Garnishing on a bank account

HRCalico

Perhaps some of you in the financial world can help me out here. One of my many hats is treasurer for my municipality known in our state as a village (pop. 80). I bill for sewer and trash quarterly, for a total of less than $200 per year. I have a couple of households that just won't pay, which means I run it through small claims court and they end up paying for it plus court costs.

I know where one guy works, so I can garnish on his wages through his employer. Another is an "independent contractor", though, which means I could garnish on him if I knew where he was working and could get it in by the time he got paid. That's next to impossible. I know I can garnish on his bank account, but I am not aware of a method to determine where he banks. Can anybody help with that? It could be one of any bank within a 40 mile radius, or a credit union . . . I just don't know that shooting in the dark to garnish is the way to go (plus I'm not familiar with the method, but I'm pretty sure there would be fees involved, which would be wasted).

I know we could put a lien on his property, but at $200 per year, it will take a while to get to the point where it is worth it to do that. Anybody know of a method I could use to find a bank account, or anything else I might be able to try?

Pixie

Have they ever paid? If they have, was it with a check? In finance generally all checks that are received are photocopied prior to depositing. So if this guy has paid previously by check, and the check was copied, you would have a good chance of getting his account information. What about discontinuing the garbage removal until payment is received? Where I live the sewer bill is directly linked to the water bill. Failure to pay results in the water being shut off until payment is made in full, including late fees.

HRCalico

To give you an idea of the level of technology we are using, our last village treasurer wrote out the bills and did all the accounting by hand! (I am at least using Excel and Microsoft Money and printing them.) I have begun recording bank info on checks I get, but this guy in particular has only written five checks (out of 23 quarters), with the last one being a year and a half ago.

We could discontinue his garbage services; I haven't recommended it thus far because 1) he could take it two blocks to a dumpster downtown or 2) he could let it pile up in the yard. I am probably going to recommend discontinuing it next month. Regarding the water, everyone in the village has their own well (there are only about 40 households and businesses), so the sewer is separate from that. According to the village clerk, we don't believe there is even a way to shut it off.

He isn't married, so I don't have a spouse to garnish on, and I even considered casually asking at the post office if they knew where he banked. I haven't determined if it's unethical yet. :>)

Thanks for taking time to provide some suggestions - I didn't want to make my first post a novel, so I skipped over some information. If you (or anyone else) can think of anything to add, please do so!

WT

If you go to small claims court and get a judgement against an individual, some courts have a financial form that the person is compelled to fill out showing assets. This would include bank accounts. This is to keep a party in the wrong from hiding assets in order to escape payment. Ask the clerk of the court what procedures the small claims court has in your jurisdiction to require the disclosure of assets.

crawfod

I don't think the bank account method will work, certainly not for long, because if it was my account garnished I would withdraw my funds and not deposit any more.

In a town your size, it would seem tempting to have some official (Constable?) pay a friendly visit one evening and say, You owe money, how can we work this out? If that fails, let your legal system run its course.

Pixie

Another route to try may by to publish the names of the people and the amounts that are delinquent in the local newspapers. You know, shame them into paying. There are plenty of government agencies in the area where I live that publish the names and amounts of delinquent taxpayers. Some Municipalities even publish the names of the men paying for prostitutes.

TN HR

I am not trying to be sarcastic, but I have a novel idea. Stop service. It's a simple and time-tried concept. You fail to pay for goods or services, you can expect to no longer receive them.

It sounds like the problem centers around this clown having been enabled so long by your predecessor. Stop now, draw the line in the sand, or, in the famous words of then-General Colin Powell, "First we're going to cut it off, then we're going to kill it".

pork1

I concur with Gene, NO PAY NO SERVICE,let the garbage pile up and then hire a contractor to clean up the mess. You can also put a lean on his property and assets. Get your legal adviser on board and have him put the paper work in motion which will tell the banks to freeze his activity or cut off his water and electricity. One department in the village should work together to bring pressure to bear. Everytime you cut the water off make him pay the set-up fee. Pretty soon you will run the fella out of town and not have to worry about the bad account costing the village dollars for services provided but not paid.

Richard

HRCalico

Thank you to all the replies!

WT - I have lamented my problems to the Magistrate of our court, but have not specifically asked about such a form. I'd like to think he'd have volunteered it if it was available, but I will definitely ask.

crawfod - I have the same thoughts on closing the account. It would give me a small amout of vindication, however. x}> Neither the clerk nor the chair of the board/mayor has seemed particularly willing to visit him, but I will bring it up again tomorrow night at our village board meeting. I am fearful I wouldn't be able to keep my blood pressure under control if I talked to him, so perhaps I can get someone to go with me. In the letter I sent, I did say that if he were to contact me with a payment plan, I would take it to the board and I think it's a matter of "don't care". A visit to let him know we do care may help, although the small claims judgments we already ahve also say we care. Oh, by the way, he doesn't bother showing up for court.

Pixie - Interesting idea! I wonder how that might fit with slander/defamation/libel though. (it's been a while since I had business law, so I don't remember my definitions) Since it isn't taxes, I'm not sure it's public record in the same way, although I do report on deliquent payers at the board meetings. (It isn't recorded in the minutes, though) Interestingly, when I took over, there were four board members (including the former treasurer!!!) who were behind on their payments and not being charged interest. The dates in the books were way out of order, too. I just told them there's "a new sheriff in town" x:=| and they were going to have to pay on time or I'd apply interest charges just the same as we do for everyone else. Also, I recently switched to postcards to cut down on my time spent on billing and also to save a bit on postage. I had one complaint (from a late-paying household) that if "her business" was being spread around town (i.e. the post office people telling others that she was behind on her bill) then she'd be upset.

Gene - I am going to recommend stopping garbage services. However, we cannot shut off water because everyone has their own private well, and we have no method of shutting of sewer services. I'm not sure the lack of garbage services will be much inconvenience, but I'm willing to try. Of course, he does live catty-corner from me on the same block. He'll probably just bring it over to my dumpster since it's closer than the one downtown. His dog already "does business" in my yard. xx( (I have asked my husband to steal the dog and sell it to satisfy the debt but so far no deal) Anyway, you remember our town, right? The sex shop that was a front for selling meth? The proprietress is out of the clink but still "rehabilitating and continuing her treatment" in the city. She plans to return, thank you very much, and I'm somewhat anticipating getting an application from her at my day job, the local manufacturing plant. Can't wait.

Richard - If I could figure out where he banks, you'd be right on with that comment! :>) Since we're so small, electricity is billed directly from the regional power company. I even contacted them to see if they'd consider taking over our billing for a small fee so we'd have some shutoff leverage and they weren't interested. As I said above, at this level, a lien isn't feasable. We're only talking about $16.50 per month, and I bill on a quarterly basis. In reality, we aren't talking about high dollar amounts here, but it's the principle of the matter as well as a COMPLETE PAIN to initiate the small court proceedings every nine or 12 months.

If we do get to the lien point, I have my eye on the piece of property I want the sheriff to confiscate and sell - this guy has a four wheeler that his 10 or so year old daughter rides around town when she visits. The sound is irritating enough (when you have nothing but crickets to listen to, it really stands out) but she buzzes up and down the alley and around the block. We have so little traffic that it is pretty easy for a driver to not be paying 100% attention and I'm afraid she's going to get smacked - especially since she doesn't slow down when coming out of the alley into the street. Yes, the sheriff has been called on that, but if they don't see her riding, they can't do anything. And I can assure you they're in no real hurry to check it out. x:'( (I looked for a donut icon, but no dice.) :>)

Oh, we did implement a $100 deposit for new residents, but it doesn't apply to current residents. And again, I'm not sure what we can do if they say they aren't going to pay.

Thanks again for comments. You've reinforced some thoughts, given me a nudge to take some action, and given me a few new ideas. I appreciate your time!

WT

Quite often in small claims court you can get either an income execution or a property execution. The income execution is to garnish wages but the property execution can be for any property. It could be for a bank account but could also be for other property. The most common tactic I have heard of is taking a persons car and then selling it at a sheriffs sale. The debt is satisfied and any remaining funds would be given to the person in question. This assumes that there is some value to get above and beyond what is owed on the car - snowmobile - boat - RV - motorcycle - you get the idea.