Marshal's Notice of Execution

[NSH]

Okay, I have been putting off bankruptcy for about 2 years in the desperate hope that my financial life would change absurdly and miraculously, but I think I may be cornered into it now for the sake of peace of mind.

One, but perhaps not the only, deciding factor is a Marshal's Notice of Execution I just received on behalf of one of my creditors, in this case Capitol One, who I owe about 15K to. That, by the way is one of my VERY SMALL debts.

Anyway, the notice (which I received in the mail last friday) is apparently one that gives the city Marshal the right to knock on my door and basically take all my "non exempt" personal property. I live in Brooklyn NY, and the Marshal is in Manhattan. Here is what the notice says:

"An Execution against personal property has been issued to me as the result of a judgement entered against you in the above referenced mater. The issuance of an Execution against personal property to a City Marshal creates a lien on all personal property except the "exempt" property set forth in section 5205 of the civil practice law and rules. This "exempt" property may consist of household furniture, one radio and one televison, clothing, one refrigerator, work tools, and other basic household furnishings. All personal property not exempt may be sold at public auction."

And it goes on to talk about wages, and income, checks, and other money that can and cannot be levied.

Now I was always under the impression that creditors can't have anyone empowered to collect their money knock on your door, but I am guessing that I am wrong here. I also know, from the experience of several friends, that Capitol One is one of the most steadfast and rigorous of the creditors when it comes to debt collection and unwillingness to "settle" out a debt.

Can they really come to my house? I assume the answer is yes, hence the judgement. Will they kick my door in if I am not home, say if I am out at work or at the store? What is the chance they will actually come to my house and not just try to seize any hard assets I actually do not have?

[pookieny]

I live in upstate NY and I was served by a regular person with a summons to appear in court a judgement against me from Capitol One. When the judgement went through, I got a letter from the Sheriff's department notifying me I had like 20 days to answer and set up payment arrangenmetns 10% of my income. I had to submit to them a recent paycheck and if I did't do that they would garnish my paycheck for 10%. Really don't think they come to your house and start dragging out your belongings like they did in the olden days.

[backtoschool]

Okay, I have been putting off bankruptcy for about 2 years in the desperate hope that my financial life would change absurdly and miraculously, but I think I may be cornered into it now for the sake of peace of mind.

One, but perhaps not the only, deciding factor is a Marshal's Notice of Execution I just received on behalf of one of my creditors, in this case Capitol One, who I owe about 15K to. That, by the way is one of my VERY SMALL debts.

Anyway, the notice (which I received in the mail last friday) is apparently one that gives the city Marshal the right to knock on my door and basically take all my "non exempt" personal property. I live in Brooklyn NY, and the Marshal is in Manhattan. Here is what the notice says:

"An Execution against personal property has been issued to me as the result of a judgement entered against you in the above referenced mater. The issuance of an Execution against personal property to a City Marshal creates a lien on all personal property except the "exempt" property set forth in section 5205 of the civil practice law and rules. This "exempt" property may consist of household furniture, one radio and one televison, clothing, one refrigerator, work tools, and other basic household furnishings. All personal property not exempt may be sold at public auction."

And it goes on to talk about wages, and income, checks, and other money that can and cannot be levied.

Now I was always under the impression that creditors can't have anyone empowered to collect their money knock on your door, but I am guessing that I am wrong here. I also know, from the experience of several friends, that Capitol One is one of the most steadfast and rigorous of the creditors when it comes to debt collection and unwillingness to "settle" out a debt.

Can they really come to my house? I assume the answer is yes, hence the judgement. Will they kick my door in if I am not home, say if I am out at work or at the store? What is the chance they will actually come to my house and not just try to seize any hard assets I actually do not have?

Is Ronald Moses your Marshall? I lived in nyc (dumbo and brooklyn heights) and the marshalls are the enforcers of judgments there. But the marshall's have an office with a phone bank of collectors, and they have to give you a chance to make payment arrangements, or they usually do a garnishment on wages, or a levy of bank accounts.

In nyc Marshall's have a LOT of power. You are pretty much being forced to deal with this at this point. You must have gotten other warnings from them because coming to the house is the last thing they do.

What lawyer is the Marshall collecting for?

[NSH]

You are right, the name of the Marshal is Ronald Moses, and he is City Marshal #10 according to the letter, whatever that means.

I don't see a lawyer's name as just Capitol ONe appears at the top of the notice as the Judgement Creditor.

By the way, when I called them, to see what the hell was going on, someone in the office told me that they usually don't come down to people's houses for 40-50 days or more after the notice, but I am not going to believe that for a second. I am just not sure that I can get all my stuff together quick enough to stave this off, to be honest. I have three years of taxes I need to file, which is a more daunting task than I thought it would be, because I have to file a schedule C for a business I opened in 2006 and closed in 2008 which failed, and is the main reason I am in this position, well one of the reasons. I may have to employ the charity of a distant relative CPA to file my taxes for me for three years as QUICKLY as possible because my ctual accountant wants...wait for it...$1,500.00 per year to file for me, which adds up to 4.5K I simply don't have, hence why I have procrastinated the filing.

Anyone have any experience with the Marshal knocking on doors to confiscate and sell your possessions?

[backtoschool]

You are right, the name of the Marshal is Ronald Moses, and he is City Marshal #10 according to the letter, whatever that means.

I don't see a lawyer's name as just Capitol ONe appears at the top of the notice as the Judgement Creditor.

By the way, when I called them, to see what the hell was going on, someone in the office told me that they usually don't come down to people's houses for 40-50 days or more after the notice, but I am not going to believe that for a second. I am just not sure that I can get all my stuff together quick enough to stave this off, to be honest. I have three years of taxes I need to file, which is a more daunting task than I thought it would be, because I have to file a schedule C for a business I opened in 2006 and closed in 2008 which failed, and is the main reason I am in this position, well one of the reasons. I may have to employ the charity of a distant relative CPA to file my taxes for me for three years as QUICKLY as possible because my ctual accountant wants...wait for it...$1,500.00 per year to file for me, which adds up to 4.5K I simply don't have, hence why I have procrastinated the filing.

Anyone have any experience with the Marshal knocking on doors to confiscate and sell your possessions?

Of course you know that they are just trying to scare you into payment. They don't want your used sofa and old kitchen table.

When I lived in nyc I had one of my two judgments go to Marshall Moses. At this point, you really are going to have to make arrangements with them or you are going to have to file. They will keep bothering you. Coming to the house is the last step in their process, but if you make arrangements with them, they will stop coming to the house. They would prefer a wage garnishment or some easy form of payment anyway.

[NSH]

Well, I am an independant contractor working for a company based in NJ, even though my work is all in NY, so nobody from NY can even garnish my wages. lol (Okay not funny, but true) The State of NY contacted the company I work for with a lien and judgement for NY State taxes, and even they could not garnish my wages, because the company is outside of NY. Federal will be able to attatch them, which is another reason I have to file ASAP.

But, again, my immediate concern is NOT the financial steps they can take, as I have no hard assets like Real Estate, bank accounts, or anything attachable. And I am going to file BK once I can get my taxes filed for 06, 07, and 08!

I am just worried that there is a window for them to bust in my door and loot my possessions. Look, I don't want to get into any detail here, but if all I had for them to take was a couple of old sofa's and a few pots and pans, I would not be worried.

[pookieny]

They won't come into your house! It's not 1920 and the Great Depression.

The attorney's that served me via Capitol One was Rubin and Rothman and I think they are out of LI.

[backtoschool]

Well, I am an independant contractor working for a company based in NJ, even though my work is all in NY, so nobody from NY can even garnish my wages. lol (Okay not funny, but true) The State of NY contacted the company I work for with a lien and judgement for NY State taxes, and even they could not garnish my wages, because the company is outside of NY. Federal will be able to attatch them, which is another reason I have to file ASAP.

But, again, my immediate concern is NOT the financial steps they can take, as I have no hard assets like Real Estate, bank accounts, or anything attachable. And I am going to file BK once I can get my taxes filed for 06, 07, and 08!

I am just worried that there is a window for them to bust in my door and loot my possessions. Look, I don't want to get into any detail here, but if all I had for them to take was a couple of old sofa's and a few pots and pans, I would not be worried.

They cannot break into your house.

But they can come with a warrant to be let in, and cart out anything of value. In nyc believe it or not this is legal.

I made arrangements with them long before my judgements got to that point and they were going for a wage garnishment on a job I no longer had anyway.

Marshall Moses works in conjunction with several sewer law firms in Long Island. One of them would have filed the original judgement.

Marshall Moses also calls around to all the banks in the area and does a blanket search for bank accounts, so if you have a bank account, expect a levy soon.

[NSH]

I have four bank accounts, most of them now have negative balances, and I think one has about 73 cents in it. So, yeah, they are welcome to it. I am going to be declaring BK soon, I really don't think there is a way out of that. Is there some kind of a timetable with which I can expect them to come knocking on my door or is this ocmpletely arbitraty? What if I am not home when they come? What if I pretend not to be home when they come? Truth be told, I live a bit of a pathetic life right now because of my financial woes, and I NEVER actually answer the door unless I specifically know someone is coming, like a friend, date, or booty call.

[music12]

i am NO expert, but i think an execution does not give them the right to forcibly enter your premises. if you have a landlord, the marshall might ask him and when he sees the warrant, he might be scared into letting the marshall in, though i think that would be illegal for the landlord to do.

you really need some legal advice, this is complicated!

[backtoschool]

i am NO expert, but i think an execution does not give them the right to forcibly enter your premises. if you have a landlord, the marshall might ask him and when he sees the warrant, he might be scared into letting the marshall in, though i think that would be illegal for the landlord to do.

you really need some legal advice, this is complicated!

The rules for Marshall's in nyc are really complicated. With the banks having so much power in nyc, the marshall's there have really strong powers to collect on judgments.

Here is a link to the marshall's hand book from the nyc.gov site that lists what marshalls can and cannot do.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doi/html/marshals/mar7.html

[backtoschool]

I have four bank accounts, most of them now have negative balances, and I think one has about 73 cents in it. So, yeah, they are welcome to it. I am going to be declaring BK soon, I really don't think there is a way out of that. Is there some kind of a timetable with which I can expect them to come knocking on my door or is this ocmpletely arbitraty? What if I am not home when they come? What if I pretend not to be home when they come? Truth be told, I live a bit of a pathetic life right now because of my financial woes, and I NEVER actually answer the door unless I specifically know someone is coming, like a friend, date, or booty call.

Well it looks like the marshall can break and enter to seize specific property as long as he has the correct paperwork.

Here is the link to where is says this in the Marshall's handbook.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doi/html/marshals/mar6.html

[music12]

so the question is how hard is it for a plaintiff to get that kind of paperwork. it sounds like they would have to go before a judge and explain why they need it, which probably means they have to be able to say that the marshall came several times and was not voluntarily allowed to enter.

that could take some time, i think. and it's not automatic.

[AngelinaCatHub]

A writ of attachment can be enforced by the gun. Yes, I levied on a person who stole my dead Mother's property and got a Judgment. She was almost arrested for resisting the officer and tow truck operator. 'Hub

[backtoschool]

so the question is how hard is it for a plaintiff to get that kind of paperwork. it sounds like they would have to go before a judge and explain why they need it, which probably means they have to be able to say that the marshall came several times and was not voluntarily allowed to enter.

that could take some time, i think. and it's not automatic.

Well, the paperwork does not look that difficult to get. Here is a list of what is needed to break in:

Section 2: ORDER OF SEIZURE

In order for a marshal to proceed with a seizure of a chattel, he must receive certain papers from the plaintiff or his attorney. These papers play the same role in this type of action as an execution plays in levies and sales or a warrant plays in landlord and tenant matters. These papers give a marshal the needed authority to act.

Section 2-1: Papers to Proceed

The following are the papers which a marshal must have in order to proceed:

The application for an order of seizure by an affidavit of the moving party that clearly identifies the chattel to be seized and that states:
the plaintiff is entitled to possession;
the defendant is holding the property wrongfully;
the present status of any action to recover and, if the defendants have appeared, where papers may be served upon them;
the value of the property claimed;
facts sufficient to authorize the inclusion in the order of a provision authorizing the marshal to break and enter to search for the chattel, where the plaintiff seeks this provision;
that no defense to the claim is known to the plaintiff;
A copy of the order of seizure;
A copy of the undertaking (which is a bond in the amount of at least twice the value of the property); and
A copy of the summons and complaint bearing the index number and date of filing with the clerk of the court.


So basically, the only difficult paperwork to get is an application that clearly identifies the property that is going to be taken. This seems like it is more for secured creditors, than a general credit card like Capital One.


But, breaking and entering would have to be court ordered. Which is stated here:

Section 3: BREAKING AND ENTERING

The order of seizure may specify that a marshal has the authority to break and enter to collect property. However, a marshal may do so only when a court so orders. If such authority is not in the order, a marshal may not break and enter, and may gain entrance only if he is voluntarily admitted.

Generally, if the court does not order breaking and entering to seize the chattel, the court will restrain the defendant, in its order, from removing or disposing of the property. If the property disappears, the defendant may be held in contempt of court.


So, in answer to the OP's question, I don't think the marshall has a court order to break and enter yet, so the OP is safe for now from involuntary seizure.