Garnishment

When a creditor obtains a judgment against someone that creditor becomes a “judgment creditor” of that person, who is commonly referred to as a “judgment debtor,” and a judgment creditor is entitled to try to collect on that judgment from the judgment debtor.

Generally speaking, in Florida judgment creditors will attempt to collect on a judgment in three ways: (1) wage garnishment, (2) seizure of funds held in bank accounts, and (3) seizure of property held by the judgment debtor.

As a general rule, judgment creditors are not required to provide a judgment debtor with advance notice of the judgment creditor’s intention to try to collect on the judgment. The result is that a judgment debtor will often not be aware that anything is wrong and will not find out that the judgment creditor has taken action to collect on the judgment until the judgment debtor’s wages are already being garnished, or their bank account(s) being frozen.

In most situations, there can be multiple ways to try to resolve garnishment issues, including settlement, bankruptcy, and claiming Florida exemptions which might “exempt” certain property from being garnished.

In order to determine the best course of action, a detailed analysis of the judgment debtor’s situation is required. First Coast Consumer Law has experience in navigating the complex legal issues surrounding garnishment actions.