If you share a joint account with a deadbeat, can the debt collector scoop up your hard-earned cash to satisfy the deadbeat’s debt? Without even giving you notice and the opportunity to be heard?? Maybe. The burden of proof will be on you, the non-debtor account-holder, to prove the money in the account traces to you (rather than putting the burden on the debt collector to show the money traces back to the debtor), which can be particularly difficult when the debt collector is not even obligated to give you notice before garnishing the account.
Minnesota Litigator has previously covered the Minnesota Supreme Court’s Savig decision and the subsequenty Billiar lawsuit. This week, plaintiffs through counsel, Nick Slade, of Barry & Slade, have moved for summary judgment before U.S. Dist. Court Judge Partrick J. Schiltz (D. Minn.).