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What do I do when a business doesn't respond to a wage garnishment for one of their employees?
Anonymous1 views3 answers
I won a judgement of about $860 (up to $930 after adding the garnishment paperwork/serving fees) in small claims court against my former roommate. He hasn't paid, so I pursued wage garnishment at the small cafe he works for. It has been 12 calendar days (7 business days) since the business was served, and I have heard no response. My understanding is they only have 7 calendar days to respond. Assuming they don't respond/pay, what can I do from here?
If the garnishee fails to issue a response, it can be held liable for the debt up to the amount of garnishable assets of the debtor in its possession. You can see the applicable statutes here http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/18.775. Practically, this means that if they have nothing to garnish, there's not much you can do about it. Generally, whenever I have a non-responsive garnishee, I send them a certified letter reminding them of the garnishment and its legal obligation to issue a response. This almost always does the trick. It wouldn't hurt you to consult with an attorney regarding this matter, though, as attorney fees for enforcement of a judgment can often be recovered from the judgment debtor in addition to the judgment itself.
I fully agree with my colleagues but want to add that IF he is only working part time, for minimum or low wages, it maybe that he does not earn enough to be garnished. If that proves to be the case, then the employer has little to lose by ignoring your Writ in that at most they become liable for the amount that they should have paid on the garnishment, which, if it happens to be zero, that is what they would owe. Granted they should still give you a return telling you that he does not make enough money to be garnished (if that is true...) but small employers particularly are often either ignorant of the procedures and/or their obligations, or they emotionally support their employees and obstruct your Writs, at least until they figure out that they may be liable instead...and that would normally turn them around. Good luck.
