Attribution seizure: the ultimate weapon of the creditor

This enforcement measure (formerly called garnishment) is very fast and very effective for the creditor since it has an immediate attribution effect of the sums blocked with the banker or the employer.

This form of seizure should not be confused with the seizure of wages (or seizure of wages).

For the debtor who, overnight will be deprived of access to his bank account, this execution measure is all the more radical as even the JEX will see its powers very limited to mitigate the effects! As much to specify it immediately, the JEX will not be able to grant a delay of payment, nor to release the sums allocated to the creditor on the bank account.

He will however be able to control the regularity of the seizure, in the event of irregularity the procedure will be null.

Otherwise, all that the debtor will be able to do in the face of an attribution seizure is to mitigate its effects by asserting the existence of elusive sums on your account.

The attribution seizure procedure

It is open to any creditor provided with an enforceable title duly served.

A report of seizure specifying the decision implemented and the exact statement of the sums claimed in principal, costs and interest. This entry report makes the sum unavailable.

Attribution seizure is a formidable weapon. Performed on a bank account, it makes all of the debtor's bank accounts and all of the funds for fifteen days. This is the time necessary for the regularization of the accounts. Unless you agree to the seizure, in which case, the blocked sums will be immediately paid to the bailiff.

If the account balance is negative on the day of the attribution seizure, the creditor will not be able to withhold any sum: the seizure will be unsuccessful.

If the account is positive, the sum is acquired by the garnishing creditor. If there are several creditors, the blocked sum will not be shared between them. It will be allocated entirely to the creditor who has been the most diligent.

Nothing can call into question the attribution seizure. A debtor will no longer be able to recover the sums seized even if they were the subject of judicial liquidation or reorganization the day after the seizure. The debtor's situation is frozen on the day appearing on the seizure report.

The third party who holds the funds, usually the banker, has an obligation to provide all the information he has on the debtor's accounts. In the event of false declarations, omissions, voluntary or not, he will be held liable and may be ordered to pay damages.

The garnishing creditor must notify the debtor of the seizure report within 8 days of its notification. Without this, the entry will lapse.

Under penalty of nullity, the denunciation must contain, in particular, the means of appeal and the expiry dates for contesting the seizure. However, nullity is not a matter of law, it must be shown that the breach noted has caused a grievance.

The appeal period is 1 month from the denunciation.

Any dispute brought before the execution judge (JEX) must also be denounced, the same day, to the prosecuting bailiff. The sums seized will be blocked until a decision is rendered.

Restricted control of JEX

Its role is to verify:

• The existence and validity of the writ of execution, a prerequisite for any seizure. It is only in the absence of a title (judgment, judgment, etc.) that he will declare the seizure null and void.
• The validity of the service (the debtor must have been regularly informed).
• The seizure report must be reported to the garnishee within 8 days. This means that the minutes must be notified to the banker (the garnishee). Otherwise, the entry is null and void.
• The regularity of the Seizure Report. If the accounts are inaccurate or indistinct (when the sums due in capital, costs and interest are not clearly identified), the irregularity will void the seizure. It is also necessary that the debtor shows that it causes him a grievance, otherwise, in the absence of proven grievance, the amount will just be updated.

To know:

In the absence of dispute, the bailiff draws up a report of no dispute and the sum will be definitively allocated to the seizing creditor at the end of the 8 days.

After these appeal periods, the debtor will no longer be able to contest the seizure with the JEX.

If the claim was unjustified or undue, the debtor will have to act on the merits and contest the claim on the basis of the recovery of the overpayment.

The limits of the attribution seizure

Certain sums cannot be the subject of an attribution seizure, they are:

Elusive debts

All of this elusive income are all sums and pensions of a maintenance nature, and under certain conditions, social debts (family allowances), allowances (RSA, solidarity allowances, early retirement allowances, etc.).

As well as sickness benefits (reimbursement of medical expenses) are elusive but daily allowances are, because they replace the salary which is seizable and therefore follow the same regime.

The Elusive Bank Balance (SBI)

SBI a sum of basic necessities which is equivalent to the amount of the RSA for a single person (524,16 euros in 2016), and this, whatever your family situation, to help you face the immediate and essential food expenses.

The principle of non-accumulation between the elusive bank balance and the elusive debts

In the event of payment into your account of an elusive sum greater than the SBI

• Your banker will leave you the amount of the elusive sum

In the event of payment into your account of an elusive sum less than the SBI

• Your banker will leave you the sum of the amount of the SBI (RSA for a single person)

And this, always within the limit of the balance of the entered account.

If your account is in credit of 100 euros, the SBI or the elusive sums allocated will be 100 euros.