Garnishment in Georgia
During these troubled financial times in Georgia, we have noticed a huge increase in Garnishment actions being filed in Atlanta, Georgia courts. In some instances, the Garnishments are incorrect or have been placed on the wrong accounts. The biggest mistakes that we have seen occur, however, are when small businesses ignore the garnishment rather than hiring an Atlanta business lawyer as soon as possible.
A good Atlanta business lawyer will review the garnishment action to determine the proper course of action so that the innocent small business owner is not suddenly paying the debts of one of its employees. Just recently a Georgia small business owner called me because his company’s bank accounts had been seized for the debt of one of the business’ employees. The problem arose when the small business ignored the initial garnishment action. The employee claimed that he did not owe the money, so the business wrote the Judgment holder a letter claiming that the debt was wrong. When the Georgia small business did not file an official response to the garnishment action, the Judgment holder was able to bring an action against the Georgia small business itself for the money of its employee.
The recent case of TBF Fin. LLC v. Houston, A09A0380, 09 FCDR 2286 (07/17/09), is a good example of how a business lawyer can help someone who has suddenly been garnished. Because the rules relating to garnishment actions are very strict, the lawyer was able to argue that the Judgment holder did not take the proper notification steps required under the law, and, as a result, the garnishment action was dismissed.
