Judgment Service & Property Seizure

You can collect the amount stated in your judgment, plus any interest that accumulates during the time the other party pays off the judgment.

Seizure of Property is a court procedure allowing a court officer to seize property belonging to the defendant, which can be sold to pay for your judgment. If you want to file a request to seize property, you may use form MC 19, Request and Order to Seize Property. If the court officer is successful in collecting money from the defendant, this process costs you nothing. The defendant is required to pay all court officer expenses as well as the judgment.

To get an order for garnishment, you will first need to know where the defendant lives and works, what assets s/he has and where these assets are located, and any other information that identifies the defendant and his/her property. For an order to seize property, you just need to know where the defendant lives, and it is the court officer's duty to determine what, if any, assets the defendant owns.

• If you have the information described above, you can start the process for an order to seize property or for garnishment.
• If you don't have the information described above, you will need to order the defendant to appear in court for questioning through a process called discovery. You can start this process by filing a discovery subpoena.

1. You must wait 21 days after your judgment was signed before you can file a discovery subpoena. Form MC 11, Subpoena (Order to Appear) can be used. Contact the court for an appearance date before putting the date and location on the form. Complete both the front of the Subpoena and the Affidavit for Judgment Debtor Examination on the back. The judge must sign the Subpoena before it's effective. Once the Subpoena is signed, you must have it served on the defendant.
2. The fee for filing the Subpoena with the court varies. The cost for the process server to serve it also varies. You may include a copy of the Affidavit of Judgment Debtor, with the Subpoena for the defendant to fill out.

1. You must wait 21 days after yours was signed before you can get an order for the seizure of property. Form MC 19, Request and Order to Seize Property, is used to start the process. Complete the Request portion of form MC 19 and file it with the court. The filing fee varies. The court will issue the order by signing the form, and it will be executed by a sheriff or court officer.

Any property that is seized will be sold, and the money will be given to you. The sheriff or court officer is entitled to fees which will be deducted from the sale of the property.

You must wait 21 days after your judgment is signed before you can get a garnishment. Form MC 12, MC 13, or MC 52, Request and Writ of Garnishment, is used to start the garnishment process.

There are three types of garnishment: 1) periodic, 2) non-periodic, and 3) income tax intercept.

A periodic writ of garnishment (MC 12) is used to garnish the defendant's wages, rent payments, land contract payments, or other debt that is paid to the defendant on a periodic basis. A periodic garnishment is valid for up to 91 days or until the judgment, interest, and costs are paid off, whichever occurs first.

A non-periodic writ of garnishment (MC 13) is used to garnish the defendant's bank account or other property. Once money has been garnished under the non-periodic writ, the writ is no longer valid. If there is a remaining balance on the judgment, you must get another writ to collect more money.

An income tax writ of garnishment (MC 52) is used to intercept the defendant's income tax refund. Once the tax refund has been intercepted by the Department of Treasury, the writ is no longer valid. If there is a remaining balance on the judgment, you must get another writ to collect more money.

Fill in the names and addresses of both the defendant and the garnishee on the request part of the form. The garnishee is the person or business that has control or possession of the defendant's money. Once you complete the request, you must file it with the district court that entered your small claims judgment. The filing fee is $15.00.

The court will issue the writ (order) by signing the form. The request and writ must be served on the garnishee along with the disclosure, form MC 14. There is a $6.00 disclosure fee with a garnishment for periodic payments and income tax refund. The cost of serving the writ varies.

If the defendant is not present at the trial, the court will send a copy of the judgment to the defendant. The judgment will order the defendant to pay you in full within 21 days, or tell you and the court where s/he works and the location of his/her bank accounts on the Affidavit of Judgment Debtor form.

If the defendant doesn't pay the judgment as ordered, you will have to collect your money through a seizure of property or a garnishment.