Receiving a notice of seizure is not a pleasant thing. In fact, it is normal for you to get very nervous and not understand why it has happened. But don't worry, it is a normal process when you have debts and taking it slow will help you understand it and how to know what the seizure retention is in order to remedy it as soon as possible.
Below we give you all the details you need to know to go step by step and avoid major problems before it is too late. Shall we begin?
What is a garnishment hold?
Before you know how to find out what type of garnishment hold you have been given, and where it comes from, it is important that you know what we are referring to. A garnishment hold is a immobilization of your assets, rights or money because you have contracted a debt that you have not yet paid.
For example, imagine that you have bought a house and have taken out a mortgage on it. This means that, month after month, you have to meet the installments you have established with the bank or entity. But, suddenly, you stop paying. This means that, even though you do not pay, you still owe the installments and when they accumulate, they can give the entity or bank the right to initiate legal proceedings against you.
In this case, It is the judge who must order in the judicial process that a seizure be made. This is done to protect the creditor's rights, that is, to ensure that he will receive payment if the court rules in his favor.
In those processes where there are debts, retention by seizure is common. Its operation is quite simple and is explained in the Civil Procedure Law. The process is started when the creditor (the person to whom you owe money) requests the execution of a judgment with a right to collection.
Judge evaluates the documentation presented and makes the decision whether to issue a seizure order or not. If the court issues the order, the debtor must be informed of the seizure order. Objections may be made to the court or the debtor may be informed that the debt has already been settled. If this is not the case, all the assets that are subject to seizure are located and retained or immobilized in order to guarantee payment of the debt that has been incurred.
What assets can be seized?
Amongst the seizable assets are:
- Bank accounts. These are the first to be acted upon due to their liquidity.
- Salaries. In this case, there is a limit and that is that the amount corresponding to the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI) cannot be seized. But anything that exceeds that amount can be seized.
- Real estate.
- Vehicles. Unless the vehicle you have is essential for your work and you need it to carry out your activity. For example, in the case of self-employed workers.
- Other property rights, such as shares or interests in companies or properties that are in the name of the debtor.
When it comes to seizing property, it does not mean that everything should be seized. The judge is the one who determines where the seizure will take place and does so in proportion to the debt.
To make it clearer: if the debt is 1.000 euros and you have a property worth 100.000 and another worth 10.000, the normal thing would be to choose the one with the lower value because it more than covers the value of the debt.
How to know if you have a garnishment hold
Imagine that you find yourself, overnight, with liens in your name. But you have no idea where they are coming from to try to solve it. First of all, take a breath and breathe. There are different ways that can help you find out if you have liens in your name.
The first of them is through the court records. You have to find out if there is any open embargo procedure against you. And how do you do that? You have two ways, the first, in person by going to your court. In case you don't know, this is the one that corresponds to your address or the place where the debt originated. There they will ask for your full name and your ID to see if they have any open file.
The second way is online, although not all autonomous communities have it enabled. You would also have to identify yourself with the electronic ID or digital certificate to be able to see if there are legal proceedings.
Another way to know if there is a seizure retention is reviewing property records and real estate. For example, by going to the Property Registry and requesting a simple informative note, or by consulting the Registry of Movable Property.
Social Security and the Tax Agency They are also two of the administrations that can order seizures of your accounts and assets. In both you have an electronic office and you could look at the section on outstanding debts, seizures or non-payments.
Finally, you could go to your bank or financial institution, since they are required to inform you if there is a embargo on your account.
How to know what a levy is
You've received a garnishment notice. Yes, it's a complicated and difficult time. But knowing what a garnishment notice is will help you sort things out.
When you are notified of the seizure order, it contains the origin of the seizure, That is, the debt that has caused the withholding. Therefore, you should review all the documents that you receive, which will be copies of the file that is in court.
In case you don't receive anything, with the codes that will appear in the notification you will be able to go to the court that issued it to find out, and you can also contact the creditor to get more information or to try to fix things so they don't get worse.
In that notification, it will not initially state that they are going to seize your property, because that is done after the time for your allegations has passed.
Is it now clearer to you what a levy is and how the process works?