Oregon Statutes 18.775 – Liability of garnishee
(1) If a garnishee fails to file a garnishee response within the time required by law, or fails to deliver all garnishable property required to be delivered under the writ of garnishment within the time required by law, the garnishee is liable to the creditor in an amount equal to the lesser of:
Terms Used In Oregon Statutes 18.775
- Action: means any proceeding commenced in a court in which the court may render a judgment. See Oregon Statutes 18.005
- Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
- General judgment: means the judgment entered by a court that decides all requests for relief in the action except:
(a) A request for relief previously decided by a limited judgment; and
(b) A request for relief that may be decided by a supplemental judgment. See Oregon Statutes 18.005
- Judgment: means the concluding decision of a court on one or more requests for relief in one or more actions, as reflected in a judgment document. See Oregon Statutes 18.005
- Supplemental judgment: means a judgment that may be rendered after a general judgment pursuant to a legal authority. See Oregon Statutes 18.005
- Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
(a) The amount required to satisfy the garnishment; or
(b) The value of the debtor’s garnishable property held by the garnishee at the time the writ is delivered to the garnishee.
(2) A judgment may be entered against the garnishee for the amounts specified in this section if, after a hearing, the court finds that:
(a) The garnishee at the time of the delivery of the writ of garnishment held garnishable property of the debtor beyond the amount reported in the garnishee response;
(b) The garnishee held any garnishable property of the debtor and the garnishee failed to make a response; or
(c) The garnishee failed to deliver garnishable property required to be delivered under the writ.
(3) A supplemental judgment shall be entered under subsection (2) of this section if the garnishment was issued for a debt described in ORS § 18.605 (1)(a) and a general judgment has been entered in the action. A limited judgment shall be entered under subsection (2) of this section if the garnishment was issued for a debt described in ORS § 18.605 (1)(a) and a general judgment has not been entered in the action. A limited or general judgment shall be entered under subsection (2) of this section if the garnishment was issued for a debt described in ORS § 18.605 (1)(b), (c) or (d).
(4) If a garnishee is liable to a creditor under subsections (1) and (2) of this section, the creditor may also recover costs of the creditor as determined under ORCP 68. If the garnishee fails to file a garnishee response within the time required by law, the costs of the creditor may be recovered from the garnishee even if it is determined that the garnishee held no garnishable property of the debtor at the time the writ was delivered to the garnishee.
(5) Any amounts from a garnishee collected other than costs under a judgment entered pursuant to this section must be credited against the debt owed by the debtor to the creditor. [2001 c.249 § 51; 2009 c.484 § 8]