Bank accounts’ garnishment should not be acceptable by any means or form. If your bank account has already been garnished, getting your money back can be difficult. Before situation like this occurs, deal with the problem. An informed and industrious debtor can often stop a bank garnishment before it occurs and becomes too big of a problem.

Most Garnishment cases should not occur in the first place

It’s always prudent to respond to the initial claim before a creditor asks for a judgment against you, he/she usually sends a letter to inform you of his/her claim. If you respond to this initial claim, you might be able to make payments on the account before a judgment in the creditor’s favor can be issued. Make sure the creditor is not taken an advantage on you. There are numerous ways to resolve issues surrounding Garnishment and the creditor(s) should be very certain to pursue such fillings instead of coming up with a reasonable approach on how to resolve the issue.

Pay the creditor

In most states and counties, creditors must wait a prescribed number of days before they can garnish your account which usually 90 days for the debtor(s) to Reaffirmed with his/her bank to uphold the U.S. Federal Regulations stating Not to Allow Any Garnishment on Consumers’ Account(s). This waiting period varies by jurisdiction. During this period, your accounts remain unfrozen. If you decide to pay the creditor, you may do so, else you may want to investigate what the judgement is all about, hence, keeping the account from being garnished.

Discuss your options with the creditor

Chances are, if you’re being garnished, lump sum repayment is not an option. Call your creditor and discuss other options. The creditor might be willing to work with you to establish a repayment plan. A creditor can stop a bank garnishment at any time by sending a notice to your bank.

Challenge the garnishment

During the waiting period, you can challenge the bank garnishment with the court that issued the initial judgment. The information to challenge the garnishment should be on the notice you received regarding the garnishment. If it isn’t, contact the court that issued the initial judgment for information on how to challenge the garnishment. Valid reasons to challenge a bank garnishment include prior payment, exempt income, such as Social Security and veteran’s benefits, or judgment error, such as an incorrect amount due. If you choose to challenge a judgment, be sure to provide the court with documentation, such as bills and bank statements to verify your argument.