Agency took money from my bank account after a judgement

[Anonymous]

Hello, One of my collection agency sued me and had a judgment from the court and it was around $4000. CA took $1500 from my bank account (which was the amount I had during that time) right away without any notice. I still owe them around $2500. I didn't place any money in the account after that. It has been about a year, they haven't collect anymore money. Is that because they didn't see any money in there or they can only allow to collect once? Thanks NeedHelp

[Junejer]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Hello, One of my collection agency sued me and had a judgment from the court and it was around $4000. CA took $1500 from my bank account (which was the amount I had during that time) right away without any notice. I still owe them around $2500. I didn't place any money in the account after that. It has been about a year, they haven't collect anymore money. Is that because they didn't see any money in there or they can only allow to collect once? Thanks NeedHelp

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Did you give them permission to enter your account? How did they get your account number? If you didn't give permission, I would contact my state's AG and the FTC to file a formal complaint against them.

[llecs]

Rules on this vary from state to state. I know here in VA, even if you lose a case, the plaintiff can't just remove money out of your acct. They have to file additional papers and go through a process with the bank (i.e. notices, etc). You might want to check with your bank and see why this happened. And as ByrdMan mentioned, figure out how they got your acct info.

[Anonymous]

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llecs wrote:

Rules on this vary from state to state. I know here in VA, even if you lose a case, the plaintiff can't just remove money out of your acct. They have to file additional papers and go through a process with the bank (i.e. notices, etc). You might want to check with your bank and see why this happened. And as ByrdMan mentioned, figure out how they got your acct info.

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Correct.  This is a process known as "garnishment." 

[llecs]

That's the word I was looking for... I got distracted.

[Anonymous]

Check your state laws on garnishment. They are all different.

It is easy to get bank info. they are all in a data base. But I think they need to file papers with the bank & IMO the bank should notify you of this first.

Also check your CR   For the amount of the judgment. See if they show the money that they took out.

[Junejer]

Read this, they may have violated some laws. Find out your state's collection practices.  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much for all your quick feedback. I live in California and they allow to take the money after a judgement. I called my bank and they said I have a levy. I Google around the web with my questions, I think they are able to garnish multiple times until it's paid. FYI http://wagegarnishmentlesson.com/. Thanks, NeedHelp

[Anonymous]

Please check with a lawyer.  The website you posted is about wage garnishment, which is when they take money out of your paycheck.  There might be different laws about levying assets.

[Anonymous]

I called the court where the judgment was filed in my county. They said before CA can wage garnish, take money from bank, etc., they HAVE TO file a writ to garnish giving authority. The judgment, alone, is not authority. Does this sound correct to all of you?