Can a Bank Account Be Garnished Without Notice?

A bank account cannot legally be garnished without any notice at all. But the notice a debtor receives almost always arrives after the account has already been frozen. This gap between the legal process and the debtor’s actual experience is the source of the confusion. The creditor must follow a series of procedural steps before a bank will freeze an account, and those steps include multiple notice obligations. The problem is that none of those notices are required to reach the debtor before the freeze takes effect.

Understanding when and how notice is required, and why it consistently feels like it never comes, requires walking through each stage of the garnishment process.

The Lawsuit Is the First Notice

Before a private creditor can garnish a bank account, the creditor must first file a lawsuit and obtain a money judgment. The lawsuit itself is the earliest form of notice. The debtor is served with a summons and complaint, which informs them that they are being sued and gives them an opportunity to respond.

Many debtors never respond. Approximately 70% of consumer debt collection lawsuits end in default judgments because the debtor either did not understand the significance of the papers, moved and never received them, or simply chose not to engage. A default judgment carries the same legal weight as a judgment entered after a trial. Once the creditor has a judgment, it can pursue garnishment regardless of whether the debtor participated in the litigation.

The debtor who ignored the lawsuit may later feel that the garnishment came without notice. In reality, the notice was delivered at the lawsuit stage. The debtor’s failure to respond does not eliminate the creditor’s right to enforce the judgment.

How the Bank Learns Before the Debtor Does

After obtaining a judgment, the creditor applies for a writ of garnishment and serves it directly on the bank. The writ is a court order directing the bank to freeze whatever funds the debtor holds in the account. The bank complies immediately upon receiving the writ. It does not call the debtor first. It does not wait for the debtor to be notified. It freezes the account and then follows whatever notice procedures apply under state and federal law.

This sequence is intentional. If the debtor received advance warning that a garnishment was coming, they could withdraw the funds or transfer them to another account. The entire purpose of serving the writ on the bank before notifying the debtor is to prevent the debtor from dissipating the assets that the creditor is legally entitled to collect.

The result is that most debtors first discover their account has been frozen when their debit card is declined, a check bounces, or an automatic payment fails. The bank’s notification typically arrives within a few business days after the freeze, explaining what happened, how much was frozen, and what rights the debtor has to contest the garnishment.

Florida’s Notice Requirements

In Florida, the creditor has specific timing obligations under § 77.041 and § 77.055. After the clerk of court issues the writ of garnishment, the creditor must provide the debtor with a copy of the motion for the writ, a copy of the writ itself, and a Claim of Exemption form. This package must be delivered within five business days of the clerk’s issuance of the writ, or within three business days after the writ is served on the bank, whichever is later.

The debtor then has 20 days from receipt of this notice to file a Claim of Exemption with the court. If the debtor identifies an applicable exemption—such as head of household wages, Social Security deposits, or funds held as tenants by the entireties—and the creditor does not contest the claim within the statutory period, the court must dissolve the writ.

Missing the 20-day deadline can be fatal to the debtor’s rights. Florida courts have treated untimely claims of exemption as waived, which means even funds that would otherwise be fully exempt can be released to the creditor if the debtor does not act within the statutory window.

Federal Benefits Receive Automatic Protection

A separate set of federal rules applies when a bank account contains deposits from federal benefit programs. Under 31 CFR Part 212, banks that receive a garnishment order must perform an automatic review of the account within two business days. The bank examines whether any federal benefit payments—including Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Veterans Affairs benefits, federal retirement, and Railroad Retirement Board payments—were deposited into the account during the preceding two-month period.

If the bank identifies qualifying federal deposits, it must calculate a “protected amount” equal to the sum of those benefit payments deposited during the lookback period, or the current account balance, whichever is lower. The bank must ensure the account holder has full access to the protected amount and cannot freeze those funds regardless of the garnishment order.

The bank must then send the account holder a notice within three business days of the account review. This notice must explain what happened, identify the protected amount, describe what funds have been frozen beyond the protected amount, and inform the account holder of their right to assert additional exemptions.

This federal protection works automatically. The account holder does not need to file any paperwork to trigger the bank’s review. But the protection only covers the amount of federal benefit deposits from the prior two months. If the account contains commingled funds from non-benefit sources, the excess above the protected amount can still be frozen and eventually turned over to the creditor.

Government Creditors Can Garnish Without a Judgment

The requirement that a creditor must first sue and obtain a judgment applies to private creditors—credit card companies, medical providers, landlords, and other entities collecting on consumer or commercial debts. Government agencies operate under different rules that allow them to garnish bank accounts without a court judgment.

The Internal Revenue Service can issue a bank levy to collect unpaid taxes without first going to court. The IRS must provide notice, but the notice requirement is satisfied by mailing a letter to the taxpayer’s last known address at least 30 days before the levy. If the taxpayer has moved and does not receive the letter, the IRS has still met its obligation. The bank will freeze the account when it receives the levy, and the taxpayer may not learn about it until after the freeze is in place.

State child support enforcement agencies can also garnish bank accounts without a court judgment for the underlying garnishment order, though the child support obligation itself is established through a court proceeding. Federal student loan servicers have administrative garnishment authority that allows them to garnish wages and, in some circumstances, offset bank accounts without a separate lawsuit, though they must provide 30 days’ notice and an opportunity for a hearing.

Why Debtor Notice Arrives Late

The timing structure of garnishment is designed to protect creditors’ collection rights, not to give debtors advance warning. Every stage of the process includes some form of notice, but the notices are sequenced so that the freeze happens first and the debtor’s opportunity to respond comes afterward.

The lawsuit provides notice that a debt is being collected. The judgment provides notice that the creditor has a legal right to the money. The writ of garnishment provides the bank with authority to freeze the funds. The post-freeze notices give the debtor an opportunity to claim exemptions and contest the garnishment. At no point in this sequence is the creditor required to notify the debtor before the bank freezes the account.

This means the practical answer to whether a bank account can be garnished “without notice” depends on how narrowly the question is defined. If notice means any advance communication about the debt, the answer is usually no—the debtor received the lawsuit, even if they ignored it. If notice means a specific warning that the bank account is about to be frozen on a particular date, the answer is yes. No such warning is required.

What to Do After a Bank Account Is Frozen

A debtor who discovers that their bank account has been frozen should act immediately. The 20-day deadline to file a Claim of Exemption in Florida runs from the date the debtor receives the garnishment paperwork, and courts enforce this deadline strictly.

The first step is to identify the source of every deposit in the frozen account. Federal benefits, exempt wages deposited within the prior six months under § 222.11(3), and funds held as tenants by the entireties in a joint account may all be fully or partially exempt. The debtor should gather bank statements, benefit award letters, pay stubs, and any documentation showing the origin of the frozen funds.

The second step is to file the Claim of Exemption with the court and serve it on the creditor. The creditor then has eight business days (if served by hand delivery) or fourteen business days (if served by mail) to contest the claim. If the creditor does not respond within that period, the garnishment must be dissolved and the funds released.

The third step is to review the writ itself for procedural defects. Florida’s garnishment statutes are strictly construed, and writs that fail to comply with the technical requirements of Chapter 77 can be dissolved on procedural grounds regardless of whether the underlying debt is valid.