Garnishments

The courts can be very frustrating. One of the more frustrating situations, is enforcing an order and having to wait for monies. Let me use as an example a small claims order. You fill out the paperwork for say a garnishment of wages. Assuming you have done everything right the company will, within a certain amount of time, remit monies to the courts.

Now, the courts upon receiving the first payment from the employer, is to hold that first payment for 30 days.  This gives someone the time they require to file a motion if need be to stop a garnishment. This 30 day hold only to the first remittance. Every payment after that, once the courts receive the payments, they are to write and send a cheque to the person owed the money. This may be done through a representative if that person had legal counsel etc.

One would think that it shouldn't take more that a month and a half to receive monies. This is not the case. I have actually experienced where the courts have received monies and have not even placed them into their trust account. To add insult to injury, once the money is placed in their trust account, it takes another month or more for them to write a cheque and send it to the persons owed the money. Some courts are better than others, but in some cases certain courts only have part time bookkeepers which adds to the problem. I have seen it where it has taken in excess of 4 months for the courts to release monies owed.

This is simply not acceptable. This is money owed to individuals who have had to traverse the courts and spend time and money. Oh and lets not forget the frustration, stress and anxiety attached to many of these cases for an individual. That four months is interest that they could be getting on this money but instead have to wait. When one calls the courts to inquire, the clerks either give an excuse as to what has happened and why. Most simply accept this as the price of doing business.

I think that should more people complain perhaps something would change. What do I know? Nothing has changed and it would seem nothing will change anytime soon. So at the moment, it seems to be the best we have for the time being.

Let me add this......if it was the government who wanted monies owed to them, they want it yesterday, with interest. Double standard?