North Dakota Pre-Garnishment Notice: The 10-Day Rule That Can Void Your Garnishment

You won your small claims case in North Dakota, you know where the debtor works, and you're ready to garnish their wages. But before you file that Garnishee Summons, there's a mandatory step that trips up creditors all the time — the pre-garnishment notice. Skip it or serve it wrong, and the entire garnishment is void. Not voidable. Void.

What Is the Pre-Garnishment Notice?

Under N.D.C.C. § 32-09.1-04(1), a judgment creditor must serve the debtor with a Notice Before Garnishment of Earnings at least 10 calendar days before issuing a Garnishee Summons against wages. This isn't optional. It's a hard statutory prerequisite that applies specifically to earnings garnishment — meaning wages, salary, commissions, and other employment income.

The notice tells the debtor that you intend to garnish their earnings, gives them the chance to object or claim exemptions, and satisfies due process before the employer starts withholding money from their paycheck.

The 10-day clock starts on the date of service, not the date you mail it. If you serve the notice on October 1, the earliest you can issue the Garnishee Summons is October 11.

How to Serve the Pre-Garnishment Notice

North Dakota law allows two methods for serving the Notice Before Garnishment of Earnings:

• Personal service — A process server or any competent adult who isn't a party to the case delivers it directly to the debtor.
• First-class mail — You mail it to the debtor's last known address via regular first-class mail.

Certified mail isn't required, though some creditors use it for the return receipt as proof of service. What matters is that you can demonstrate service happened — keep a copy of the notice, note the date and method of delivery, and if mailing, retain the proof of mailing receipt from the post office.

Does the 10-Day Notice Apply to Bank Garnishment?

This is where creditors get confused. The pre-garnishment notice under § 32-09.1-04(1) specifically applies to garnishment of earnings. Bank account garnishments follow a different track — you file a Garnishee Summons directly against the financial institution under N.D.C.C. Chapter 32-09.1, but the 10-day pre-notice requirement is tied to earnings, not bank deposits.

That said, you still must serve a copy of the Garnishee Summons and disclosure materials on the debtor within 10 days of serving the bank. The debtor gets notice either way — the timing and trigger are just different. For the full bank garnishment process, see our bank garnishment guide.

What Happens If You Skip the Notice?

The statute is unambiguous: failure to serve the pre-garnishment notice renders any subsequent wage garnishment completely void. Not just procedurally defective — void. The employer's withholding has no legal authority, the debtor can move to quash, and you'll need to start the garnishment process over from scratch.

That means re-serving the notice, waiting another 10 days, and filing a new Garnishee Summons with another $40 garnishee fee under N.D.C.C. § 32-09.1-10. If the employer already withheld wages, those funds may need to be returned to the debtor.

The Continuing Lien Renewal Notice

There's a second notice requirement that catches creditors off-guard later in the process. If your Garnishee Summons includes a continuing lien designation (which keeps the garnishment active for 270 days under N.D.C.C. § 32-09.1-21), you need to serve a renewal notice on the debtor between 10 and 20 days before the 270-day expiration if you want to extend it.

Miss that renewal window and the continuing lien lapses. You'd need to start with a fresh Garnishee Summons — including another pre-garnishment notice and another 10-day waiting period.

Fitting the Notice Into the Collection Timeline

The pre-garnishment notice doesn't exist in isolation. It comes after a sequence of other steps that must be completed first. Court guidance gives the debtor 10 days after receiving notice to pay voluntarily. Separately, the 30-day post-entry waiting period under Rule 58 must pass before enforcement begins:

1. Judgment entered — The court enters a written judgment under N.D.C.C. § 27-08.1-05.
2. Notice of Entry served — You serve the debtor with a Notice of Entry of Judgment under Rule 58.
3. Waiting period — Allow 10 days for voluntary payment after notice; do not begin enforcement until 30 days have passed after entry of judgment under Rule 58.
4. Pre-garnishment notice served — You serve the Notice Before Garnishment of Earnings.
5. 10-day waiting period — Count 10 calendar days from the date of service.
6. Garnishee Summons filed — Now you can serve the employer, along with the Garnishment Disclosure Form and the $40 fee.

Jumping straight from judgment entry to wage garnishment — even with a valid writ — skips steps that protect the garnishment from being voided on procedural grounds.

If you're working through the full collection process step by step, the North Dakota judgment collection guide walks through every enforcement tool in order — including the exact forms, fees, and deadlines for each stage.

See more North Dakota guides →