What do you need to know about collecting a judgment in Banks, Georgia? Consult an experienced attorney.
You may be wondering how to collect a judgment in Banks that you’ve won. This situation often occurs when a debtor falls behind on payments and you’re unable to reach an agreement on how to bring the account current. Several strategies are available, beginning with phone calls and letters to resolve the past-due status of the debt. If that fails you may need to levy the debtor’s bank accounts. The following steps show how to accomplish this task.
Authorization
Filing a civil suit against your debtors for the money they owe is one option. You will usually do this through your county’s magistrate or municipal court. The court may grant you a default judgment if the debtor can’t show the suit is invalid in some way. The most common way for debtors to do this is to prove they have already paid the debt. Assuming this isn’t the case, the court is likely to grant the judgment. Once it does, you can apply for authorization to levy your debtor’s bank account.
Bank Notification
Send a letter to your debtor’s bank demanding it freeze the account and remove all eligible funds from the account. Attorneys call this act a bank levy, which usually stays in place until the debtor has satisfied the debt. However, the specific terms of the levy depend on the state. For example, some states impose a maximum period that the levy can remain in effect.The debtor can make deposits into a levied account, but not withdrawals. The bank can then transfer all eligible funds to the court, which will make payments towards your judgment debt.
Debtor Notification
Most states require you or the bank to notify the debtor after the bank has levied an account. States don’t require you to provide this notification before the levy is in place. That means you’ll typically wait until the levy has been in place for at least three days before issuing the notification. This strategy prevents the debtor from draining the account before the bank can remove funds from it.
Exemptions
Some funds are exempt from a bank levy depending on federal and state laws. Federal laws prevent you from levying some funds that derive from sources other than employment income. These sources include the following:
- Social Security benefits
- Disability payments
- Unemployment compensation
- Child support payments
Some states impose a specific minimum on levied accounts to prevent you from completely draining it. A wild-card exemption for levies may also exist in some states. This type of exemption allows debtors to protect part of their assets from a levy, subject to a specific maximum amount.Schedule your complimentary consultation with the Wilbanks Law Firm, P.C. Learn how to collect a judgment in Banks, GA by calling [nap_phone id=”LOCAL-REGULAR-NUMBER-2″] now.