Let's Go to the Mall...for a Bank Levy

How to Levy a Bank Account in California

I am a huge fan of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. Whenever I hear about something associated with malls, I immediately think of Robin Sparkles' hit song, "Let's Go to the Mall." But now I like malls for another reason: I can have a major bank served with a bank levy there. How is that possible? I'll get there, but first, let's discuss the process of levying a bank account.

How to Levy a Bank Account

Once you have obtained a judgment, the basic process for levying a bank account is as follows:

1. Figure out where your debtor banks. There are several ways to go about this, but I am not going to get into that in this post. Once you have determined where they bank, you must check the State of California's website, which identifies the proper branch to serve bank levies here Bank Levy Central Branch Locator.

2. Obtain a writ of execution for the county that has the correct bank branch. As I discussed in my nuts and bolts of wage garnishment post, the judgment is not the instrument that you need to do bank levies. A writ of execution is the document needed. A writ of execution can be issued for each county in the State of California. Writs are valid for 6 months and can be renewed as long as your judgment is valid. In California, judgments are valid for 10 years and are infinitely renewable.

3. Send the writ with levy instructions to the sheriff of the county. This is another situation where different counties have different instructions for levies and require different things to be submitted. The best source to figure out what is necessary to be submitted is the website of the county sheriffs. Some counties do not have any instructions at all. In that case, you must write your own. We make sure that we keep templates saved for each county in our forms library for quick access. As I mentioned in the wage garnishment post, some county sheriffs will not serve bank levies. In that situation, or the situation where the county sheriff is overwhelmed, which is sometimes the case in Los Angeles and Sacramento, you hire a private process server to serve the levy. You would still have to have the process server open the levy with the sheriff, which is the official levying officer (where the return to the levy must be sent and funds from the levy must be sent).

4. Once the levy is served on the proper bank branch, the bank has a certain time in which it must submit a response to the levy to the sheriff. Occasionally, a bank will not respond to the levy, and we will have to send them a friendly reminder that they need to respond or face a creditor's lawsuit.

5. Once they respond with information on the levy, the judgment debtor is notified of the levy, and they have a certain period of time to claim the funds exempt. Once that time passes, if no claim of exemption is filed, then the bank turns the money over to the sheriff, and then the sheriff cuts us a check.

If you need help levying a bank account contact us HERE

Claims of Exemption

Claims of Exemption

by Antonia Gordon and Bryan Grundon

There are many ways to collect on a judgment. Wage garnishments and bank levies happen to be two of the most common and reliable methods. With the first, we can garnish a debtor’s wages and thus ensure consistent payments on a judgment. With the second, we gain access to whatever funds a debtor has in their account at the time of the levy.

Unfortunately, garnishments and levies may not always be completely successful. After the Sheriff serves one of these on a bank or employer, the debtor receives notice and has a chance to respond to it. They can complete a form called a claim of exemption, which allows them to claim part (or all) of their wages or the funds in their bank account as exempt. If the claimed wages or funds are necessary to support the debtor or their family, the court may grant their claim (in full or in part), and we will not be able to collect the full amount from the garnishment or levy. The debtor, however, must provide proof that their earnings or funds are exempt. The first step to this is filling out a financial statement in which they list their monthly earnings and expenses, including those of their spouse.

Once a debtor files a claim of exemption, you have the opportunity to oppose it. If you do not oppose it by following a very specific procedure, the exemption is granted by operation of law. Opposing a claim of exemption involves reviewing the debtor’s financial statement to look for any inconsistencies or excessive spending. If we believe that the debtor can afford to pay more than they claim, we will set a hearing with the court and file paperwork to oppose the claim. At the hearing, both parties will get the chance to argue their side. In most cases, the debtor can afford to pay at least a small amount, even when they claim they cannot afford to pay anything at all. In their financial statements, debtors may overestimate how much they spend on certain things, such as food and gas. We have even had debtors claim they make a certain amount per month only to have their employer reveal that they actually make significantly more. Judges are never happy to see this kind of deception! We make sure we have the full story before going to court, so the debtor ends up paying what they can actually afford, and you are able to collect on your judgment.