Aim For First-Attempt Resolutions
Wage Garnishments and Bank Levies are served at a business or bank, and service should be completed within a week of receiving the documents. This should regularly require one attempt, even if the address is incorrect.
Serving Wage Garnishments
Wage Garnishments will be served upon a business or a Registered Agent of that business.
There are circumstances in which you might serve a Registered Agent for a business, while not actually at the location of that business. Always go to the location indicated on the Service Coversheet and ask for whomever can accept documents on behalf of the listed entity. Deliver the documents to them after you have obtained their name and position. Before handing over the documents:
- Get the name of the person you will hand them to.
- Fill out the Earnings Withholding Order page, with a blue ink pen, with the date, your name and signature, and by checking the "Registered process server" box.
Now submit a service in the Mobile App with the details of the service.
Wage Garnishments should never be served to the person whose wages are being garnished, even if they are present. Serve only to the appropriate Registered Agent or manager. The single exception to this rule is if you are serving a small business and the person whose wages are being garnished is in fact the Registered Agent for the company or business.
Whenever you are serving a Wage Garnishment, it is given to the employer - not the named employee. In fact, it should be served to the employer regardless of whether the garnishee stills works there!
Wage Garnishments are served on a company at the directive of the sheriff. If the person whose wages are being garnished is no longer employed there, it is the responsibility of the company to notify the sheriff.
There’s even instructions for the company should the person no longer be employed there, written in paragraph one of the Earnings Withholding Order (form WG-002):
"Complete both copies of the form Employer's Return... and mail them to the levying officer within 15 days after receiving this order, whether or not the employee works for you."
Serving Bank Levies
Bank Levies will be served to a teller or manager on duty, or a third-party Registered Agent for the bank. Similar to Wage Garnishments, you may be asked to serve at a business that is not an actual bank. Simply ask for whomever can accept documents on behalf of that bank. Before handing over the documents:
- Get the name of the person you will hand them to.
- Fill out the Notice of Levy page with a blue ink pen by checking the "Delivered On" box with the date, printing and signing your name, and checking the "Registered process server" box.
Bank Levy Post-Service Mailing
Now submit a service in the Mobile App with the details of the service.
After service of a bank levy:
- The second copy of the writ in the service packet can be found with a prepaid envelope attached. This should be sent to the judgment debtor on the same day as the service. It is critical that you perform this on the same day.
- Make sure to check the "Mailed On" box and mark the date of service. Use the attached envelope with the documents positioned so that the debtor's name and address are showing through the clear window in the envelope. See the example to the right, "Copy Mailed to Defendant."
Non-Service of either a Wage Garnishment or Bank Levy
If you arrive at a vacant lot, or come across an incorrect address, then log record a "Non-Residency Indicator" in your Mobile App. Under no circumstances can these documents be served at a different address, even if the address is off by a single number, as it will be rejected by the sheriff. Simply Indicate why it is not the correct address in the "Attempted" section of the order and mail the documents back to your usual mailing office.