In the judgment collection business, creditors, attorneys, and collection agencies have access to several different tools for encouraging debtors to pay. Two such tools are writs of garnishment and execution. In principle, they accomplish the same thing. What makes them different are their respective targets.
A Writ Is a Court Order
A writ is a court order authorizing the seizure of non-exempt property in order to pay a debt. Writs are used in collecting judgments because they are quite effective. Imagine being a judgment debtor yourself. You might not be all that cooperative initially. But if it becomes apparent that the creditor is going to seek a writ against your property, things change.
Judgment Collectors is a Salt Lake City, UT collection agency that collects outstanding judgments in multiple states. They once worked on a case involving an uncooperative debtor who insisted he had no means to pay. But through a diligent property search, Judgment Collectors discovered a valuable piece of property in a neighboring county. They informed the debtor that they knew of this property.
Once revealed, the property was subject to a rid of execution. Obtaining such a writ would have given the local sheriff authority to seize and sell the property. That was enough to get the debtor to make arrangements to pay.
Garnishment Targets Liquid Assets
Now that you understand what a writ is, let us talk about that significant difference that distinguishes between writs of garnishment and execution. Again, we are talking about targeted assets. A writ of garnishment targets liquid assets.
What are liquid assets? They are more or less cash. A writ of garnishment targets wages and other sources of income. This includes things like:
- Weekly salary
- Commissions and bonuses
- Rental income
- Invoice income
- Bank account
- Lottery winnings
The most common example of a writ of garnishment involves garnishing a debtor’s wages. With a garnishment order in place, the debtor’s employer is required to withhold a certain amount from each paycheck and forward it to the creditor. A writ of garnishment against a debtor’s bank account would allow the creditor to seize money in that account on a onetime basis.
Execution Targets Non-Liquid Assets
Writs of execution target non-liquid assets like real estate and vehicles. The term ‘execution’ is applied because certain processes need to be followed to leverage non-liquid assets. Let us go back to the Judgment Collectors example.
If the creditor in that case had actually obtained a writ of execution against the debtor’s property, the property would have been seized by the local sheriff. Then, to make the seized property applicable to the debt, one of two things would have to happen: the deed to the property would have to be legally transferred to the creditor or the local sheriff would have to sell the property and forward the proceeds for payment.
In either case, a legal process needs to be executed. The same goes for any type of non-liquid asset that might be leveraged to pay an outstanding judgment. Writs of execution can be executed against all sorts of personal property. However, there are certain types of property considered exempt.
Writs Are Highly Motivating
For my money, the most important thing to know about writs of garnishment and execution is that they are highly motivating. Understandably, judgment debtors don’t want creditors coming in and seizing their assets. So if there’s even a hint that a creditor might seek to obtain a writ, it’s in the debtor’s best interests to find some way to pay. And if you are the judgment creditor, that’s the whole point.
