A judgment is simply a piece of paper that states a defendant/debtor owes you money. Judgments in Washington last for 10 years, although you can extend that period by an additional ten years. ^[1] A judgment has broader legal impacts and opens the door to the use of remedies in collecting the judgment, but what do you do if the debtor still fails to pay the amount they owe you?

Garnishment may be the answer. In Washington, creditors can utilize garnishment procedures to enforce their judgment and collect the debt.^[2] Writs of garnishment order a garnishee defendant (i.e., the individual/entity/employer holding money owed to the debtor) to withhold amounts owed to the debtor to satisfy the creditor’s judgment. There are two commonly used types of garnishment: 1) wage garnishments; and 2) bank account garnishments.

Wage Garnishments: A Continuing Lien on Earnings

A wage garnishment is the legal procedure where a portion of a debtor’s earnings are withheld by the debtor’s employer for the creditor. When the employer is notified of an order to garnish wages, it is legally required to withhold those funds and remit them to the designated creditor or the court.

How do garnishments work? The creditor can request the court to issue a writ of garnishment on the debtor’s earnings. The creditor then submits the writ to the debtor’s employer, and the employer will begin withholding money from the debtor’s paychecks. Wage garnishments in Washington last for 60 days. The employer is required to provide the creditor with information about the debtor’s wages at the beginning and the end of the 60-day period and remit the garnished wages to the court or the creditor’s attorney after the creditor obtains a court order requiring it to do so. A creditor may take a default judgment against the employer for all amounts owed under the judgment if the employer fails to answer the writ.

In Washington, the amount employers can withhold from a debtor’s paycheck is generally 25% (this percentage may vary depending on the language of the writ) of the debtor’s disposable income over the 60-day period. If the garnished amount is not sufficient to repay the total amount due under the judgment, the creditor can request the court to issue additional wage garnishments until the judgment is satisfied.

Bank Account Garnishments: The Snapshot Capture

A bank account garnishment is different in that it may allow a creditor to quickly collect amounts the debtor holds in his or her bank account. Put simply, once the creditor serves a writ of garnishment on a bank, the bank freezes the bank account and seizes any nonexempt amounts. Exemption amounts are fully detailed in the writ and found in RCW 6.15.010.

Similar to a wage garnishment procedure, the bank or financial institution is required to provide an answer to the amounts captured within 20 days of service of the writ. Notably, if the judgment debtor holds a safety deposit box with the bank, the writ of garnishment may also capture nonexempt funds or personal property contained in the safety deposit box.

In conclusion, if a debtor fails to pay his or her judgment, Washington law provides garnishment procedures as an avenue for creditors to collect the debt. Montgomery Purdue’s litigation attorneys are available to assist individuals and businesses in advising them on best practices in collecting judgments.

^[1] RCW 6.17.020.

^[2] See generally, Chapter 6.27 RCW et seq.