Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Maryland

I have a judgment in a North Carolina court against a construction contractor there who did not perform on a contract. This person has avoided enforcement in North Carolina because you can not garnish wages in that state for a private contract, nor can you take possession of property that is asserted to be jointly held between him and his wife. No individual assets for him alone can be located. I recently read that, although North Carolina won't garnish wages, if one has a valid court order from another state to institute garnishment in North Carolina, the North Carolina courts will enforce that. At the time of the contract, I was and still am a legal resident of Maryland. The work was to be performed in North Carolina. Can I get a Maryland court to issue a garnishment order against a resident of North Carolina under these circumstances? The judgment amount is about $13,000.


Asked on 12/11/10, 2:39 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Phillip M. Cook Cook Legal Services, LLC

You should consult a NC attorney who specializes in collecting judgments and enforcing liens to discuss the specifics of your situation -- although NC may not allow garnishment of bank accounts, there may be other alternatives to enforcing a money judgment that you are not aware of.

With that said, if you could find a way to sue the contractor in Maryland, then a Maryland court could issue you a judgment and the garnishment order. You could then take that to North Carolina and see if NC will enforce the order. As I'm not a NC attorney, I cannot tell you what the NC courts are likely or not likely to do with such an order -- it could be that the NC court will not enforce the MD order b/c the MD order violates the "public policy" of the State. Or, it could be that NC is willing to enforce the orders of other states as well. Your problem, of course, will be finding jurisdiction (both subject matter and personal jurisdiction) to sue in Maryland.

Best of luck.******The above is for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client privilege.********

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Answered on 12/17/10, 5:53 am


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