What's a garnishment?

If you owe money to a third party, a fiscal authority or another kind of authority your account might be garnished. But what is a garnishment?

A garnishment is a regulatory measure (normally effected by a court) that freezes funds directly on your account as you owe them to a third party or to fiscal authorities so you can't spend your funds in a different way.

What happens in case of a garnishment?

While there’s an active garnishment on your account, we are legally obliged to block the necessary funds to cover the claim in accordance with § 829 ZPO. Furthermore, we are obligated to transfer the garnishment amount to the creditor. You have a 4-week period from the date of notification to settle the claim or take other action (e.g. convert to p-account).

If we receive a garnishment we'll send you an in-app message to Messages from N26 with the following information

  • Date
  • Name of the creditor (and name of their legal attorney)
  • Reference number
  • Garnishment amount

Your account will remain frozen until the entire claim has been settled. This means that you can’t make any payments with your N26 account. As soon as the garnishment is lifted, we’ll notify you in your Messages from N26 mailbox. If you have any questions about garnishment, please contact your creditor or the competent enforcement court.

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