What Are Florida's Laws on Attachments for Credit Card Debt?

• Florida's laws on credit card debt protects consumers and credit card companies.one million dollars and credit cards image by Veniamin Kraskov from Fotolia.com
  
  Credit card companies seek a writ of attachment from the courts in Florida when individuals stop making payments on their credit cards. Seeking an attachment is the beginning of the process in which the credit card companies collect the debt owed to them, whether it is through garnishment of wages or repossession of real property. The Florida Statutes follow the federal Department of Labor guidelines. State laws cannot exceed these federal guidelines; however they can reinforce the law by imposing their own guidelines.
  
  

Florida Statute 76.01

• Florida Statute Section 76.01, in Chapter 76 which governs attachments gives creditors, including credit card companies, the right under Florida law to seek a writ of attachment for unpaid debts. A writ of attachment is also called a judgment. Section 76.01 states that "Any creditor may have an attachment at law against the goods and chattels, lands, and tenements of his or her debtor under the circumstances and in the manner hereinafter provided."
  
  

Florida Statute 95.11

• Chapter 95, Limitations of Actions; Adverse Possession, Section 95.11, paragraph (3)(k) provides limitations other than for the recovery of real property. This includes credit card debt, which is identified as store accounts for purposes of Florida law. This statute allows credit card companies up to four years to act upon on a writ of attachment against a consumer for an unpaid credit card debt.
  
  

Chapter 77 Garnishment

• Once a credit card company has obtained a writ of attachment, it has a right to recover the debt by garnishing wages. For this, they seek a writ of garnishment from the courts. Chapter 77 contains several statutes under which an individual's wages can be garnished to satisfy a debt. Florida Statute 77.01 states that "Every person or entity who has sued to recover a debt or has recovered judgment in any court against any person or entity has a right to a writ of garnishment." Florida Statute 77.0305 states that "the court shall issue a continuing writ of garnishment to the judgment debtor's employer which provides for the periodic payment of a portion of the salary or wages of the judgment debtor as the salary or wages become due until the judgment is satisfied or until otherwise provided by court order." Statute 77.041 outlines the income credit card companies cannot garnish.
  
  

Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA)

• The amount Florida can attach or garnish for payment of a credit card debt cannot exceed the federal guidelines defined by the federal Department of Labor. Title III Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA), 15 U.S.C. s.1673, protects employees (consumers) "by limiting the amount of earnings that may be garnished in any workweek or pay period to the lesser of 25 percent of disposable earnings or the amount by which disposable earnings are greater than 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by Section 6(a) (1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938."