What all types of property can be seized after a civiil judgment?

[Gandolf]

I ask this because I just prevailed in court and won a 7500 dollar judgment against a person who broke a contract we had and ripped me off. It is unlikely this person will willingly pay me, so I will have to collect on their assets. I understand cars can be seized and bank account can be as well, if you can find them and the person has anything in them.

I wanted to know, is it possible to have personal property seized from inside of a person's apartment building? I don't have any of this person's bank info, but I do know where they live (they rent an apartment in a big apartment complex) and they do have a decent amount of nice clothing, furniture, appliances, and things of that nature. Would I be able to have the Sheriff enter their apartment to collect those types of belongings to auction?

If anyone has any information or experience, I appreciate it. Myself and the debtor both reside in Maryland, by the way.

[jq26]

Howdy,

First this is very state driven. Every state is totally different from the last. In fact, some counties within the state may be more aggressive than other counties within the same state (though they must follow the same general state law).

This area of the law is VERY complicated. Ordinarily, I'm on the other side of the debtor creditor equation, filing bks for those who may or may not have a judgment against them. Recently, I have a client with a few small judgments. Aside from a lot of research, yesterday I spent an hour on the phone with the sheriff's office. Let's just say that getting a judgment in hand is about 40% of the battle. The remaining 60% is trying to collect.

So to answer your question, at least in my state, it is possible to have the sheriff break and enter, but that's step 2. You first have to pay the $160 to have a writ of levy for personal property written and served on the sheriff. If they deny the sheriff/constable entry, then you must make a demand for break and enter.

But check out your state exemptions. In my state, exemptions are puny. $300, a sewing machine, tools of the trade, wearing apparel. That's about it. Not even a vehicle exemption. In your state, they may have more robust exemptions which may put you out a few hundred and not lead to any payment. Does your state allow wage garnishment? They do not have it in my state.

One avenue I am exploring is having the sheriff serve debtor interrogatories on the judgment debtor. There is a procedure in my state where you can ask the debtor questions as to location of all property, where they bank etc. and they must file an answer or they could face contempt. It only costs $59, which is much cheaper than levying on the debtor for $160 and having the judge release the levy at the exemption hearing.

Another idea I had was to send this defendant a check for $2.00, then if/when it clears, I can clean out their bank account with a writ of garnishment. That will cost me $53.

So a few options exist, but be careful. This area of the law is full of landmines. It is a cat and mouse game.

[WhoCares1000]

You would have to tell us what state you are in first before we an answer that question. There are also other issues to consider:

1) Most likely, all the furniture will be exempt from levy under the furniture exemption rules in your state. All states have such an exemption and most of them are pretty liberal.

2) Since the person rents an apartment, a lien on the home is out of the question.

3) A car is a tough one because there is a limited state exemption and any value left in the car you could possibly collect is after the loan is paid off. Not a first place to look.

This leaves:

4) Employment income garnishment - If they are employed somewhere (Social Security and most government aid is exempt), you can have the employee served an order to garnish the persons wages. Rules differ in each state and some states do not allow employee income garnishment (TX and SC come to mind immediately).

5) Bank account levy - This can only work if the person does not have exempt income (again, such as Social Security or other government aid). You can either blanket all the local banks with a garnishment order or would have to find out where they bank through a Financial Interview Hearing (See below).

Financial Interview Hearing

One may to find assets that can be levied is to require the debtor to attend a hearing (more like a deposition) in court where you as the creditor get to ask the debtor what assets they have and where they are located. If you go this route, the debtor is required to attend the hearing and failing to do so can mean an Order for Contempt of Court, an Arrest Warrant, and possibly jail. This costs money but some states allow you to recoup the costs.

[jq26]

Maryland.

And regarding the garnishment of bank accounts, every bank you list costs money, so just be careful not to throw good money after bad.

[Guest usctrojanalum]

To be honest, the easiest way to collect this is to hire a private investigator to follow the debtor to work one day and get their place of employment for wage garnishment. I don't know how expensive they are by you, but here if a PI can complete his job in one day the cost is only about $100 which is pretty reasonable.

[Gandolf]

You would have to tell us what state you are in first before we an answer that question.

I did already.

Myself and the debtor both reside in Maryland, by the way.

[WhoCares1000]

OK, in Maryland, you can attach up to 25% of the persons net wages (I assume that would be after taxes and other tax free deductions). That would be the first thing I would go after.

I assume you can also levy bank accounts so the next step would be to request the debtor fill out a financial form detailing their property. This is required by the court under threat of contempt of court. Clerk should be able to show you how to set that up.

Finally, as for the furniture, the debtor is allowed up to $500 worth of furniture. They may have more than that based on store prices but realize that the value of most furniture is garage sale/flea market price because that would be all the sheriff would be able to get. It will probably cost you more to collect and sell the furniture than you would get. I would not go this route.

[Templar]

Seizing personal property must be akin to shooting yourself in the foot. I've yet to see property seizure in NYS. ...Think it's because of the admin requirements [read: Expense], and there's liberal exemptions to pay a debt...will become more consumer friendly starting 2011. I know area lawyers hate the thought. Seldom equals the effort.

Not too many folks have a Van Gogh hanging in the living room. A paid off car or boat might be worth seizing, but it's still a bunch of admin to acquire.

If this is something personal I suggest mugging the people in an alley for satisfaction.

[jq26]

Every state is different. In PA, personal property levy isn't a bad option. There is no vehicle exemption and if the debtor doesn't let the sheriff into the home, they will look into any windows and take an inventory. The sheriff will return to tow the vehicles and pick up the goods a short time later if the judgment isn't paid. Lawn tractors, lawnmowers, anything kept outside in a shed- all go bye-bye.

The problem is the $160 expense, the burdensome paperwork, and the robust tenancy by the entirety protections. According to the sheriff's office, 90% of the time it is just easier to garnish their bank- and it costs a fraction as much. But it isn't as fun!

One of my clients is a small business that is struggling that has an unpaid debt of a few hundred dollars from a woman who lives in a 6200 sq foot home. Yes, she screwed over a struggling businessman for $200 and she is sitting on millions along with her attorney husband. They don't care because the judgment is against her and most everything they own is TBE joint marital property so it is untouchable (and they know it because he is a prominent attorney in the area). They have a swing set in their yard that must cost $5,000. I may have the sheriff levy on it and then have the business owner (judgment creditor) bid $200 on it. If he gets it he can give it to me as payment and we'll all be even. My 2yr old would love it.

Edited September 16, 2010 by jq26

[Guest usctrojanalum]

Seizing personal property must be akin to shooting yourself in the foot. I've yet to see property seizure in NYS.

Personal property is really only worth seizing on judgments of like 50k+ How many of those types of judgments have you seen? That's probably why you have never seen a property seizure.

You are right, the expense to take a car or something big like that is about $1,000. So doing it on a puny consumer debt that is like 5k obv not worth it lol.

The new trend is to send a subpoena to the debtor to show up for a judgment debtors exam, if they fail to do so then bring a contempt motion. If they fail to purge the contempt then bring an arrest motion. This whole process only costs about $150 (which gets added into the judgment and is less than the fine of the contempt)

[jq26]

$160 to levy property in PA. Unless I am missing something. I spent a half hour on the phone with the sheriff's office clarifying some of this. That's levy and sale costs. Plus you add all of the costs to the judgment.

This is how a debt of $200 has already become $350, and if/when we levy it will become $510. Small numbers, but annoying. The guy just wants to bust chops with it.

A family member of mine had his car seized by the constable two years ago over a $1500 judgment. I had to file a Chapter 7 on his behalf to have the property released. In a state with virtually no exemptions, small judgments are executed.

Edited September 16, 2010 by jq26

[Guest usctrojanalum]

It's really because PA has that ridiculous 10k exemption on bank accounts.

[jq26]

....only on bank accounts containing exempt funds (SSI, VA, etc.). I agree though- they make it difficult to have any recourse anymore. It seems only a sucker would extend credit in some of these states.

[albertnices]

Here by give order of civil judge which will be appear at the end of judgement so do as of order it will be great here.

[Oarman1954]

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