I’m not a lawyer, I am a judgment broker. If you ever want a strategy to use or legal advice, please contact an attorney.

What if you are sure where a debtor banks, then pay the Sheriff to garnish their checking account, and later the bank responds with “account closed” or “no funds”?

In certain states, bank levies are expensive, with the cost of locating the bank account, paying the court, a process server, and the Sheriff.

Getting a “no funds” or “account closed” letter can be frustrating. There are generally six reasons for this result, in order of probability:

1) The judgment debtor closed their bank account or is poor.

2) You, the Sheriff, or another person, made a mistake or a typographic mistake which made the garnishment to fail.

3) Either you, or your information source was incorrect, and that judgment debtor never opened a bank account at that bank, or at that branch.

4) The judgment debtor is only an authorized signer on the bank account, and has no ownership of the money, or uses an AKA.

5) The bank has made an error.

6) The bank is lying or is covering for the debtor.

The most common reasons are the judgment debtor either closed their account, never had an account, uses an AKA name, or is only a signer on the account.

When the debtor is poor, bank garnish results will most likely not cover the money you spent.

At debtor exams, when you ask debtors who is their bank, many will lie. Even if you know for sure where a debtor banks, some judgment debtor change banks accounts as frequently as most folks change their socks.

There are many laws that guard the public’s private banking information, including judgment debtors. Very few ways of locating a bank account are perfect. Some bank locate services rely on old records, which are not completely current or accurate, especially with poor or clever debtors.

When your judgment debtor has an AKA, you might need to have an affidavit of identity approved by the court, with proof which links the judgment debtor with the names they actively use.

When the judgment debtor owns a business as a DBA, to get your affidavit of identity court approved, you must get a certified copy of their fictitious name statement filing.

Bank accounts have an owner or owners. There can also be authorized signers, or benefactors who inherit the funds when the owner(s) die.

Sometimes “no funds” means a debtor is only an authorized signer on the bank account. That means a judgment debtor is merely linked to the account, and has no rights to the money which could be attached by a levy.

Sometimes people open a bank account for their kids, under The Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. Sometimes they use their child’s account as their personal checking account that is off-limits to creditors, as they do not own the account.

Sometimes people are ripped off, after they add a new authorized signer to their bank account. Laws can punish people that make mistakes as much as the crook who ripped them off.

For example, a man finds a new lady who starts living in his apartment. A short time later, he adds her as an authorized signer for his checking account. Then she deposits $15,000 in forged checks, and after the three-day hold is over, she takes out all the money, and absconds to an unknown city.

After several weeks, the checks get bounced back as forgeries, and are charged back to the owner’s account. Surprisingly, the owner of the account becomes responsible for covering the returned checks.

That fraud who stole money and bounced checks isn’t going to get charged and made to repay, unless they can be found, and the complaints are proven in court, and if she has assets which may eventually be recovered.

Sometimes banks make errors. More than once a bank has lied, tipped off, or in some other way protected the funds of the judgment debtor.

If you are certain you have the correct bank for the debtor, and that money was in the judgment debtor’s account at the time of the levy; you could schedule, subpoena, and serve a judgment debtor for an examination at the court.

A request for a subpoenaed production of documents is known in many places as a Subpoena Duces Tecum (SDT). SDTs to banks should be worded to include any and all accounts related in any way to the debtor.

You could subpoena requests for the production of documents, from both the judgment debtor and their bank as a third-party. From banks, you can request a copy of the documents served by the Sheriff.

The goal is to get both the bank and the debtor in court at the same time to answer questions and produce documents. It is difficult for two parties to lie precisely the same.

You could ask for a year’s worth of records. You might find the records for accounts that “didn’t”. In California, and probably other states, when the judgment debtor is a person, one needs to serve them first with a “notice to the consumer”.

When the debtor doesn’t show up, you can keep attempting to enforce the judgment. If a bank does not show up, you may be able to sue them, when local laws (in California, CCP 1992) allow. If one can prove the bank had money in the name of the judgment debtor when your levy was served, one can start by writing a demand letter to the bank, demanding the balance in the account on the garnishment date, up to the amount needed to satisfy the judgment. Include proof you knew the bank account existed, the Sheriff’s documentation, and the bank’s memorandum of garnishee, that shows previous statement of “no accounts”.

Banks might pay after getting such a demand letter, other banks you will have to sue. In such circumstances, many times the bank or credit union will settle your lawsuit before the trial.