DCI 84, Collecting Your Money From a Small Claims Judgment

COLLECTING YOUR MONEY FROM

A SMALL CLAIMS JUDGMENT

If you receive a money judgment through a

lawsuit, you have the right to collect the money

by the means allowed by law. An attorney may

not represent you for the purpose of collecting

a small claims judgment.

How Much can I Collect?

You can collect the amount stated in your

small claims judgment (form DC 85) plus any

interest that accumulates during the time the

other party pays off the judgment.

How can I Collect my Money?

There are several ways to collect your

money.

1. If the party who lost the lawsuit (called a

judgment debtor) has the money and is present

at the trial, s/he can pay you (called a judgment

creditor) right then.

2. If the judgment debtor does not have the

money at that time, the judge can set up a

payment schedule.

If the judgment debtor is not present at the

trial, the court will send a copy of the small

claims judgment to the judgment debtor. The

judgment will order the judgment debtor to pay

you in full within 30 days or to tell you and the

court where the judgment debtor works and the

location of his/her bank accounts.

3. If the judgment debtor doesn’t pay the

judgment as ordered, you can collect your

money through proceedings to seize property

or to garnish income of the judgment debtor.

What is Seizure of Property?

Seizure of property is a court procedure that

allows a court officer to seize property belonging

to the judgment debtor that can be sold to pay

the money owed to you. To file a request to

seize property, use form MC 19, Request and

Order to Seize Property.

What is Garnishment?

Garnishment is a court procedure that allows

you to collect the money owed to you by taking

in from the judgment debtor’s wages, bank

account, or another source (such as income tax

refunds). To file a garnishment, contact the

court clerk for the proper forms. Instructions

are provided with the form.

How do I get an Order to Seize Property

or a Garnishment?

To get an order to seize property or for

garnishment, you must know where the

judgment debtor lives and works, what assets

s/he has and where these assets are located,

and any other information that identifies the

judgment debtor and his/her property.

• If you already have the information

described above, you can start the process

for an order to seize property or for

garnishment.

• If you don’t have the information described

above, you can order the judgment debtor to

appear in court for questioning through a process

called discovery. You can start this process by

filing a discovery subpoena.

How to File a Discovery Subpoena

You must wait 21 days after your small

claims judgment was signed before you can

file a discovery subpoena. Use form MC 11,

Subpoena (Order to Appear and/or Produce).

Be sure to contact the court to set an

appearance date and then put that date and

location on the form. Complete the front of

the Subpoena form and the “Affidavit for

Judgment Debtor Examination” on the back

of the form. The judge must sign the

Subpoena before it becomes effective. After

the Subpoena is signed, you must serve it

on the judgment debtor.

The fee for filing the Subpoena with the

court varies. The cost of serving it also varies.

How to File a Request to Seize Property

You must wait 21 days after your small

claims judgment was signed before you can

get an order to seize property. Use form

MC 19, Request and Order to Seize Property,

to start the process. Complete the “Request”

portion of form MC 19 and file it with the court.

The filing fee varies. The court will issue the

order by signing the form, and it will be executed

(property seized) by a sheriff or court officer.

When do I get my Money from Seized

Property? Once property is seized and sold,

the money will be given to you. The sheriff or

court officer is entitled to fees, which will be

deducted from the sale of the property.

How to File a Request for Garnishment

You must wait 21 days after your small

claims judgment was signed before you can

get a garnishment. There are three types of

garnishment: 1) periodic, 2) nonperiodic, and

3) income tax intercept. Use the appropriate

form MC 12, MC 13 or MC 52, Request and

Writ for Garnishment, to start the garnishment

process.

A periodic writ of garnishment (form MC 12)

is used to garnish the judgment debtor’s

wages, rent payments, land contract payments,

or other debt that is paid to the judgment debtor

on a periodic basis. A periodic garnishment is

valid until the judgment, interest, and costs

are paid off, or further court order, whichever

occurs first.

A nonperiodic writ of garnishment

(form MC 13) is used to garnish the judgment

debtor’s bank account or other property. Once

money has been garnished under the

nonperiodic writ, the writ is no longer valid. If

there is a remaining balance due on the

judgment, you must get another writ to collect

more money.

An income tax writ of garnishment (form

MC 52) is used to intercept the judgment

debtor’s income tax refund. Once the tax refund

has been intercepted by the Department of

Treasury, the writ is no longer valid. If there is a

remaining balance due on the judgment, you

must get another writ to collect more money.

Write or type in the names and addresses

of the defendant (judgment debtor) and the

garnishee on the “Request” part of the form.

The garnishee is the person or business who

has control or possession of the judgment

debtor’s money. After you complete the

“Request,” you must file it with the district court

that entered your small claims judgment. The

filing fee is $15.

The court will issue the “Writ” (order) by

signing the form. The Request and Writ for

Garnishment must be served on the garnishee

along with the Garnishee Disclosure, form

MC 14. There is a $1 disclosure fee for non-

periodic garnishment, $6 disclosure fee for a

garnishment of an income tax refund, and a

$35 disclosure fee for a periodic garnishment.

The cost of serving the writ varies.

When do I get my Money from the

Garnishment?

The garnishee has 14 days

after the writ is served to let you, the court,

and the judgment debtor know if any money is

available for garnishment. This information will

be provided on the Garnishee Disclosure, form

MC 14. If you are trying to garnish the judgment

debtor’s wages, you will only receive part of the

wages, calculated by using a federal formula.

If money is available, it will be withheld from

the judgment debtor right away. However, this

money will be held for 28 days to allow the

judgment debtor time to object. If the judgment

debtor files no objections with the court, the

withheld money will be automatically sent to you

after 28 days. If the garnishment is for periodic

payments, money will continue to be sent to you

as payments become due to the judgment debtor

until the writ expires.

What do I do when I have received all my

Money owed from the Garnishment?

You should file a garnishment release (form

MC 50) for each garnishee and a certificate of

satisfied judgment (form MC 17) with the court.

What Else can I do?

If your case against the judgment debtor

involved a traffic accident, you can ask the

court for an abstract of judgment, which would

suspend the judgment debtor’s Michigan driver’s

license until s/he pays the judgment. You must

wait 30 days after the date of judgment until you

can get an abstract of judgment. You need to

provide the judgment debtor’s full name, date of

birth, and Michigan driver’s license number.

There is no filing fee. The court clerk should

have the necessary forms.

MichiganLegalHelp.org has tools that can help

you with small claims cases.

SRA

DCI 84 (9/23)

MCL 600.8409(2)

Approved, SCAO