Garnish a Bank: How much are attorney fees to garnish a bank or Paypal account?

1 Answers

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   Aaron Hall, Minnesota Lawyer on Nov 30, 2011 Log in to Reply

   In order to open a bank account (including Paypal), the debtor (the person who owes you money) would have to provide a tax ID number. His tax ID number would be a social security number of EIN. Having his tax ID number can help an attorney get money in any account where that tax ID was used because the bank can check for any accounts with that tax ID number on them. Without a tax ID, the bank will use the debtor’s name to identify his accounts.

   The costs to garnish one financial institution (like Paypal) would be $500 in legal fees plus $22 in a bank fee and certified mail fee (total = $522). If there is no money in that institution, there are no additional costs. If there is money there, then the additional costs will depend on how much work is required (such as if debtor claims the funds qualify under an exemption from garnishment or brings other legal action). Legal fees for this would be on an hourly basis at usual attorney rates (e.g. $250 per hour). This is something you would decide after knowing whether the garnishment actually captured some money.

   The costs to garnish each additional financial institution (like Wells Fargo, US Bank, etc.) are less because your attorney can use information from the first garnishment, so each additional garnishment would be $100 in legal fees plus $22 in a bank fee and certified mail fee (total = $122 per financial institution).

   Aaron Hall, Attorney
   Twin Cities Law Firm, LLC
   http://MinnesotaLawyer.com
   http://MinnesotaAttorney.com
   612-466-0010

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