Garnishment ignored....

[dipper]

Soc,

Last October, my dh won a warrant in debt against his ex.  The court told her to pay the $2800 she owed him.  She refused to make any sort of deal.  Her only response was that she would pay him $25 a month over the next 10 or so years.  

DH filed a garnishment against her in November - and it was served at her place of employment on November 18.  Her employer is an out-of-state corporation.  We mailed a request for confirmation to the employer in December and January - and finally a certified letter with a complete copy of garnishment in February.  They did not respond at all to the February letter.  

Today was the big day - and they had not took out anything!  DH talked to the ex who claimed it had be forwarded, but the company had said they were NOT withholding 50% of her income!  First of all, its only allowed 25% - secondly, it was a court order.  

However, the clerk of court told dh other than filing a show cause against the person that signed for the garnishment summons and a contempt of court against his ex, there is nothing that can be done against the company.

The ex was the manager of the store - so, it should have been her responsibility to forward this, not some clerk.   According to the clerk, the company is out of state, so there is no way to serve them with a show-cause.  

Soc, when we subpoenad her work records, head office claimed to have never received it.  Now, if they did receive the garnishment they didnt follow it.

The ex no longer has a job with them - the store was closed.  We dont have the address of the clerk that signed for this.  

They do have other stores in VA.  

I know you had told me previously that dh could file a judgment debtor hearing.  Which he will probably do tomorrow.

Soc, is there any way to make someone accountable for these evasions of the court orders?

[socrateaser]

>They do have other stores in VA.  

If the company has other stores in VA, then there must be a registered agent for service of process in your State. I would file a motion for contempt against the company, serve it on the registered agent. Then, if the company doesn't appear, then you ask the court to order the Sheriff to start fining the company $500 per day, made payable to you, or whatever is the statutory contempt maximum, until they do appear. Pretty soon you will have a large amount owed, sufficient to file an enforcement action in the other state with a collection attorney.

Alternatively, you could get an order for the Sheriff to garnish the till at the VA stores until the amounts of the fines are paid (and the garnishment that you are owed).

At this point, I encourage you to contact a collections attorney, because if this is a large company, with a presence in VA, and you can prove that you validly sent the garnishment notice, then the company has something substantial to lose, and the attorney should start seeing dollar signs.

[dipper]

Soc:  If the company has other stores in VA, then there must be a registered agent for service of process in your State. I would file a motion for contempt against the company, serve it on the registered agent.

Soc, how do we find out who the registered agent is - its a toy company?





Thank you

[socrateaser]

>Soc, how do we find out who the registered agent is - its a
>toy company?

http://www.scc.virginia.gov/division/clk/diracc.htm

[dipper]

Soc, you had written:

If the company has other stores in VA, then there must be a registered agent for service of process in your State. I would file a motion for contempt against the company, serve it on the registered agent. Then, if the company doesn't appear, then you ask the court to order the Sheriff to start fining the company $500 per day, made payable to you, or whatever is the statutory contempt maximum, until they do appear. Pretty soon you will have a large amount owed, sufficient to file an enforcement action in the other state with a collection attorney.


Today, dh went to the clerk's office armed with the name of the registered agent.  The clerk told him that it didnt make sense as the registered agent was not part of the garnishment and was not responsible for anything.  She also said there was no way to file against the bm for show cause/contempt of court because we cannot prove she didnt forward the order (being the manager of the store).  DH had her new employer's address and was told there was no need in filing that because the same situation could happen again - instead to call the company and verify employment info as well as find out who is head of the payroll dept so that the garnishment could be sent directly to that person.  His ex now works for a cousin, so that would just tip them off and give them a chance to figure a way out of this.  At this point, we are sick of it all.

The clerk had told us back last year when we were worried that the ex would not forward the garnishment, this same clerk had stated, 'Well, she will be in big trouble if she doesnt."  Now she is singing a different tune - there is nothing you can do.  Also, the certified letter we sent the company - the clerk asked who told us we could do that - it doesnt prove anything....

Last week, this clerk told my dh that she didnt know what to do - but he could file contempt of court against the company and the ex...

This week, she is refusing to process anything......

Soc, this clerk doesnt seem to know what she is doing - and we live in a small town, there is no alternative.  

How can we handle this situation ?

[socrateaser]

>How can we handle this situation ?

I don't know why you are bothering with asking the clerk anything. The clerk is not permitted to practice law, and that's what she's apparently doing. However, I also don't know what your papers say or who you're trying to serve. You may send them to me at: [email protected]. Here's the deal:

If the company has failed to abide by the original garnishment notice, then you are filing a motion for contempt against the company, not the registered agent. You simply serve the registered agent as the company's legal representative in the state. Then it's up to the company to appear at the contempt hearing, via an attorney, retained to represent the company's interests.

If the company doesn't send an attorney to represent its interests, then you win a default order of contempt. Now, if you ask for, say, $500 per day in fines, made payable to you, until the company appears and explains itself, and the judge awards it to you, and then you serve a copy of that order on the registered agent, well, I'll jess bet that an attorney for the company will be contacting you pretty damn quick to try to come to some sort of settlement, under which you will agree to move to set aside the contempt order, in return for your garnishment money, plus a few bucks for wasting your time.

And, if not, then after say 30 days goes by with no answer, you go back to the judge and ask him to order a money judgment in your favor for the so far accumulated fines (around $15,000). And, then you take your judgment to the court clerk  and you ask the clerk to issue a writ of garnishment, which you then take to the Sheriff in the county where the company has a store in your State, and you have the Sheriff go to the store every day and collect all of the cash in the store register till until your money judgment is satisfied. Or, if you can find out where one of the company stores in your State banks, which could take a little private detective work, like, going into the store and buying something, and then just asking the store manager off hand, "Hey, I'm opening a nail salon across the street and I wonder if you have any suggestions for a commercial banker?" To which the manager says, "Oh, well we use X bank over on Y street." After which you direct the sheriff to garnish the company's local bank account for the entire $15K.

Anyway, that's the general idea. Your mileage may vary.