Garnishment question....

[dipper]

Soc,
WE are in VA.  DH took bm to court last year for debt.  She was ordered to pay, but of course wont.  DH filed garnishment.  She is in VA, co. she worked for is out of state.  Garnishment was sent to her store, she was there and was served at the store and  a cashier signed for the store notice.  

We sent co. a letter of inquiry in Dec - no reply.  Tried again in January with a copy of garnishment - only reply was that without her signature they could not release any information as to her employment - which is not what we asked for.  Once again we tried and sent it certified with a full copy of garnishment.  No reply.

Her job ended at the end of Feb., they closed the store.  Nothing was ever sent in.  According to bm, she forwarded the garnishment, but they stated they would not take 50% out of her check.....Of course garnishments are 25% and we cannot find any county that she has been in/is in that has another garnishment against her.

Following your advice, I researched the registered agent and dh filed a show cause sending the summons to the co. name and agent's address.  We havent checked to see if it was served or returned yet, that was about three weeks ago.  Case is for 7/14.

Soc, we have the letter the co. sent us in Feb. and we have the certified slip with an employee signature for the headquarters.

Should we have filed a subpoena for bm to be there as they may claim she didnt forward it?


Even if she didnt,  will they be liable since they had acknowledgement via our mail?

[socrateaser]

>Following your advice, I researched the registered agent and
>dh filed a show cause sending the summons to the co. name and
>agent's address.  We havent checked to see if it was served or
>returned yet, that was about three weeks ago.  Case is for
>7/14.
>
>Soc, we have the letter the co. sent us in Feb. and we have
>the certified slip with an employee signature for the
>headquarters.
>
>Should we have filed a subpoena for bm to be there as they may
>claim she didnt forward it?
>
>
>Even if she didnt,  will they be liable since they had
>acknowledgement via our mail?
>
I'm confused:

1. Did you have the OSC served by a disinterested third party, over the age of 18, on the employer or employer's registered agent, while the employer or employer's agent was physically present within the physical borders of VA?

2. Did the person who served the OSC file the proof of service effected in #1 with the court?

3. Did you have the original garnishment order served by a disinterested third party, over the age of 18, on the employer or employer's registered agent, while the employer or employer's agent was physically present within the physical borders of VA?

4. Did the person who served the original garnishment order file the proof of service effected in #3 with the court?

If the answer to all four of the above is yes, then if the employer doesn't appear at the hearing, you should be able to obtain some pretty serious sanctions against the employer -- as we have discussed previously.

I can't answer the re subpoenaing the debtor to the hearing, because, at this point, I don't know what evidence she could offer to support your motion against the garnishee.

[dipper]

Soc,
 The original garnishment was served on the store bm was managing as the company has out-of-state headquarters.  The garnishment was served by a pplice officer and the return service was sent to the court.
Bm, was working the day it was served on the store, and that is where she received her own copy of the garnishment - as noted on the garnishment for the store.....

We contacted headquarters via mail, sending it certified the third contact.  Headquarters only responded on the second contact, refusing to answer any inquiry into the garnishment - but stating it as it was a request for employment status instead.

The show cause was served on the registered agent in this state by a police officer..........or so we hope - will hopefully find out tomorrow if the agent actually took service....

As BM was the manager on duty, and I am sure she wont want the ball to drop at her feet.....her being there was just a thought on my part - so that if CO. said they didnt get it, then she could say if she forwarded or not.....

Thank you......I guess its just a wait and see situation.....

[socrateaser]

>As BM was the manager on duty, and I am sure she wont want the
>ball to drop at her feet.....her being there was just a
>thought on my part - so that if CO. said they didnt get it,
>then she could say if she forwarded or not.....

There's nothing to wait and see. If a police officer served the registered agent of the corporation, and returns service to the court, then the corporation is served, period. If the registered agent fails to deliver the documents to the corp, then the agent is liable to the corp for the failure, but the corp is still liable to you.

This should prove extremely interesting -- if the corp doesn't appear, the judge will probably give you whatever you need to get their attention.