How to Avoid Bank Levies
If a creditor takes you to court for a past-due debt and wins a judgment against you, they can place a levy against your bank account. A judgment means the referee or judge has decided the case in your creditor's favor. A levy is when your bank account is frozen by a creditor and the money in your account is turned over to the creditor up to the amount of the judgment. There are ways to avoid a bank levy.
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Instructions
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Contact the creditor and make arrangements to pay. The court will send you a notice demanding that you appear in court. This notice will give you the name of the creditor bringing legal action you, the date and time you are to appear in court as well as the location. When you contact the creditor and make arrangements prior to the court date, you will not need to attend court and you avoid the judgment and the bank levy.
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Attend the trial. If you decide to attend the trial because you don’t think you owe the debt or you have some other legitimate defense, you will need to send in the “Notice of intention to defend” within the time stated on the form. You usually have 15 days to send this notice in. When you send this form in, it preserves your rights in court. This notice is located at the bottom of the original notice you received. This informs the court and the creditor that you are contesting the debt and you will attend the trial.
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Review the rules and regulations for your state. You may win your case on a technicality. If the lender did not have the notice informing you of the court date delivered properly, you may be able to have the case dismissed, which means you win. In some states this notice must be served by a Sheriff and some states only require delivery by certified mail.
Look over the statute of limitations in your state. If the statute of limitations has passed, the judge will decide in your favor.
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Tips & Warnings
If you don’t attend the trial the creditor will receive a default judgment against you and they can start the bank levy process.
The statute of limitations can vary from state to state. It can range from 2 to 15 years. This means you have not paid on an account for a certain period of time designated by each state.
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