Debt is a fact of life, and every day, American adults deal with debt in many forms. Buying groceries means a debt, paid off right away at the cash register. Other debts are paid over time, such as paying off the mortgage of your house, paying off an auto loan, paying off student loans, and more. Often, paying these debts is a matter of the debtor sending the required payments at will, and many creditors may charge penalties for late or missing payments. In other cases, a creditor may take it one step further and perform a bank levy. What is a bank levy, and why might someone hire tax lawyers to defend themselves from such an action? The best tax lawyers or bank levy lawyers can defend a client against such an action, since a bank levy can ruin a person’s finances.
Bank Levys and the IRS
For those not aware, a bank levy is the action of a creditor orders the debtor’s bank to withdraw the desired money and send it over. In short, the creditor will take a hands-on approach and collect the debt without the debtor’s own input. Not all creditors can do this, but some of them may go through courts to attempt it, and some creditors can do it at will. Credit card companies generally cannot perform a bank levy to collect late credit card payments, but a bank can do it if that bank was the one who issued the card. Someone who gets a credit card from a bank must be prepared for this possibility. This is known as being subjected to a setoff. Meanwhile, in most cases a creditor will sue the debtor through a court of law, and should the creditor win, it will receive a money judgment. This will transform the creditor into a judgment creditor, allowing it to collect payments from a debtor with a hands-on approach.
Wage garnishment may take place, which is when the creditor takes the desired money out of the debtor’s paychecks, or even force the sale of the debtor’s property such as a house or a car. A number of American homeowners find their property foreclosed upon in a situation like this. Another option for the judgment creditor is to order the sheriff to perform a till tap, or removing money from a cash register to collect that payment. What is more, the IRS can levy a bank even without going through a court of law first. When this happens, the debtor may hire a tax lawyer to defend their interests, especially if their basic living expenses are threatened by a bank levy.
Hire a Tax Lawyer
A working American may soon find that their bank account has been subjected to a bank levy if they owe money to the IRS, and their bank account may have been dropped as a result of this. Should this happen, the debtor may have a window of a few days to act while they still can. This means hiring legal representation for a court of law, or at least in litigation, to get enough money for living expenses. It may be noted that in some cases, a bank levy will withdraw money that the debtor needs for basic living expenses, such as car or rent payments, groceries, prescription drugs, and the like. It could be argued that the IRS uses a heavy hand when performing a bank levy, taking money that a person needs just for everyday life.
What can be said for sure is that such a debtor can and probably should take action at once, and look up local tax law firms. This may mean performing an online search to find just such a firm, and the client may visit in person or call them on the phone for a consultation. Such a consultation may or may not result in fees. A client may meet different lawyers before they find one whose expertise, experience, and personality are to their liking, and hire them to build a case. The time frame for this is just a few days, but this team may take legal action to secure at least enough money for the client’s basic living expenses in the face of a bank levy.
