Current legislation provides special rules for enforcement proceedings so that the rights of both the claimant and the debtor are taken into account equally. On the one hand, the claimant must receive his funds, for which transfers can be made from wages; on the other hand, the executor also needs finances to meet his living needs, so simply writing off the entire salary would be the wrong step. If bailiffs seize a salary card, the debtor finds himself in an extremely unfavorable situation. You need to act as quickly and purposefully as possible.
Practical possibility of arrest
In accordance with Article 81 of Federal Law No. 229-FZ “On Enforcement Proceedings,” a bailiff has the right to seize an account in a bank or other financial organization. The resolution is sent to an organization that blocks any monetary transactions on the account within a specified amount or in full.
Most often, the account is frozen completely, that is, any operations on it are completely stopped. However, this should not apply to wages. Thus, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 99 No. 229-FZ, no more than half can be recovered from wages.
In practice the situation is often different. The entire account is seized, and subsequently all wages are written off. The debtor is essentially left without a means of subsistence. Undoubtedly, this is contrary to current legislation and violates the rights of the debtor.
Link to document: Federal Law No. 229-FZ of October 2, 2007 “On Enforcement Proceedings”
Legality of seizure of salary card
Article 98 229-FZ states that the bailiff has the right to impose a penalty on the wages of a citizen debtor. This enforcement action is mistakenly called the seizure of a salary card. Seizure is a separate enforcement action imposed on funds - a specific amount that is written off to pay off the debt.
As part of enforcement proceedings, the bailiff (Bailiff) first of all forecloses on funds in Russian rubles belonging to the debtor-citizen. We are talking about the amount that the debtor already has at his disposal: in a bank account or in cash. If this amount is not enough to satisfy the requirements specified in the writ of execution, the SPI forecloses on the debtor’s wages. Other grounds for collecting wages:
- The writ of execution contains demands for the collection of periodic payments - for example, alimony.
- The amount of debt does not exceed 10 thousand rubles.
- The debtor citizen lacks or has insufficient funds (other property) to repay the debt in full.
For example, the debt under the writ of execution is 100 thousand rubles, and the debtor’s bank account / card contains an amount of 50 thousand rubles. In this case, the SPI will collect the mentioned 50 thousand rubles immediately, and the rest of the debt will be repaid in installments - for these purposes, the recovery is imposed on the debtor’s wages (other periodic income).
Reasons for arrest
A salary account may be frozen under the following circumstances:
- the loan was not repaid on time, or the debt arose due to other circumstances;
- the obligation is not fulfilled voluntarily;
- the person does not have other bank accounts or other property.
In such cases, collections may be made from wages or other periodic payments, such as pensions or stipends.
Do bailiffs have the right to seize the debtor’s wages?
Yes, they do. According to the Federal Law “On Enforcement Proceedings” No. 229-FZ, employees of the FSSP of the Russian Federation have the right to foreclose on the property or income of the debtor. They have the right to seize any bank account, even the one to which wages are transferred. The bailiff is not obliged to find out where the debtor is receiving funds from. It imposes a penalty on any source of income discovered.
According to Law No. 229-FZ, an employee of the FSSP of the Russian Federation must begin the collection procedure by searching for the debtor’s bank accounts opened in any financial organizations. He is not obliged to find out where the money came from in the account. The bailiff sends a resolution to the bank to seize the account, the funds from which are transferred to a special deposit account of the FSSP of the Russian Federation. If the amount in the debtor’s account is less than or equal to the amount of the debt, the bailiff has the right to withdraw 100% of the funds from him.
What to do if you are arrested
Wage garnishment is an unpleasant situation that can significantly undermine the family budget. In particular, the problem is the situation when wages are collected in full, despite the appointment of regular transfers. In this case, it is recommended to take the following actions:
- Contact the bailiff who is conducting the relevant enforcement proceedings. There are situations when the bailiff does not know that the card is a salary card. The purpose of the account is often not indicated in the information available to the bailiff, and sometimes he simply does not double-check the information due to his workload. The card holder needs to contact the FSSP in person. You should take an account statement and write a statement. After this, transfers should be reduced to half.
- Contact your employer and change the procedure for issuing wages. Each employee has the right to choose how to receive their earnings, in cash or on a card. No one has the right to force him to choose a certain order. Therefore, an employee can submit an application addressed to his superiors and receive money at the cash desk. Undoubtedly, the bailiff will also be able to seize half of such earnings, however, he will no longer be able to seize the entire salary.
- Appeal the actions of the bailiff. This can be done in court or through a higher authority. Action is recommended if the specialist refuses to lift the arrest voluntarily.
- Pay the debt. If such an opportunity exists, it is better to pay off the debt in full. This will completely remove the arrest and not return to this issue in the future.
Quite often, wages are seized in full, even without notifying the debtor. In this case, the bailiff may not make any contacts. In such a situation, you have to begin the most radical methods of protecting your rights, that is, filing a complaint with the court or with the bailiff’s superiors.
Download the application to recognize the actions of the bailiff as illegal (sample/form)
What to do to remove a seizure from a salary card
Seizure is the blocking of funds, which is carried out in order to ensure the fulfillment of the requirements specified in the executive documents. This is an interim measure that may not involve the collection (writing off) of money from the account. Foreclosure of the debtor's wages implies that the employer, from the moment of receiving the writ of execution (its copy), will withhold a certain amount from the wages, which is transferred to the address of the recoverer.
The transfer period is no later than 3 days from the date of payment of wages. All costs of the transaction are covered by the debtor. The balance of funds goes to the employee’s card account, after which he can freely dispose of them. This form of execution of a writ of execution is often called seizure of a salary card.
Collections from wages do not stop until the claimant receives the amount specified in the writ of execution. Until this moment, the debtor's wages are not written off. Sanctions against the hired employee are applied until the debt is fully repaid.
If there is no error in the actions of the bailiff, then the arrest will not be removed from the card. The debtor can repay the debt using funds not discovered by the Investigative Committee during the enforcement process. If write-offs are made by mistake (for example, after repaying a debt), then the problem is solved by filing an application addressed to the SPI.
How to file a complaint against a bailiff
There are two options for filing a complaint:
- To a higher authority. So, you need to write to the bailiff to the head of the department in which he works.
- To the court at the location of the territorial branch.
Regardless of the authority to which the appeal is made, the contents of the document will be as follows:
- organ details. Thus, the data of the court to which the application is being submitted, or the data of the head of the bailiff are indicated;
- applicant details;
- the essence of the conflict, that is, a description of the situation in which the salary was seized, including data on the initiation of enforcement proceedings, the fact that funds were written off in full, card transactions were blocked, and so on;
- a request to make a certain decision, in this case - to lift the arrest.
Download the complaint against the bailiff (sample/form)
Legal assistance in preparing an application/complaint >>
Documents confirming the applicant’s position must be attached to the complaint. First of all, this is an account statement, which will confirm that it is a salary account.
Reasons why an account may be blocked
In most cases this is:
- Unpaid administrative fine,
- Overdue loan debt,
- Debt for housing and communal services,
- Debt of alimony.
If there is enforcement proceedings open against you, the bailiff can seize your bank accounts, as well as send a writ of execution to your employer to collect the debt.
You should understand that when your employer receives a writ of execution for debt collection, he will not be able to withhold more than 50% of your income. The percentage of recovery may vary, depending on the article of recovery.
However, the most common case is when a writ of execution reaches a banking institution. The bank does not have the legal right to track and transfer to third parties information about the source of origin of your funds in open accounts. But he can block or write off money to pay off the debt.
The first thing bailiffs do when opening a case is to ask banks for information about the availability of the debtor’s accounts, seizing them in the amount of the debt. Bailiffs are vested with this right in accordance with Part 2 of Article 81 of the Law “On Enforcement Proceedings”.
The legal concept of “salary card” or “salary account” does not exist. This is a simplified, popular concept. It is these common names that mislead citizens. Current accounts are opened for all citizens who are not engaged in entrepreneurial activities. You can get acquainted with the list of all types of bank accounts in more detail by carefully studying the Bank of Russia instruction No. 153-I dated May 30, 2014.
The Federal Law on Enforcement Proceedings does not give bailiffs the obligation to find out the history of the origin of funds accrued when seizing bank accounts. In other words, the bailiff has no information at all about which specific account, be it salary or otherwise, he imposes restrictions on and writes off money from.
Practical features
Wage penalties cannot exceed half of the amount transferred. But there is an exception to this rule. Thus, on the basis of Article 99 No. 229-FZ, penalties can reach 70 percent if we are talking about alimony for children, compensation for damage in connection with the death of a breadwinner, compensation for damage caused by a crime. In other cases, transfers should not exceed 50 percent.
Most often, it is enough to verbally contact the bailiff, and he will remove the seizure from the account. The point is that the specialist may not have access to the necessary information about the purpose of the card; upon presentation of this information, the arrest will be lifted without any problems.
It will not be possible to exclude collections from wages, since the bailiff has the right to receive funds from the debtor in this way. However, reducing them to half is the legal right of a citizen.
Salary will be considered a transfer that is made regularly. If the funds are kept in the account afterward, they may be written off in full. It turns out that half can be withdrawn only at the time of transfer; the balance, which is simply stored in the account, can be written off completely. This condition cannot be disputed.
Can bailiffs seize a salary card? we explain in order
If you evade loan payments, alimony or other payments for a long time, then bailiffs have the right to deduct part of the funds from your salary card. And there is no point in believing that this action is contrary to the law. It’s another matter if bailiffs do not respect the rights of the debtor. To be sure that the bailiffs are acting according to the law, you need to carefully study your rights. Also find out how much FSB employees receive.
- Name of the bailiff service.
- Location of the bailiff service.
- Last name, first name, patronymic of the bailiff.
- Last name, first name, patronymic of the applicant.
- Applicant's registration.
- Date of opening of enforcement proceedings.
- Number of enforcement proceedings.
- The number of the conclusion, on the basis on which the enforcement proceedings were assigned.
- The name of the bank that services the defaulter.
- Number of the seized bank card.
The bank employee must inform the debtor of the details of the document on the basis of which the bank wrote off the money: the number of the enforcement proceeding, the writ of execution and the name of the bailiff who signed the resolution. Such information cannot but exist: without a writ of execution or a bailiff’s order, the bank will not write off the money.
The system works like this: first, the bank debits money from the debtor’s account and transfers it to the deposit of the bailiff service. Then the bailiff, within five working days from the date of receipt of the money on deposit, sends it to the claimant. That is, the money can go to the collector as soon as it is deposited with the bailiff department. It will be impossible to return them to the debtor’s account.
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The answer to the question of whether a credit card can be seized is known to bank employees. Having received a copy of the FSSP resolution in which credit cards are indicated, the employee is obliged to report this. The bailiff should not check the purpose of the accounts; the banking organization is responsible for this. The card can be seized due to oversight caused by human factor.
If your application is refused, you can file a complaint against the actions of FSSP employees. But there is a much simpler way to solve this issue. You should pay off the card debt and close the agreement with the banking organization. Instead of a seized credit card, you can get a new one in another company (for example, in VTB instead of Sberbank).
How to avoid card seizure
If the debtor has significant arrears and a court order has already been issued, in order to avoid seizure of your card and other negative consequences, it is recommended to notify the bailiff about the appointment of the account in advance. To do this, after initiating enforcement proceedings, you can write a statement indicating this information and attach supporting documents to it.
Another option is to contact the employer with a request to pay wages in cash. To do this, you need to submit an application to the accounting department or addressed to the manager with a request to change the payment procedure. Many employers perceive this requirement negatively, but they have no right to refuse.
Allowable amount of deduction
What proportion of your income can be written off by bailiffs.
Bailiffs cannot completely seize a debtor’s salary card if it is the citizen’s only source of income. The law allows you to withdraw no more than 50% of the money transferred to such an account. The entire amount may be withheld, but subsequent monthly collections will only equal half of the funds.
- child support for several minor children;
- compensation payments for damage to health;
- actions resulting in disability or death of the main breadwinner;
- covering arrears resulting from theft.
But the executors cannot seize more than a quarter of the monthly income if the card belongs to a single parent. And also no more than 30% for a family with several minor children.
Let's sum it up
If the bailiffs have seized the salary card, the debtor has the right to challenge this restriction. To begin with, it is recommended to contact a specialist and explain the purpose of the account. If this does not work, you can appeal the illegal action in court or through a higher authority. In any case, collections should be limited to half of the regular payment so that the debtor has a means of subsistence.
Read: Is there a statute of limitations on credit cards?
Can bailiffs seize a salary card?
- forced collection of alimony in favor of minor children occurs;
- it is necessary to cover damage resulting from theft;
- it is necessary to provide compensation for harm to health;
- the person did not pay compensation for damage caused by harm that resulted in the loss of a breadwinner.
The application must be prepared in two copies. One of them is provided to the FSSP, and the second is marked with registration. The paper remains with the citizen. If a person independently contributes part of the funds to close the obligations, this can speed up the unblocking process.
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In fact, any bank must provide information about the accounts of its clients at the request of the FSSP, but if you check all the banks for each defendant, this will take a lot of time. Considering the workload of the collection service, this is not possible.
- If the debtor believes that the bailiffs seized money kept in the bank illegally, and he has evidence of this, then their actions can be appealed.
- If the court proceeded unilaterally, that is, without the participation of the borrower, then the court order can be canceled. In this case, the seizure of the savings is removed.
How much money can they hold?
The Federal Law “On Enforcement Proceedings” gives bailiffs the authority to write off funds from the debtor’s salary account in full. The only exception is the last periodic payment. The rules regarding the maximum withholding amount of 50 percent apply to him.
Guided by the court decision, the bailiffs can legally either seize the account or even collect the funds available on it. Article 99 of the Federal Law “On Enforcement Proceedings” states that more than 50% of the amount of his income cannot be withheld from the debtor’s accounts. The withholding of funds will stop only after all requirements are met (more details about them are indicated in the bailiff's writ of execution).
There are cases to which these restrictions do not apply:
- When collecting alimony;
- When claiming compensation for damage as a result of damage to a person’s health;
- If it is necessary to compensate for harm, the result of which led to the death of the family breadwinner;
- When compensating for material damage or reimbursing stolen funds as a result of the commission of a crime.
In such cases, up to 70% of the income may be withheld from the debtor.
In any case, the withheld percentage can be reduced to 30% at the request of the debtor if the family is raising children under the age of majority. Or up to 25% if only one of the parents is raising the child.
Sample application to reduce the amount of recovery from wages
What to do if the wage garnishment is still not lifted
In the event that the removal of the seizure from your salary card account is delayed, you have the right to file a corresponding complaint in the order of subordination, to the prosecutor's office or to the court. The procedure for challenging is described in Article 128 of the Law “On Enforcement Proceedings”
Do not rush to send complaints about blocking all funds from your salary account to various authorities. In order to save time, the first thing you should do is contact the bailiff, since your complaint filed with the court or prosecutor's office will still be transferred to the bailiff in accordance with Chapter 18 of the Law on Individual Entrepreneurs.
