To claim an exemption, you complete the Claim of Exemption form and give it to the levying officer, typically the sheriff. If you contend that the levied money is necessary for your support and for the support of your dependents, you also complete the Financial Statement. The judgment creditor then has a choice. It can agree that the levied funds are exempt and they are returned to you.
Or, the judgment creditor can set a hearing before a judge to challenge your claim of exemption. The burden is on you as the judgment debtor to complete your clams of exemption and get them back to the levying officer on time. A successful claim of exemption protects your funds from this levy.
Consider consulting with a credit counseling agency or a bankruptcy lawyer to assess the bigger picture of your finances. Even if the creditor has a judgment, the debt may still be dischargeable in bankruptcy. This way when you try to sell or refinance your home, the creditor can get paid the judgment plus accrued interest from the escrow. This means that the creditor forces you to sell the property and pay what you owe with that money.
This only works when there is enough equity in the property to pay all the liens as well as the costs of foreclosure. Collecting from your wages If you are employed, the creditor can get an Earnings Withholding Order to garnish your wages until the debt is paid.
This only works if you are employed by someone else. A wage garnishment does not work against someone who is self-employed. If you do file this claim, the creditor has the right to oppose it. Learn more about wage garnishments and how to ask for a claim of exemption. Click if you are an employer and received a wage garnishment order for an employee. Collecting money from your bank account The creditor can get a levy on your bank account.
The creditor will need to know the branch where the account is kept and, usually, the account number as well. You have 10 days to oppose the bank levy before the sheriff sends the money to the creditor.
If you do, the creditor then has the right to oppose it. One of those is the bank levy. The levy removes funds from a bank account held by the debtor in order to satisfy the judgment.
While the creditor has to do some work to determine where the debtor banks, this is usually not difficult. The sheriff delivers the writ to your bank and seizes the stated amount from your account.
Although the writ may only be used once, the judgment creditor may obtain multiple writs at multiple banks until they get their hands on all the money owed.
Once the money is taken from the bank, it is forwarded to the creditor. The debtor will receive a notice of levy stating which account s have been levied. Fortunately, the law allows you to file a claim of exemptions to exclude certain funds in your bank account from being seized.
When a creditor places a levy on your bank account, the account will be frozen and the bank will hold the funds for ten days. During this period, you should file the claim of exemptions. Using the claim, you can protect the following from a levy:.
California law also allows debtors to protect money that may be necessary to provide for themselves and their families.
0コメント