Information on Processing Garnishment Orders

U.S. Department of the Treasury and National Credit Union Administration
1. Welcome and Purpose
The U. S. Department of the Treasury and the National Credit Union Administration are investigating the number of courtordered garnishments that are served upon credit unions to satisfy the debts owed by credit union members. Recent
developments in technology and debt collection practices have facilitated the processes for obtaining and serving
garnishment orders against individuals.
We are asking credit unions to share information on the numbers of garnishment orders received and for basic information
on how garnishment orders are being processed. Your responses will help us to better understand how credit unions
handle court-ordered garnishments. The insight gained from your responses will be used to make policy decisions related
to electronic federal benefit payments, which are generally exempt from garnishment under Federal law. This information
is needed because there is currently no entity collecting it for Federal policy makers.
Please answer the following six questions. We expect that you will need about 30 minutes to complete the survey.
Response to the survey is voluntary. We appreciate your participation.
Please provide your response by August XX, 2010

OMB Control Number
Expiration Date

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U.S. Department of the Treasury and National Credit Union Administration
2. Survey Questions 1 - 3
1. Please indicate the size of your credit union by assets, number of primary accounts
for members, and number of branches and operating locations.
Asset Size
Number of primary member
accounts
Number of branches and
operating locations

2. Please tell us how many court-ordered garnishments your Credit Union generally
receives annually.
3. Of the total garnishment orders typically received annually, what proportion do you
estimate are associated with individuals who are NOT members of your Credit Union.
This number should include individuals who have closed their accounts and ceased
their membership prior to receiving the garnishment order.

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U.S. Department of the Treasury and National Credit Union Administration
3. Survy Questions 4 - 6
4. Please identify the major steps for processing garnishment orders in your Credit
Union, starting with the receipt of the order through any actions to seize or freeze funds
in an account. If you conduct a review of account activity to ascertain the source of
deposits, please include this as one of your steps.
5

6

5. Please provide an estimate of the typical amount of person-time required to perform
the process for a given garnishment order.
5
6

6. Please tell us how your Credit Union processes garnishment orders by checking one
of the boxes below.
c
d
e
f
g

At branches

c
d
e
f
g

At one central location

c
d
e
f
g

In multiple locations

c
d
e
f
g

Other

Other (please specify)

5
6

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U.S. Department of the Treasury and National Credit Union Administration
4. Thank you
Thank you for your participation.

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