(10/15/2017 翁律师 推荐) Collecting a Judgment When you, as a tenant, have difficulty seeking the return of a security deposit from a landlord, the District Court of Maryland may serve as a useful tool to seek the owed money. Once the court declares that the landlord owes you money, the first step in obtaining the money owed is to record the judgment in the court. When you seek a judgment, you become known as the creditor or lienholder and the landlord becomes known as the debtor. Once recorded, you may use any of the following tools to seek the repayment of a debt: Property Lien, Wage Garnishment, Examination before Court, and Writ of Execution. Each of these processes is explained in more detail below. Property Lien Once a judgment is recorded in court, you, as a creditor, are able to attach a lien onto any property owned by the debtor. A lien is a right that prohibits the debtor from transferring their interest in a property until a debt is satisfied. The lien may be attached to any property or properties located within Maryland. Once filed, a lien will remain in force for 12 years unless removed by you after receiving payment from the debtor. After 12 years, you, as the lienholder, are permitted to renew the lien as long as the debtor has not paid the moneys owed under the judgment. Often, attaching a lien to a property can spark a debtor to satisfy a lien and its corresponding judgment. As many property owners do not want to have a lien prohibiting the transfer of a property, a lien can provide the necessary motivation to the debtor to pay the debt. Read the Rule: Md. Rule 3-625(link is external) Wage Garnishment After recording your judgment and attaching a lien to the defendant’s property, you may unfortunately may find that a debtor still does not want to pay the judgment debt. A second option to enforce a debt is to seek a garnishment of the debtor’s wages. When sought by a creditor, wage garnishment requires the employer of the debtor to withhold a portion of the judgment debtor’s wages each pay period and forward the money to the you until the judgment is “satisfied”, i.e. paid in full. For more information on garnishments, see the People’s Law Library’s Guide to Garnishments: Garnishments. To seek a garnishment of wages, you must seek a court order and a judge must approve. When seeking a garnishment, the following rules apply:
Once a garnishment is sought by a creditor and served upon the employer, otherwise known as the “garnishee,” the garnishee must file an answer within 30 days of being served with the writ or risk being held in contempt and possibly being required to pay attorney’s fees and court costs. See Rule 3-646(e). While the garnishment is in effect, the employer must remit all garnishable wages to the creditor (or to the court, if the employer or debtor has asserted a defense). See Rule 3-646(i). Read the Law: Maryland Rule 3-646(link is external) While a garnishment is in affect, you, as the creditor, must keep records of all payments credited to the defendant. After each month in which any payment is credited, you must prepare a written statement of all credited payments and send this statement to the garnishee and to the debtor. While you are not required to send a copy of the statement to the court, it is wise and very recommended to keep a copy of each statement until 90 days after the end of the garnishment proceeding. When requested, you have an obligation to make these statements available for review by the court or any party. If you fail to provide statements to the debtor disclosing the payments and the manner in which they were credited, the debtor can request that the court dismiss the garnishment proceeding and order you to pay the debtor’s attorney’s fees and costs. Read the Law: MD Code Comm. Law § 15-601.1-607(link is external), Maryland Rule 3-646(link is external) Examination In Aid of Enforcement of Money Judgment After recording a judgment, many creditors do not know the full extent of a debtor’s assets. In order to help you enforce your judgment, you may request an examination before the Court. Under this procedure, the Court will order the debtor to appear before a judge and testify, under oath, to testify as to the amount and extent of assets owned. From there, a debtor can request a Writ of Execution, as explained below, to seize the property and use the proceeds from the sale to satisfy the judgment. Effective October 1, 2015, the Court may require you to show good cause for any additional Examinations In Aid of Enforcement of Money Judgment. Read the Law: Md Code Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 11-404(link is external) Writ of Execution In addition to a property lien and wage garnishment, you may request a writ of execution and ask a court order that the debtor’s assets be sold in order to pay the debt. It is important to note that certain items are exempt from attachment, including, but not limited to, clothing, tools of trade or profession, and small amounts of property including money. Read the Rules: See Rules 3-644(link is external) thru 3-646(link is external) Should the defendant reside in another state, the court for that state may be petitioned to enforce the Maryland judgment by garnishing wages or implementing other forms of attachment. Court costs or fees may apply in order to obtain a garnishment, to record a judgment lien or for any other reasonable and necessary expense. The basic judgment also earns 10% interest per year except interest on a money judgment for rent of a residential property earns 6% per year. Read the Law: Md Code Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 11-107(link is external) Source:BNI, Inc. Edited by www.peoples-law.org/contributors Originally posted by Anonymous on Jun 13, 2014, last updated by dlawadmin on Feb 7, 2017 The court will not collect the judgment for you. The key to enforcing a judgment is knowing where the judgment debtor's assets are located. Common sources of assets are bank accounts, employment income, rental income, and business receipts. If You Do Not Have Any Information About the Judgment Debtor's Assets
Wage Garnishment If the judgment debtor is employed, his/her wages may be garnished to pay off the judgment. To begin the wage garnishment process, do the following:
Rental Income Garnishment If the judgment debtor owns rental property, you may garnish the rents paid by the current tenants. The procedure is the same as wage garnishment, except you instruct the Sheriff's Department to do a rent garnishment instead of a wage garnishment. There is a fee for the Writ of Execution and for the Sheriff's Department to serve the rent garnishment. Bank Levy If you know the bank and branch where the judgment debtor (or spouse) has a deposit account, you may levy the funds in the account. To begin this procedure, you must file a Writ of Execution (EJ-130) and pay the fee with the clerk. Once the clerk has processed the writ, take the original writ to the Sheriff's office and request a bank levy. After the Sheriff's Department serves the levy, the bank account is frozen and the account holder is notified. The Sheriff's Department charges a fee for this service. Till Tap/Keeper's Levy
The Sheriff's Department charges a fee to serve the Writ of Execution. Remember that the judgment debtor may close his or her business for the day and the Deputy Sheriff would be unable to collect any money. Judgment Lien on Real Property
Costs After Judgment A judgment creditor is entitled to recover certain costs incurred in enforcing a judgment. The judgment creditor is also entitled to claim 10% simple interest on the principal amount of the judgment. Costs must be added to the judgment within two years of incurring them. Interest may be added at any time. Accumulated costs and interest are added to the judgment by filing a Memorandum of Costs After Judgment, Acknowledgment of Credit, and Declaration of Accrued Interest (MC-012) with the clerk. Complete the form and have it sent by first class mail or served personally on the judgment debtor by a non-party to the action who is at least 18 years of age. After serving the judgment debtor, file the original with the clerk. Acknowledgment of Satisfaction of Judgment Within 14 days of the judgment being fully paid, the judgment creditor must file an Acknowledgment of Satisfaction of Judgment (EJ-100) with the clerk. The judgment creditor may be liable for $50 plus actual damages for failing to file the Acknowledgment of Satisfaction within 14 days of receiving a written demand to do so from the judgment debtor. Source: http://www.sdcourt.ca.gov/portal/page?_pageid=55,1555802&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&a=4#BankLevy | 美国东部敦煌古筝销售 HAN, Liu, CPA | 韩柳 President, Principal Loan Consultant, Leader Funding, Inc. 电话: (240)784-6645 |
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