We are not attorneys and can not give legal advice. We can prepare your documents at your direction by following the procedures set by the court and having an Oregon attorney review and issue the documents. To get started please read this entire page. Once you understand the process, fill out the required request form and we will get to work.
How long do I have to collect on an Oregon Judgment after I win the case?
You have 10 years from date of judgment to collect. You’re also gaining 9% interest per annum, from the date the Judgment was signed until you are paid in full.
Can anyone serve a writ of garnishment?
No, in Oregon the person serving the documents is required to have E&O insurance or a bond with The State of Oregon, in order to serve a writ of garnishment. All of our servers are insured.
What about the cost to prepare, issue, serve the writ of garnishment and file proof with the court?
You pay the fees upfront but the costs are then added to the total amount the defendant owes you. With us handling your writ of garnishment, the defendant will end up paying you back all costs.
Is the total cost for garnishment assistance only $140? What about court fees?
Fees start at $140 for local garnishment assistance, per garnishment. Local service includes most addresses in the Portland Metro area and most surrounding cities. Other locations in Oregon will run $5 to $30 more depending on distance. See our Process Serving page for details on costs outside the local area or call or email for a price quote.
If you were to do a garnishment on your own you would have to pay fees to the court for issuance. By having us prepare your garnishment, you will not have to pay fees to the court as we will have our own Oregon Attorney review and issue the writ of garnishment. That saves a lot of time and is an overall savings of $47 over going through the courts.
How do I pay PI Services?
You can make a payment on our website (add 4% for e-payments) or mail a check or money order to our office. Read our make a payment page for more info.
How long will it take to prepare all the documents, have them reviewed and issued by an attorney, and then have them served by a professional process server?
10 business days on average from the time you submit all the information. You can add a $40 rush fee and we can do our best to shorten that time frame to 3 to 5 business days. The rush fee can not be added to the amount owed on the writ.
Can we garnish employers or banking institutions outside of Oregon?
Any company or banking institution doing business in Oregon is required to respond to a writ of Garnishment. However, if the employer or bank is outside of Oregon it maybe be up to the employer or bank to decide if they will honor the out of state writ of garnishment depending on that State’s laws & rules. We have found that most of the time they do respond and provide funds. You can call them and ask or do some research on line. Or just give it a shot and see if they respond to the garnishment. Another option is to transfer the judgment to the county/state the Defendant resides and use that State’s garnishment procedures.
What if I do not know the subject’s Place of Employment?
To collect on a judgment with a employment garnishment you will need to have that information. We can search for the defendant’s place of employment. Employment Search
What if I do not know the subject’s Banking Institution?
To collect on a judgment with a bank garnishment you will need to have that information. Did you pay the subject by check? If so obtain a copy of that check from your bank and find out what bank the subject deposited your check or what bank they used to cash your check. We can search for the defendant’s bank. Bank Locate Search
Can I garnish The State of Oregon to get the defendant’s tax return money?
Yes, you can garnish the Oregon Department of Revenue. We have had a few clients do this but none of them have reported back to us, so not sure how successful it was. You may want to contact the Oregon Department of Revenue 1-800-356-4222 for more info. The State of Oregon will require a full DOB & SS#. We can locate the DOB & SS# for you for $30.
Is the subject’s date of birth (DOB) or Social Security Number (SS#) required for a writ of garnishment?
It is not required but it can prevent the writ from being processed by the bank or employer. It can depend on how common the subjects name is. Some employers may not need the subjects DOB or SS#, if they have a small work force. If the company is larger they may need a DOB & SS to determine the correct employee. When garnishing a bank, it is highly recommended that a DOB and SS# are listed. If the bank or employer has more than one person with the same name, they will need a DOB and/or SS#. We can pull DOB & SS# for $30., if requested by you the client. If a DOB and/or SS# is not provided the bank or employer may not be able to answer the writ of garnishment and may return stating not enough info provided to do a proper search of records. Or they may process it just fine with out the info. No way to know, unless you try to contact them first. We charge $10 to pull DOB and $20 to pull a SS# for writ of garnishment clients. You will need to add that to the total when making payment if you would like us to add that info to the garnishment.
What if I do not have a judge signed copy of my Oregon Judgment?
You can go to the court and pay to obtain a Judge signed copy or pay us $20 and we will obtain a copy for you.
Can we do multiple Writs at the same time?
Yes, the main writ of garnishment page has prices for the first Writ. Each additional writ of garnishment will be $140 + the bank search fee.
Can we garnish a bank account and the employment at the same time?
Yes, you can request multiple writs of garnishment, and we can do a bank and an employer at the same time. We would recommend first garnishing the bank, then after you receive a response and funds from the bank we can then garnish the employer for the balance plus all fees. If you garnish the employer first the subject may empty their bank accounts, because they think you may garnish those, so we believe it’s best to do the bank first.
Can we garnish multiple banks at the same time?
Yes, you can request writs on multiple banks at the same time. We would serve all the banks on the same day so that the subject does not have any notice until after the garnishments are executed. The risk of hitting multiple banks at the same time is that you may receive more funds than you are owed. If that happens, you will need to immediately return funds to the bank.
Will the debtor know I have garnished his or her bank accounts or employer?
Yes, notices are required to be sent out after service. We will send notice few days after the writ of garnishment has been served by a professional insured process server, as required by Oregon law.
How do I figure out the interest rate?
This page will provide you with more information. PI Info Interest Rate and Payment Helper
What happens after the writ is served on the bank or employer? What do I do?
You do not need to do anything after the writ is served. The bank or employer should contact you by mail within their allowed time.
How long does it take to receive a response and receive funds?
An Oregon employer or bank is required to send you and the court a response within 7 days. Sundays and Holidays do not count toward the 7 days, so at most they have 9 days to respond.
Writ of Garnishment served on a bank:
Do I need to have the subject’s bank account numbers?
No, just the name of the bank such as, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Bank of America, etc.
How long is a bank garnishment good for?
Bank account garnishments are a one-time deduction of funds. The Writ of garnishment will hit all accounts at that banking institution the same day our process servers serve the bank.
Can we pick the day the writ of garnishment gets served on the bank?
There’s no guarantee but usually, yes, we can serve it on a specific day that you choose. For local services we can have the writ served on a specific day or at least within a day of your request. For services outside the local area we will do our best to serve it on a specific day or as soon as possible thereafter, but external circumstances can sometimes cause delays. After we have the writ ready to serve, we will contact you. At that point you can let us know your preferred day as well as your backup option just in case we can’t serve on your preferred day. The day we deliver it to the bank is the day the bank should pull funds from the account. We think most people have the most funds in their account(s) the first few days of the month, as most people have to pay a mortgage or rent. If you hit numerous banks on the same day you could get over paid; If that happens return the over-payment immediately.
If a Defendant’s bank is garnished, will I get all the money in the account?
As of 1/1/2025 there is a $2,500 exemption on bank account garnishments. You will receive all funds in the account over the $2,500 exception, up to the total amount the defendant owes you. If the bank account balance is less than $2,500, the bank will not release any funds.
Will the process server find out how much money is in the bank account at the time of service?
No, the bank does not provide any information to the process server and they do not send any information to PI Services.
What is the $15 bank search fee for?
Banks charge a $15 fee per defendant garnished. The fee (check) is required for the bank to search and find all accounts within that banking institution. We charge $5 to write a check and advance this fee for our clients. So you will pay $20 total, per defendant.
Can we garnish multiple banks at the same time? Can we garnish one Bank multiple times?
Yes, you can garnish as many banking institutions as you like at the same time. Each bank will require a separate writ of garnishment and a check for the $15 search fee for each defendant being searched. Yes, you can garnish any bank as many times as you like until the Judgment is paid in full, within 10 years from date of judgment. Just make sure you do not receive more funds because you do numerous banks at the same time. If that happens you will want to get the over payment back immediately.
Writ of Garnishment served on an employer:
How do if figure out the correct address for the employer?
If the company is doing business in Oregon then they are required to have an Oregon Registered Agent. The Registered Agent is the person the company has directed to accept legal documents for the company. The documents should be served on the Registered Agent or at the company main office in Oregon. You can always contact the HR department and ask them what Oregon address is best for service. If the company is outside of Oregon, then we will affect service by certified mail to the out of state address you provide. Oregon Business Registry Name Search
How long is an employment garnishment good for?
90 days from date of Service. The employer will garnish funds for 90 days. Then if you still have a balance due, just request an additional writ of garnishment be prepared and served. Renewal request form.
How much money will I get over the 90 days?
You will receive all wages over the exemption amounts. As of 1/1/2025 there are new exemptions for wage garnishments (SB 1595). The wage exemptions will roll-out in stages. The new exemptions are:
As of: Amount exempt from garnishment:.
1/1/2025 $305/week
7/1/2025 $338/week
7/1/2026 $400/week
7/1/2027 and into the future Minimum wage multiplied by 30
Example 1: You garnish a debtor who is paid $1000 weekly. $305 would be made exempt and you would receive $695 each week for 90 days.
Example 2: You garnish a debtor who is paid $4000 monthly. $305/week would be made exempt and you would receive $2780 each month for 90 days.
If at the end of 90 days the subject still owes me money, then how do I get the rest?
Employer garnishments must be redone to keep collecting funds. If you are still owed, send us an email request and we will do another writ of garnishment for an additional 90 days. Read this page for information on how to submit that request: 2nd Writ of Garnishment Request Form.
How long does it take to receive money from the subject’s employer after we serve the writ?
How soon / often you receive funds depends on how often the employee gets paid; Most employees get paid weekly, biweekly, or monthly. The employer is required to respond within 9 days. If you do not receive a response you will want to contact the employer and speak to the HR Department.
Now it’s time to get started! Just click on the correct Writ of Garnishment request form:
- PI Services prepared my Oregon Small Claims case. I have a judgment. I would like to proceed to garnish. $140 Form PI-SC
- I handled my own Oregon Small Claims case. I have a judgment. I would like to proceed to garnish. $160 Form SC
- I have an Oregon Civil judgment. I would like to proceed to garnish. $170 Form CV
- I have an Oregon Domestic judgment. I would like to proceed to garnish. $180 Form D
- PI Services prepared a previous garnishment. I would like to proceed with another one (same case). $140. Form R
STATE OF OREGON WRIT OF GARNISHMENT INFORMATION & RULES
State of Oregon ORS 18.680 Response Required regarding writs of garnishment.
ORS 18.600 Definition Writ of Garnishments in Oregon
State of Oregon ORS Vol.1 Title 2 Chapter 18 Judgments and Writs of Garnishment
An explanation of the new garnishment exemptions (SB 1595)
What if the bank or employer does not respond within 9 days?
That does not happen too often as most Oregon companies and banks understand they are required to respond. Just give the employer or bank a call if you do not receive a response. Have a copy of the proof of service in hand when you do. If you do not get the kind of response you like, nicely explain to them that they are required to respond in 9 days. Then if you still do not get a response, you can request a court order and order them to court to explain to the Judge why they did not follow the law and respond to the writ within 9 days. The Judge may hold the bank or employer responsible for the entire amount. We have seen that a few times. Actually good for our client, not so good for the bank or employer. Usually a phone call to the correct person at the bank or employer works best, so try that first. Remember be nice. 🙂
If not you will need a Motion for Order for Appearance of Garnishee, Declaration in Support and an Order for Appearance of Garnishee. Check with the court they may have forms you can use. If not you will need to prepare them or hire an attorney or hire us. We charge $75 to prepare, E-file the documents with court and track the outcome. Then it will be up to the judge. He or she will look in the court file. They will see a proof of service stating the date and time the writ of garnishment was served. They will either not see a response form filed by the bank or the employer or they will see it was late or not responded to correctly. So they will most likely issue a court date and sign the order. Then the order needs to be served on the employer or the bank. We can do that or you can use the county sheriff. We expect you will use us because you are happy with our service, but we just want you to know your options. We also think it’s important to serve the person who the writ was served on. During the hearing you can request the judge hold the bank or employer responsible for the additional cost. We can not make any promises on the outcome of your case however from what we have seen judges do not like it when corporations or banks do not follow the rules. Send us an email if you would like assistance. Hopefully your nice but firm phone call will take care if the issue.
Want to get sanctions against a non-complying Garnishee? Click on this for more info. SANCTIONS AGAINST NONCOMPLYING GARNISHEE
We are not attorneys and can’t give legal advice. We can prepare your documents at your direction by following the procedures set by the court and having an Oregon attorney review and issue the documents. The Oregon attorney will not be representing you the clients, just issuing the garnishment based on a valid Oregon Judgment filed with the Oregon Courts.
SB 1595 This page has been updated to reflect the new rules in effect in 2025.
– Thanks for checking out the entire page, you sure are as diligent as we are! Give us a call or an email if you have any other questions or concerns.