IRS levy on bank account

[edhallick]

Oh believe me, I have all that cash out of there now. Now I can`t get a hold of my landlord, this guy never answers his phone so my next stop is to go to the bank and talk to someone there personally. I don`t trust these Custom serv reps, they HAD to get this damn letter already! The IRS guy himself told me they mailed it 11/20, yet this cust serv rep said they didn`t get it. On the other hand though, you know what I was thinking is do you think this is all BS to scare me? That the IRS says they mailed it but didn`t just to get me to call/pay them? I wouldn`t doubt it but I`m not going to risk it by putting that money back in.

[edhallick]

Anyone out there.....

Anyone out there know how to time a levy? lol! This is driving me nuts... the IRS won`t cancel it and my bank says they didn`t get it yet. So now do I put the money back in and risk losing it or take it out and let my rent bounce? Flip a coin.

[CindyLou]

Did you get in touch with the landlord yet? I would NOT take the chance of having any money in that account. Now may be a good time to start living a chas and carry life until you are able to file your BK. Keep your account open with 30 or 40 dollars in it just to keep it open, but if you are subject to lawsuits or levy's you might want to play it safe.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Ed, good luck with your situation. What you wrote about a sudden levy -- and other people's cross-collateralization stories where money suddenly gets yanked out of their accounts -- scares the hell out of me.

I think that if nothing else, no matter what you and the IRS can work out in the end, you need to consider going to a cash-only system for a while until you're good and solvent and have some emergency funds saved. This is a huge pain in the a** if you're used to just being able to whip out a checkbook, but then again you have the peace of knowing that a money order for your rent cannot possibly bounce, and that the cash you have in your hand isn't likely to go *poof* at the whim of some bureaucrat or computer system that thinks okay, today's the day Ed starts paying.

While there may be remedies for wrongfully placed levies, and you may have the money returned in the end, your rent is due *today*, as you noted. I guess what I'm saying is, now that you've seen they are prepared to levy your accounts, don't let it happen twice. They may have mailed you a prior notice, but that's no good if you didn't get it. (When I was in my old house after the foreclosure auction and waiting for word on how long I had to get me and my stuff out, the actual notice of eviction didn't come until the day before the time ran out -- I had to call the mortgage co's attorneys and beg for more time, which fortunately they gave me, but that's the reliability of the mail for ya.)

BTW, I agree with your choices -- rent always comes first. The IRS isn't going to slip a pillow under your head on that cold park bench and whisper "sweet dreams". Good luck!

[hplumberman]

IRS levied my bank account and kept money

Please somebody!!!, I need an answer to this question: my bank received the irs levy on 3/26 of this year on 4/1 I received the notice from the bank stating they were holding $2,196.00 per the irs. well, you can imagine how up set I was to find out that all the bills I had paid over the weekend were about to bounce. The bank said there was nothing they could do, they also suggested that I call the irs because thier hands were tied they must hard freeze those funds. this left my bussiness account at zero dollars and all the bills unpaid because they were paid over the weekend the levy took priority and was taken immediately. As luck would have it there was enough money in that account to satisfy the levy. after getting nowhere with the irs and the bank and reading the laws on bank account levies I waited for the 22nd day to pass before I deposited any money in that account. the following month I deposited $1,600.00 THAT DATE IS; 35 DAYS AFTER THE LEVY NOTICE FROM THE BANK , once again all my bills bounced (2nd month in a row) I called the bank thinking that one of my customers checks had bounced, to my surprise the bank told me they holding they levy money to send to the irs. I was outraged, after checking my accounts I dicovered that the bank did not send the levy money on the 22nd day as required, instead it paid all it's charged late fees bonced check charges my over draft protection payment, and move moneies from other accounts of mind cover those cost and then charge those accounts with fees and charges. The bank did not allow me to access my money on 4/01 thru 4/24 because of the levy but they took the held levy money to pay all thier charges and fees did not send the money and waited for me to make alarge deposit and then went in again and took more money, then held that money untill the 5/18 the following month. now I'm two months behind in bills and my bank says I owe then $1,800.00 in more fees. I have no bank account, c/c And don't know what to do. the bank says they did nothing wrong but they were willing to give me back (2) bank charges equaling $66.00 SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!!!!!

[debtprison]

Please somebody!!!, I need an answer to this question: my bank received the irs levy on 3/26 of this year on 4/1 I received the notice from the bank stating they were holding $2,196.00 per the irs. well, you can imagine how up set I was to find out that all the bills I had paid over the weekend were about to bounce. The bank said there was nothing they could do, they also suggested that I call the irs because thier hands were tied they must hard freeze those funds. this left my bussiness account at zero dollars and all the bills unpaid because they were paid over the weekend the levy took priority and was taken immediately. As luck would have it there was enough money in that account to satisfy the levy. after getting nowhere with the irs and the bank and reading the laws on bank account levies I waited for the 22nd day to pass before I deposited any money in that account. the following month I deposited $1,600.00 THAT DATE IS; 35 DAYS AFTER THE LEVY NOTICE FROM THE BANK , once again all my bills bounced (2nd month in a row) I called the bank thinking that one of my customers checks had bounced, to my surprise the bank told me they holding they levy money to send to the irs. I was outraged, after checking my accounts I dicovered that the bank did not send the levy money on the 22nd day as required, instead it paid all it's charged late fees bonced check charges my over draft protection payment, and move moneies from other accounts of mind cover those cost and then charge those accounts with fees and charges. The bank did not allow me to access my money on 4/01 thru 4/24 because of the levy but they took the held levy money to pay all thier charges and fees did not send the money and waited for me to make alarge deposit and then went in again and took more money, then held that money untill the 5/18 the following month. now I'm two months behind in bills and my bank says I owe then $1,800.00 in more fees. I have no bank account, c/c And don't know what to do. the bank says they did nothing wrong but they were willing to give me back (2) bank charges equaling $66.00 SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!!!!!

You probably need a tax attorney at this point. A very good one. That's the wisest thing to do.

I have a savings account and a relatively new checking account. I can use both to cash checks. I've had the savings account for a long time and even once told the IRS of it. They never levied it yet after years. I think the reason for that is all I keep in it is $26. IMO if you are keeping a lot of money in your accounts and have long standing IRS problems you are just asking for a levy.

From another webpage I found this:

If the requested information is provided at the time of levy service and the records show that the levied account contains a minimal amount of funds, the IRS employee may decide not to serve the levy, providing further savings to the financial institution by avoiding the costs of contacting the customer, returning NSF checks, and processing the levy.

http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com/irs_bank_levy

So it appears if there isn't much in the account the IRS probably won't even bother executing the levy.

[debtprison]

Another thing to tell you. It's possible that if you act quickly and set up other accounts you will still be allowed to do so because it might not have gone into Chexsystems (or whatever it is called). Also most banks WILL allow you to cash checks without depositing them. I don't know for sure but if you do not deposit the money (and are only cashing) I don't believe the bank can take it as part of a levy?

So that's an option besides places like Amscot to cash checks. Open an account and just use it to cash checks without ever putting significant money in there. Halfway "off the grid" so to speak.

Really it's better to try to make arangements with them and not hide though.