Bank levy

It can happen if it is a government levy. No court order is needed

I'm guessing you live in Texas, Pennsylvania, or the Carolinas? It can happen anywhere, but in one of those non-garn states it is more common.

Is a joint account subject to levy? I was curious about this. Where can this information be found?

For a non-government debt, a court order is needed...in most states I thought.

cturner-come on back with more info.

If the courts order a levy, they send a notice to the bank, and the bank is required to honor that. If they don't, they can be sued by the courts. When I worked at a bank, if we got them, we had to date it and put down how the notice was served, and the time. Also, our names. It's all very legal. It then gets sent to the legal department, and they take either the full amount of the levy, if the balance in the account is sufficient, or take everything from the account leaving a dollar. Sounds like what happened to your friend. But, it's always done from a court order. It's not something banks do just to get money. There's more to this story your friend hasn't told you. She's probably been contacted by the courts at some time, and this is the only way the courts decided they could collect on a judgment. The IRS is famous for doing this. Does she owe back takes? Does she own her own business and hasn't paid her TT&L payments for her employees payroll? She needs to talk to the bank, and get a copy of the levy order. She should be getting her own copy in the mail, too, from the courts.

You're right, it is always a court order..It's basically the same thing as a garnishment. That's why I'm figuring this is a non garnishment state.

It was the state of Ohio who levied the account. I'm assuming it was for back taxes. I still havn't talked in length to her about this yet. I will update when more info becomes available. Her husband also said they wipped out a savings account with another bank also. The balance in the savings account was only a couple of hundred dollars. sad stuff.

The State of Ohio doesn't mess around......I have had two things go to them and they came after me FAST but it didn't get to the point of a bank levy. As soon as I got notice that I owed them, I called them and set up monthly payments that were really inexpensive. Sorry to hear that it got to this point for your friend. Please keep us posted as you get more info.

Yeah...state taxes are nothing to mess with. In Oregon, they move really fast.

I work at a multibillion dollar corp in the banking dept and this happens to our bank accounts all the time, usually states taking taxes owed. We have 1,000's of bank accounts and they will just pick a bank like bank of america and keep pulling out cash from accounts until they have their cash. This is normally an oversight on our tax dept's part but still a pain to deal with, especially if you are a consumer with only $1000 in your account and have to pay the bills.

You're post makes no sense at all. You wanna refine it a bit?

I was basically trying to say that State Governments do not mess around when you owe them taxes. They move quickly to get all their cash.

umm ok...from the way it sounded, someone is "picking" bank accounts and debiting to no end.

I thought the state. or whomever, had to get a court order every time they levy an account. So, if they don't get the whole amount of the levy at that time, they have to go back to the courts to get another levy assignment to get the rest. Or, to dip into the account again. For example, if the amount owed is $4000, and the account only has $2500, they only get $2499 from that levy. To get the remaining amount, they have to go back to the courts to get another court order to send to the bank. Am I wrong?

I actually thought that the government did not need a court order tyo levy. Am I wrong??

Every time we would get a levy order when i was working at the bank, it would be from the courts. And, it was usually the state that had it done because of back taxes owed. If it's a personal one, I don't know. We never saw those.

I have lived in FL for 3 years only to find out the other day that my BOA account had been levied. The question is:
I was sued in NY by a credit card Co in 06 and I have been a resident in FL since 05. The judgement went in the Credit Card Co favor (I knew nothing of this because everything was being sent to my NY old address). A year and 1/2 later hence the levy. I did open the BOA account in NY. Should that make a difference since under FL statue 222.2 they can not levy my account if I am a resident, and head of househould(I live by myself).
SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME!!!

Contact the judge that issued the order immediately! You may just be able to get the judgement vacated due to improper service. It would very likely be worth your $$$ to consult an attorney. NY law is very different frm almost anyplace I've ever been.

is it legal for a lawyer to put a levy on my bank account??? and how long untill the lawyer has to lift the levy??

HI Mongoose,
Were you sued by the lawyer and they obtained a judgement to levy? A bit more info and we can help.

9/11 caused some misfortune in my life and I fell behind tremendously on credit card debt. I was unemployed for two years and things spiraled out of control.
Unfortunately, the creditors went after me with a vengence and have levied my joint account with my husband twice . They've also done it once with my son's account where I had to be put on because he was a minor. He was livid and I can't see how they are allowed to do that to either of these accounts.

Is it legal for them to levy these account when neither my husband or son owe them the money?

I need to resolve this quickly! It's a nightmare!!!!!!!!!!

If your name is on the account, it's legally considered your money. So yes, they can put a levy on the account.

I owe a debt of 5500 roughly and did not see this bank levy coming. I did not know that a jewelary store account would do this and wipe me out of my checking. That was my rent, car payment, food money for my family. They took 1600 and I was wondering how many times do they go in and get the money, in till its paid? It was my bill and My husband and I share a bank account and it was his money they took, and I dont know what to do know or know much about this bank levy

Can they come in and take more money

Please could someone let me know, my fiance has been dealing with debt management company to pay off his debts, now the credit card company put levy on his checking account and we have no money to pay our rent this month. he has been paying the debt releif consistanly. please help with this questin, bank gave no help to questions,

NO ONE can take/transfer/sieze/give away/etc your property without your permission. The fiduciary duty of the bank, investment house etc prevents that. If a bank takes your money and gives it to the government or anyone else without your permission OR without a court order. They are libel for damages and replacement of your money. This is a law in every state. If they levy you ask 1st to see the court judgement, if they don't have one demand to have your account reimbursed. If they refuse go to your local court and file a request for discovery. Get everything in writing and use usps certified mail. Don't take the gestapo BS!

my understanding is that levies come from superior court (in NJ anyway)
as always, correct me if i am wrong :)

How are the bank account found by the party issuing the levy?

new york attorney collectors cite judgement of 9056. from a credit card from 2004. The bank was rarely used by me and there was14.00 in the account. When I went on-line the bank has the attachment as 18,000. I called the attorney and he said if I do not pay he will send a sheriff to collect items from my home to pay the debt. Is this possible.

Are you sure it was an attorney and not a debt collection agency? Debt collection agencies are nutritious for saying that.

I would call the Sheriff's office just to make sure.

I just recieved a court ordered levy against my WaMu account for a past credit card (Capital One) charged off debt. Should I contact the law office and make payment arrangement? Will that stop the levy?

Hi, I'm desperate! I've had my bank account frozen on Friday. (it is now Tuesday at 3:30 AM). This is a joint account because my fiance was no longer able to deposit his pay-roll check into my account without being on the account. The bank just decided that they were going to enforce that rule after many years several months ago.
HE owes a medical bill of almost 3,000 dollars from 3 years ago. We used to get bills for it but not having 3,000 for anything I just ignored them and waited for the collection agency to get it. When the CA calls then you can work on whittling down the bill and make payment arrangements. Only thing is, they never called. I hadn't heard anything about this bill for over a year.
Now a lawyer has claimed ALL my money! I can't pay bills, I can't eat...checks are going to bounce etc...
Thing is: I NEVER HEARD from these people! They never called, wrote or contacted us in any method. How can a judgement be made against you without your being informed of the court date so as to appear?
I live in NY state and have tried contacting this "lawyer" since Friday. They have not answered any calls. The number just goes to voice mail. :/
I HAVE NO MONEY for a lawyer to fight these people and I certainly do not have 3,000 dollars to just throw away. As it stands now they've taken 2,100 from me (which was already spent on bills and living) I'm in debt for 800 more and STILL the 2,100 worth of bills I had inteneded to pay needs to be paid?
I don't even WORK, that's why my boyfriend always gives me his check. I take care of our joint finances, etc. I am actually quite good at paying and stretching our dollars and have gotten my credit score up from 360 (had a few bad months about 3 years ago) to over 700 as of this month. I'm scared to death at the moment.
Meanwhile, I typed in this lawyer's name and sure enough there are NUMEROUS hits for him on all the consumer complaint boards! I expect they are the lowest of the low and am not at ALL SURE what they've done is the least bit legal. I tried searching for a judgement on the net against my boyfriend but turned up nothing.
please, if you can offer me assistance, or a number to call for assistance, contact me at [email]Tipareths@aol.com[/email].
I don't want to start the new year homeless!

Contact the clerk of courts immediately. Explain the situation, they will be able to help you further. Some lawyers work with a "no fee until you win" Also contact the bank immediately and let them know the same thing you sent us. Also might not help to contact your States AG.

how can i get hely with a creditor who placed a levy on my bank accts

If a garnishment judgement is issued, can the attorney find you if you're working as an independent contractor?

I co-own and manage a 3rd Party collection company in Ohio. We were chasing Mr. Sam J. the owner of a plumbing company whom our client had a $5,200,000 Judgement against. [To be fair this was a multi-party judgement resulting from the wrongful death suit of a former employee of the plumbing company. Due to the nature of the judgement all the defendents were 100% liable for the full amount owed. This meant that we could levy the bank account of any of the named parties.]

Due to the cash flow of the Plumbing company, the best we were able to suck was $1200/mo payments--- that was until lady luck caused Sam's wife to receive an out-of-state $835,000 inheirantence check from her parents estate. She deposited this check in a joint checking account she shared with Sam.

As a matter of routine, we call the banks weekly on all our client's debtors when large judgements are in play.

We were lucky, as we found out about this money before the bank released its HOLD ON "out-of-state check deposits". We were able to obtain a bank levey for the balance of the account less $1; thus collecting a large chunk for our client and generating a large fee for ourselves.

The funniest thing was that, Sam and his wife, were so pissed off that they called in and made death threats in an attempt to extort the money back out of us. All phone calls are recorded, and they were arrested and charged with felony crimes. :)

If you have any tax lien against yourself, or a judgement.... don't leave any money in any bank account with your name on it.... or it may disappear in the blink of an eye!!!!!

P.S. Mrs. Sam J., called my office and complained that it was not "FAIR" that she should lose her 'family' money for some debts owed by her husband. She also complained that the judgement was not against her, only her husband. I told her that under the law, when she deposited that check into a joint account with her husband, the money legally became both of thiers;; and that gave my firm the LEGAL RIGHT to levy 100% of it!!!!

If you know that you owed a establishment, can you cancel your direct deposit to a that bank and get a different Bank to put your money in?Would they find out where your new bank name?

Hi..I was helping my girlfriend for her education by putting her name on my money market, now the money market had been levied. The money was transfered from my credit card, can I do anything. She was the debtor.
Thanks..please help!!

Hi..I was helping my girlfriend for her education by putting her name on my money market, now the money market had been levied. The money was transfered from my credit card, can I do anything. She was the debtor.
Thanks..please help!!

I have a credit card judgement against me and they have sent me papers stating that if I do not return the information supeona I can go to jail. Is this right? Can they seize my bank account for credit card judgements?

this is crazy stuff...what reasons would they levy an account ...does it have to be a court order or a Govt order for taxes or can they just do it for a normal debt (ie collection agency)

The Sheriff came to my door, they were going to take inventory, they said to please take care of it fast or else they would come back, they asked if that was also my car, it is but it is not owned by me outright. I owe this credit card account $5,500.00 I can not pay, what will be my next step to try to get them to take some small payments that I can afford.

Please some help

PLEASE MY BANK ACCOUNT WAS LEVIED 18 DAYS AGO I tried calling the co., that put a levy on my account, they told me to fax them my social security papers, the stimulus program and the financial hardship letter that was sent to them by my doctor which the lawyer requested. They never returned any of my calls and finally today I called the assistant and he said they are not releasing any money at all & go to a diff. help from a lawyer.

I added my brother to my checkings account to help him cash his checks about a year in a half ago when he didn't have a checkings account. He doesn't use the account any more. But I woke up one day and my entire account got levy, and my checks started bouncing. I am so piss. I called the collections company and found out it was him, but they were assholes, didn't return my money, and just hung up on me.

For Credit Card Debt, there has to be a court order to levy a bank account!! IRS needs no court order..

OMG this is insane. I got the notice for my husband that they were going to file for the courts to have his wages garnished. He doesn't want to go to court so we let it go. Well, they went a whole other route and levied my bank account. I, like all of you, am super broke now and wondering if they're just gonna keep taking my money. I'm going to try to make payment arrangments with them and hopefully it will stop but I have a few other judgements against me and if this keeps up I'm gonna lose my house. I see bankruptcy on the horizon. Anyhow, this debt that I was levied was from a couch that I financed like 6 years ago. How stupid is that, I've paid for this couch like 3 times already with all the finance charges and late charges. Never again. If I can't afford to buy something outright then I just wont get it. And to the jerk above me who'd talking about all the money he swindled from those ppl and the collection agency he owns... you suck man. You're the scum of the earth. What's the point of your story anyways? Yeah, I'm in NJ btw.

I'm trying to educate myself before it happens. My payment for a payday loan just bounced (really didn't mean to) and I really don't have the money to pay it in full which they are now going to demand. From what I have gathered, they can't garnish my paycheck but not completely sure if they can levy my bank account and assume they would have to have a court order. Also, if "they" are incorporated somewhere besides Texas, can they have the court order issued in another state but presented on a Texas bank. If it helps, the bank is a local Texas bank and has no branches outside of Texas.

Thanks.

please take a min and read the above posts......I did

Just had my account levied, and am wondering if rules for credit unions are any different than for regular banks? State of Michigan, happened in my only account (checking). I also need to file to have this reversed as my income is solely from Social Security Disability and my pension. Are there boilerplate forms somewhere that I can use? Since SSD is direct deposit, should CU be expected to know they're levying exempt income and be held responsible for fees for NSF?
Sue M

If you have other money going into the account besides the social security benefits, then yes they have the right to levy the account,
You should go out and open an account and put ONLY that money into it. They would not be able to levy that account, it would be illegal

http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/rulings/oasi/41/SSR79-04-oasi-41.html