Illinois Procedural Requirements for Wage Garnishment

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Illinois Procedural Requirements

Upon the filing by a judgment creditor of an affidavit that the applicant believes any person is indebted to the judgment debtor, other than for wages, and includes the last address of the judgment debtor known to the affiant as well as the name of the judgment debtor, the garnishment notice required by _ 12705 and written interrogatories to be answered by the garnishee with respect to the indebtedness, the clerk of the court in which the judgment was entered shall issue summons against the person named in the affidavit commanding him or her to appear in the court as garnishee and answer the interrogatories in writing under oath. The interrogatories shall require that the garnishee certify that a copy of the completed interrogatories has been mailed to the judgment debtor and shall be in a form consistent with local court rules. 735 ILCS _ 5/12701.

Summons with four copies of the interrogatories shall be served and returned as in other civil cases. The summons shall be accompanied by a copy of the underlying judgment or a certification by the clerk of the court that entered the judgment, or by the attorney for the judgment creditor, setting forth the amount of the judgment, the name of the court and the number of the case and one copy of a garnishment notice. 735 ILCS _ 5/12705.

To the extent of the amount due upon the judgment and costs, the garnishee shall hold, subject to the order of the court any nonexempt indebtedness or other nonexempt property in his or her possession, custody or control belonging to the judgment debtor or in which the judgment debtor has any interest. The judgment or balance due thereon becomes a lien on the indebtedness and other property held by the garnishee at the time of the service of garnishment summons and remains a lien thereon pending the garnishment proceeding. The garnishee shall file a written answer under oath to the interrogatories, setting forth as of the date of service of the garnishment summons any indebtedness due or to become due to the judgment debtor and any other property in his, her or its possession, custody or control belonging to the judgment debtor or in which the judgment debtor has an interest. The garnishee shall mail, by first class mail, a copy of the answer to the judgment creditor and to the judgment debtor at the addresses specified in the affidavit or at any other address or location of the judgment debtor known to the garnishee, and shall certify in the answer that it was so mailed. 735 ILCS _ 5/12707.

No fee shall be paid by a garnishee for filing an appearance, answer or satisfaction of judgment against him or her. No fee shall be paid to a garnishee unless he or she is subpoenaed to appear as a witness, in which case he or she is entitled to witness fees as in other civil cases. Costs of obtaining the garnishment order are to be charged to the judgment debtor unless the court determines that the costs incurred by the judgment creditor were improperly incurred, in which case the costs are to be paid by the judgment creditor. 735 ILCS _ 5/12716.

Interest Rate at which Judgments Accrue

Judgments recovered in any court shall draw interest at the rate of 9% per annum from date of the judgment until satisfied or 6% per annum when the judgment debtor is a unit of local government, a school district, a community college district, or any other governmental entity. When judgment is entered upon any award, report or verdict, interest shall be computed at the above rate, from the time when made or rendered to the time of entering judgment, and included in the judgment. 735 ILCS _ 5/21303. Applicable Forms Garnishment notice, 735 ILCS 5/12705.