Free removal of an attachment from an account or card

Description

Ukrainians have started having attachments placed on their cards and accounts en masse.

👉 In fact, these are old attachments that were imposed earlier, but starting from the introduction of martial law, for debts under 100,000 UAH, attachments were removed due to the introduction of the corresponding changes to the law.

📅 On 06.05.2023, Law No. 3048-IX entered into force, which allows debtor—individuals—during martial law to withdraw funds from their accounts within two minimum wages, i.e., up to 13,400 UAH per month.

💳 Because of this, all attachments that had not been imposed earlier on accounts began to be imposed by banks on a large scale.

👨‍💼 If you need to remove the attachment from your card completely, you need to contact a lawyer.

💼 We provide services for removing attachments from cards and accounts—contact us!

When can a bank impose an attachment on a debtor’s property?

Most collection agencies use the old method of frightening the debtor: «We will seize all your property, your apartment, break the locks, and take out your belongings.» In reality, this is not so, and it’s important to understand when the bank is just scaring you and when it really can arrest a debtor’s property. There are 3 of the most likely attachment scenarios for a debtor’s property:

• attachment of property in connection with filing a lawsuit (securing the claim)
• based on an enforcement writ
• based on a notary’s executive deed

Do they have the right to impose an attachment on a salary or social account?

Very often, our clients contact us after their accounts have been fully attached by an enforcement officer, usually a private one. At the same time, clients are completely deprived of the ability to receive even any earnings, because the accounts are blocked completely.

However, the law “On Enforcement Proceedings” states that the enforcement officer has the right to withdraw only part of the money from income (as a rule, 20%), and not to deprive the debtor of wages entirely.

As for the account for receiving alimony or social assistance for a child (motherhood), the law directly prohibits the attachment of such accounts, since, according to Article 179 of the Family Code, alimony is the property of the child, not of the debtor who receives it.

Also, according to point 10 of part one of Article 73 of the Law of Ukraine “On Enforcement Proceedings,” punishment cannot be directed at assistance to persons who are responsible for maintaining children aged from 3 to 16 years, by way of assistance in the form of temporary inability to work, disability, temporary inability to work, and assistance to children provided for by law.

Removal of an attachment imposed by an enforcement officer, the enforcement service:

The most common type of attachment is when the enforcement officer imposes an attachment on a debtor’s property based on an enforcement order. This situation is most typical when, a few years ago, the client took out a small unsecured loan or a credit card, stopped servicing it, thinking that they would “deal with it” and would safely forget about it.

Later, it turns out that the bank still filed a lawsuit, obtained a decision on non-payment, and enforcement writs, based on which the debtor’s property was attached.

Often, information about attachments appears at the most inappropriate moment—when the debtor is selling their apartment or car, and literally when signing the purchase and sale agreement they find out about the attachment, after which they contact a lawyer.

If the attachment was imposed on the basis of a default court decision, it is removed by cancelling the default decision. At the same time, based on the court decision to cancel the decision for failure to comply, the enforcement officer closes the enforcement proceedings and removes all attachments that were imposed on it.

In the event that, during review of the default decision, the request was denied, the situation looks more complicated. Until 15.12.2017, this issue was resolved by simply submitting an appeal complaint, which became the basis for closing the enforcement proceedings.

After the so-called “judicial reform,” amendments were introduced into legislation aimed at protecting the interests of creditors, and now it is impossible to close enforcement proceedings by submitting an appeal on one’s own.

In order to close enforcement proceedings and remove an attachment at the stage of challenging a court decision (regardless of whether a decision was made through the standard procedure or by default), it is necessary to substantiate the appeal complaint in such a way that the appellate court would отменить the court decision, or at least amend it, adopting a new decision.

The great skill of a lawyer is to write such an appeal complaint that will be rejected by the appellate court, but which will be satisfied by 100% at the cassation level, returning the case for a new consideration to the court of first instance.

Such a strategy in a case can be compared to a complex game of chess, and our lawyers from our law firm have “dumped” (rejected) it more than once, which saved a lot of property for our clients.

Alternative options for removing an attachment that was imposed based on enforcement writs include challenging the actions of the enforcement officer when imposing attachments and having the enforcement writ declared unenforceable.

Attachment of property based on a notary’s executive deed:

Based on enforcement writs, the enforcement officer opens enforcement proceedings on the basis of the notary’s executive deed. If the executive deed was made for the purpose of foreclosure on the pledged property, the enforcement officer may impose an attachment not only on this property, but also on other debtor assets, issuing a decision on collecting the enforcement fee.

If the executive deed is made on a credit agreement for the purpose of collecting the debt, the attachment is imposed in the same way as on the basis of an enforcement writ, as described above.

The attachment is removed on the basis of the notary’s executive deed by challenging it and declaring the executive deed not subject to enforcement.

An alternative option is to challenge the enforcement officer’s actions when imposing the attachment; however, in the case of a deed, we still recommend cancelling the deed rather than dispersing it into separate actions of the state enforcement officer.

How to remove an attachment due to the statute of limitations?

We can share another method for removing attachments on a debtor’s property that applies to old enforcement proceedings. According to the procedure, the validity period of enforcement proceeding materials is 3 years.

There are not uncommon cases when the creditor submitted an enforcement writ to the enforcement service, the enforcement officer imposed an attachment, and then, for various reasons, returned the enforcement writ to the claimant. The plaintiff, for some reason, did not submit the enforcement writ again; time passes, and the enforcement service destroys the enforcement proceeding materials.

At the same time, in the registers, the attachment imposed on the property continues to remain there and interfere with the debtor’s life. In such a situation, it is necessary to contact the enforcement service with a request to confirm whether the operational materials exist.

If you receive a negative response, there is every reason to file a lawsuit with the court to protect the owner’s rights and remove attachments. The state enforcement officer will not be able to prove legal grounds for imposing an attachment due to the destruction of documents, and the creditor will not lose the right to present the enforcement writ again within that period.

Assistance in removing the bank’s attachment by concluding a settlement agreement with the creditor:

Another method of removing attachments imposed on the basis of a court decision is concluding a settlement agreement with the creditor.

The point is that in the event of a settlement agreement with the bank and the creditor, the state enforcement officer is obliged to complete the enforcement proceedings and remove attachments.

In some situations, we accompanied the process of concluding settlement agreements with banks in order to close enforcement proceedings. Afterwards, if it was beneficial to the client, we successfully challenged such settlement agreements.

How to remove an attachment from movable property

To remove an attachment from movable property, you must first apply to the court or another authorized body with a relevant request. It is important to provide evidence that confirms that the attachment is illegal or does not correspond to the actual state of affairs. All procedural details for this are also described in the legislation of Ukraine.

It is recommended to involve a lawyer to prepare the necessary documents and to protect your rights and legitimate interests in court. Legal assistance will help achieve the cancellation of the attachment effectively and quickly and return the property.

How to remove an attachment from an account during martial law

During martial law, the procedures for removing attachments from accounts may have specific features, taking into account current legislation and Government resolutions. It is important to know that even during this period, property rights are protected by law, but certain restrictions or procedural features may be introduced.

Involving a lawyer will allow you to prepare all the required documentation correctly and in accordance with current circumstances, and to conduct the matter in court or other bodies. This approach significantly increases the chance of success and allows you to protect your rights even under difficult conditions.

How to remove an attachment from a servicemember’s account and a pension card

Special attention should be paid to procedures for removing attachments from servicemembers’ accounts and pension cards. To do so, you should collect the necessary package of documents that confirms the person’s status and the need to access the funds. In the case of servicemembers, it is especially important to document the official or social status.

It is recommended to engage a qualified lawyer who has experience with similar cases, especially when the matter involves cancelling attachments on accounts under complicated circumstances. Legal assistance not only simplifies the process, but also helps avoid potential legal pitfalls.

How to remove an attachment from real estate

Removal of an attachment from real estate involves applying to the court with a motivated application and providing the corresponding documents confirming ownership and the circumstances that require removal of the attachment. You need to consider the rules of the [Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine (Articles 150-152)](https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1618-15), which regulate the procedure for such applications.

Most effectively, you should seek help from a lawyer who specializes in resolving issues related to real estate. Professional legal support will help avoid a wide range of problems related to removing the attachment and will significantly speed up the process of restoring your right to manage your property.

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