Bank
Garnishment.

Taking the money straight from the debtor's bank account

Somewhere there is an account with the debtor's name on it and money in it. A bank garnishment is the court ordering that bank to freeze the money and hand it over to pay your judgment. It is fast, it is quiet until the moment it lands, and when the account is well chosen, one garnishment can satisfy the judgment outright.

What a bank garnishment is

Garnishment is the process by which a judgment creditor reaches money that a third party, the garnishee, is holding for or owes to the debtor. When the garnishee is a bank, the money is the debtor's deposit balance. Florida's garnishment statute, Chapter 77 of the Florida Statutes, governs the process. The creditor files a motion for a writ of garnishment; the clerk issues the writ; the writ is served on the bank. On service, the bank must freeze funds in the debtor's accounts up to the amount stated in the writ, which includes the judgment, interest, and costs, and must answer the writ within twenty days stating what it holds. The frozen funds are then paid over to the creditor by court order, after the debtor has had the opportunity to claim any exemption.

Because a garnishment captures what is in the account on the day it is served, the timing and the choice of bank matter more than anything else. A writ served on the wrong bank returns an answer of "no funds" and a bill for the bank's statutory fee. A writ served on the right bank the day after payroll deposits clear can capture everything.

Why this matters to your judgment

Bank garnishment is often the first enforcement tool used after judgment and, in commercial cases, the most productive. A business debtor has operating accounts that it cannot function without, and a garnishment that freezes them gets the owner's attention in a way nothing before it has. Even when the balance captured is modest, the disruption tends to produce a phone call and, frequently, a payment arrangement for the rest. For an individual debtor, a bank account is often the only liquid asset, and the one the debtor least expects you to find.

The limits are procedural and they are strict. The creditor must send the debtor a copy of the writ and a notice of the debtor's exemption rights within days of service on the bank, and a copy of the bank's answer within five days after it is filed; the debtor then has twenty days to claim an exemption or move to dissolve the writ. Wages of a head of family that were deposited within the last six months remain exempt in the account if they can be traced. Certain federal benefits are protected and the bank will not freeze them. A garnishment that skips a step can be dissolved, and the creditor is liable for the bank's fee regardless. Done correctly, it holds.

Just suppose

The following is an illustrative example, written to show how the process works. It is not a real client, a real matter, or a promise of any result.

Imagine you own an electrical subcontracting company in Orlando. A general contractor owes you $46,000 on a tenant-improvement job near the airport and has ignored the judgment you obtained four months ago. The contractor is still working; you have seen its trucks at two other sites. What you also have, in your own files, is a copy of the last check the contractor paid you, fourteen months ago, drawn on a bank branch on Semoran Boulevard.

That cancelled check is the whole strategy. Your counsel files a motion for a writ of garnishment against that bank, the clerk issues the writ, and a process server serves it on the bank's registered agent for garnishments on a Tuesday, the day after the contractor's receivables typically post. The bank freezes the contractor's operating account and answers within the twenty days: $31,400 on deposit. Counsel mails the contractor the writ and notice on the required schedule, and the bank's answer within five days of its filing. The contractor, a corporation, has no exemption to claim. Twenty days after the answer is served, counsel moves for a final judgment in garnishment, the court enters it, and the bank sends $31,400 to your counsel's trust account.

The contractor's owner, whose payroll bounced, calls the same week. The remaining $15,000 plus interest and the garnishment costs are paid within thirty days in exchange for your counsel not serving the second bank identified from the contractor's fact information sheet.

How a bank garnishment works in Florida

First, identification of the bank: from checks the debtor paid you, from the debtor's sworn fact information sheet, from a deposition, or from an asset search. Second, the motion for the writ, stating the judgment amount, interest, and costs, and the clerk's issuance of the writ, with a deposit of the garnishee's statutory fee. Third, service on the bank, which freezes the funds. Fourth, the bank's answer within twenty days. Fifth, the notices to the debtor: the writ and the notice of exemption rights within five business days after the writ issues or three business days after it is served on the bank, whichever is later, and the bank's answer within five days after it is filed, starting the debtor's twenty-day period to claim an exemption or move to dissolve. Sixth, if no valid exemption is claimed, a motion for final judgment in garnishment directing the bank to pay the funds to the creditor. A separate writ is required for each garnishee, and a new writ can be served on the same bank later if the first did not satisfy the judgment.

Common questions

How do you find out where the debtor banks?

Payments the debtor made to you, the fact information sheet the court can order the debtor to complete, a deposition of the debtor, subpoenas to third parties, and asset-search services. Recent payments to you are usually the best lead.

Can a bank garnishment reach a joint account?

It depends on how the account is titled and whose funds are in it. A non-debtor joint owner can claim the portion that is theirs. Accounts held by spouses as tenants by the entirety are generally protected from the debt of one spouse alone.

What does it cost?

The clerk's fee for the writ, the garnishee's statutory fee, and service costs, plus attorney's fees. Costs are added to the judgment. A garnishment served on the wrong bank still incurs the garnishee's fee, which is why we confirm the account first.

How often can I garnish?

As often as there are funds to reach. Each writ captures what is in the account when served; a debtor who continues to deposit can be garnished again.

The discipline behind the result

A bank garnishment is won on the choice of bank and the timing of service, and it is kept by following Chapter 77's notice requirements to the day. We identify the account, serve the writ when the money is there, and complete every step so the funds reach you. Bring us the judgment. Call (813) 288-1881.