his bank account had been drained to zero. It says all deposits going in will be froze until this unpaid balance is paid in full. How can they do this? If they garnish your wages they can only take 25% of your deissposable earnings, how can they take everything from your bank account? I am unemployed and we need his money to pay the basics like rent and food. I am really scared. I contacted the law firm that applied for this writ of garnishment and they aren't returning my calls. I don't see anything about a court date, and we never received anything saying we were being sued/taken to court. I am really at a loss. Can someone please advise. I have all the legal documents that they mailed me but can't tell if we have a court date or if they are just freezing his account until the money is paid back.:eek:

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Originally Posted by sunnydays1305

Today I received papers in the mail stating a company had filed a writ of garnishment against my husband for $3700, it was not for garnishment of his wages but to his bank account. I logged on and sure enough his bank account had been drained to zero. It says all deposits going in will be froze until this unpaid balance is paid in full. How can they do this? If they garnish your wages they can only take 25% of your deissposable earnings, how can they take everything from your bank account? I am unemployed and we need his money to pay the basics like rent and food. I am really scared. I contacted the law firm that applied for this writ of garnishment and they aren't returning my calls. I don't see anything about a court date, and we never received anything saying we were being sued/taken to court. I am really at a loss. can someone please advise. I have all the legal documents that they mailed me but can't tell if we have a court date or if they are just freezing his account until the money is paid back.:eek:

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Yes, if they have a Judgment (which resulted from a Court hearing) they can legally do this - garnishment and liens against bank accounts are two different things. Obviously if the account is seized and frozen do NOT put any additional money in the account or that will be most likely be grabbed, too. If the debt is not satisfied and you are in a State that allows garnishment the paycheck may very well be the next thing to be attached.

If you were not served with Court papers (a Summons) in this matter, then you have to go to Court, argue that you were not aware of the proceeding and have the matter put back on the calendar for another Hearing. In the meantime your account will remain frozen.

What "legal documents" did they mail you? There is a common misconception that you must be personally served but that is not correct.

The harsh reality is that the law firm does not have to talk to you - they already have a Judgment, they already have partial payment, they may feel there is nothing left to say.

As noted for the bank to honor the writ, they had to have obtained a judgement previously. If you have never received any notifiication of a suit and the judgement, then you may be able to get the writ lifted.

You need to find the court and docket # of the case that the writ was issued on. You then need to go to that court and file a motion to Vacate the Judgement on the grounds of improper Service. You can then get a hearing where the plaintiff will show what was done to serve you notice of the suit. If they can't prove legal service, the judgement will be vacated and the freeze lifted. But that just means that the plaintiff will refile the suit. But you will then have a chance to defend against it.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

As noted for the bank to honor the writ, they had to have obtained a judgement previously. If you have never received any notifiication of a suit and the judgement, then you may be able to get the writ lifted.

You need to find the court and docket # of the case that the writ was issued on. You then need to go to that court and file a motion to Vacate the Judgement on the grounds of improper Service. You can then get a hearing where the plaintiff will show what was done to serve you notice of the suit. If they can't prove legal service, the judgement will be vacated and the freeze lifted. But that just means that the plaintiff will refile the suit. But you will then have a chance to defend against it.

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Scott is right about the procedure - I went from the beginning to the end and left out the middle! Sorry -

Thank you for your help on this, both of you. The documents I got in the mail on 5/18/08 are as follows:
Writ of Garnishment "copy" of what was sent to Bank of America
Applicaation for Writ of Garnishment "copy"
And Exemption Claim forms

I don't see anything saying when we have a hearing, everything is stamped 5/6/08. We did not receive anything else saying we had a court date of 5/6 or whatever seemed to happen that date. I have a case/docket number. On the application for Writ it says "dated February 29, 2008" at the end. On the front is says "received May 6, 2008" which was stamped at the courhouse. If you have any further suggestions I would much appreciate it. Thank you.

You aren't listening. There is no hearing at this point. The hearing was held already and you apparently didn't show. You can take the case and docket number down to the court and find out who sued you, when, for how much and when the judgement was issued.

You then do what I suggested about filing a motion to Vacate Judgement IF you were never served any notice of the suit.

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Originally Posted by sunnydays1305

Thank you for your help on this, both of you. the documents I got in the mail on 5/18/08 are as follows:
Writ of Garnishment "copy" of what was sent to Bank of America
Applicaation for Writ of Garnishment "copy"
and Exemption Claim forms

I don't see anything saying when we have a hearing, everything is stamped 5/6/08. We did not receive anything else saying we had a court date of 5/6 or whatever seemed to happen that date. I have a case/docket number. On the application for Writ it says "dated February 29, 2008" at the end. on the front is says "received May 6, 2008" which was stamped at the courhouse. if you have any further suggestions I would much appreciate it. Thank you.

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What you have in your hands is really a notice of the RESULT of a hearing, not a notice of a Hearing itself. The Hearing has been held and you have "lost," a Judgment has been granted against you.

If you never received notice of the Hearing, then do as Scott advised - the Hearing could have been some time ago and the creditor is just now getting around to collecting. This is not always a one step, immediate second step thing, although it can be.

If you do get this set aside and don't have a defense, they will simply re-serve you and get another Judgment.