How to Garnish a Bank Account in Illinois After a Judgment

If you know where the judgment debtor banks, you can use a Non-Wage Garnishment or a separate Third-Party Citation to reach the account. Service can restrain funds before the debtor knows about the proceeding. For security-deposit cases or unpaid invoices where you have the debtor's bank details from prior transactions, this is often faster than wage deduction.

How Account Freezing Works

For a Non-Wage Garnishment, the person serving process must mail the debtor a copy of the summons and garnishment notice within two business days and file a certificate of mailing within four business days. For a Third-Party Citation, a copy of the citation and citation notice must be sent to the debtor within three business days after service on the bank. These are separate procedures with different notices and deadlines.

Two Automatic Protections the Bank Must Honor

Before turning over any money, the bank runs two mandatory checks:

Federal Benefit Lookback (31 CFR Part 212): The bank reviews whether any direct-deposited federal benefits — Social Security, SSI, VA payments, Railroad Retirement — were credited to the account in the past two months. Those funds are completely protected and must remain accessible to the account holder without requiring a court order.

Illinois $1,000 Automatic Exemption (735 ILCS 5/12-1001.1): For consumer debt judgments entered on or after January 1, 2020, the first $1,000 of the $4,000 general personal-property exemption is automatically protected in a bank garnishment. It is not an additional exemption on top of the $4,000, and the bank applies it without the debtor filing a claim.

Funds above both exemptions remain frozen pending a court hearing.

Filing the Garnishment

File through eFileIL in your existing case, unless you qualify for an exemption under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 9(c):

1. Non-Wage Garnishment Affidavit — states the judgment balance and identifies the bank and branch
2. Garnishment Summons — directs the bank to freeze accounts and answer interrogatories
3. Third-Party Interrogatories — asks the bank to report account numbers, balances, and any co-holders

Service on the bank may be made by the sheriff, a licensed or registered private detective, a registered employee of a certified agency, or another person appointed by the court. In Cook County, a plaintiff pays the Circuit Clerk a $5 fee when filing a summons or alias summons; it is deducted from the service charge, not paid by a process server per service.

The Turnover Hearing

After the bank files its interrogatory answers reporting what was frozen, you request a hearing. If the debtor does not file an exemption claim, the judge enters a Turnover Order directing the bank to release the frozen funds to you. If the debtor does claim an exemption, the court holds an expedited hearing to sort out what is protected and what is not.

The Debtor's Wildcard

The debtor may also claim the remaining portion of the $4,000 personal-property exemption under 735 ILCS 5/12-1001(b) against bank funds. The $1,000 automatic portion counts toward that $4,000 total. Separately protected federal benefit deposits may also remain accessible to the account holder. On a $3,000 judgment, these protections might leave nothing to collect from the account.

Run the numbers before filing. If the debtor is likely to have only a few thousand in the account, wage deduction or a real estate lien may produce a better return for the filing fees.

When to Use a Citation Instead

A Third-Party Citation to Discover Assets under 735 ILCS 5/2-1402 is a separate procedure that can restrain the debtor's interest in funds held by the bank and require the bank to answer questions about those assets.

The Illinois judgment collection guide covers both approaches, including when to combine a bank garnishment with a debtor citation to maximize what you recover.

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