Section 18.785 - [Operative 1/1/2025] Duties of financial institution; notice to account holder(1) As used in this section: (a) "Base protected account balance" means the amount not subject to garnishment calculated under subsection (2)(j) of this section.(b) "Garnishment account review" means the review conducted under subsection (2)(c) of this section.(c) "Lookback period" means the period described in subsection (2)(d) of this section.(2)(a)(A) If a financial institution receives a writ of garnishment for a debtor that has an account with the financial institution, the financial institution shall first determine whether the writ of garnishment includes a Notice of Right to Garnish Federal Benefits from the United States Government or from a state child support enforcement agency, as provided in 31 C.F.R. part 212, or is attached to an attestation that a debt arises out of a child support or spousal support obligation or a judgment that contains a money award of restitution.(B) If the writ of garnishment includes a Notice of Right to Garnish Federal Benefits, the provisions of paragraphs (b) to (j) of this subsection do not apply to the writ of garnishment and the financial institution shall proceed on the garnishment as provided in ORS 18.600 to 18.850.(C) If the writ of garnishment is attached to an attestation that a debt arises out of a child support or spousal support obligation or a judgment that contains a money award of restitution, paragraphs (b), (c)(A), (e), (f) and (j) of this subsection do not apply to the writ of garnishment and the financial institution shall conduct a garnishment account review as provided in paragraphs (c)(B), (d) and (g) to (i) of this subsection.(D) If the writ of garnishment does not include a Notice of Right to Garnish Federal Benefits or is not attached to an attestation that a debt arises out of a child support or spousal support obligation or a judgment that contains a money award of restitution, the financial institution shall immediately calculate and establish the total amount in all of the accounts the debtor has with the financial institution.(b) If the total of the amounts in all of a debtor's accounts with the financial institution does not exceed the base protected account balance, the financial institution shall provide full customary access to the amounts in the debtor's accounts with the financial institution.(c) If a financial institution finds under paragraph (a)(C) of this subsection that the total amount in all of a debtor's accounts with the financial institution exceeds the base protected account balance, the financial institution shall: (A) Provide full customary access to the base protected account balance; and(B) Conduct a garnishment account review to determine whether one or more of the payments listed in this subparagraph were made to any of the debtor's accounts by direct deposit or electronic transfer within the lookback period. The payments a financial institution must look for during a garnishment account review are: (i) Federal benefit payments;(ii) Payments from a public or private retirement plan as defined in ORS 18.358;(iii) Public assistance payments or medical assistance, as defined in ORS 414.025, from the State of Oregon or an agency of the State of Oregon;(iv) Unemployment compensation payments from the State of Oregon or an agency of the State of Oregon;(v) Black lung benefits payments from the United States Department of Labor; and(vi) Workers' compensation payments from a workers' compensation carrier.(d) The lookback period during which a financial institution must determine whether a payment listed in paragraph (c) of this subsection was made to a debtor's account with the financial institution: (A) Ends on the day before the day on which the financial institution conducts the garnishment account review; and(B) Begins: (i) On the day in the second calendar month preceding the month in which the financial institution conducts the garnishment account review that has the same number as the day on which the lookback period ends; or(ii) On the last day of the second calendar month preceding the month in which the financial institution conducts the garnishment account review, if the day described in sub-subparagraph (i) of this subparagraph does not exist.(e)(A) If a financial institution determines after conducting a garnishment account review that a payment listed in paragraph (c)(B) of this subsection was made by direct deposit or electronic transfer to an account the debtor has with the financial institution within the lookback period, the financial institution shall provide the debtor with full customary access to the sum of the following amounts, which are not subject to garnishment: (i) The base protected account balance; and(ii) The amount by which the sum of all payments listed in paragraph (c) of this subsection that were made by direct deposit or electronic transfer to the debtor's accounts with the financial institution within the lookback period exceeds the base protected account balance.(B) The amounts in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph are calculated as of the effective date and time of the garnishment, but before the financial institution conducts the garnishment account review, and are not affected by withdrawals of funds by the debtor after the effective date and time of the garnishment.(f) A financial institution that conducts a garnishment account review under paragraph (c) of this subsection shall proceed to deliver to the garnishor under ORS 18.600 to 18.850 any amount that exceeds an amount not subject to garnishment described in paragraph (e) of this subsection.(g) If the writ of garnishment is attached to an attestation that a debt arises out of a child support or spousal support obligation or a judgment that contains a money award of restitution, the financial institution shall conduct a garnishment account review and provide the debtor with full customary access to all payments listed in paragraph (c)(B) of this subsection that were made by direct deposit or electronic transfer to an account the debtor has with the financial institution within the lookback period.(h) A financial institution shall perform a garnishment account review only one time for a specific garnishment. If the same writ of garnishment is served on a financial institution more than once, the financial institution may not perform a garnishment account review or take any other action relating to the garnishment based on the second and any subsequent service of the writ of garnishment.(i) The provisions of this subsection do not affect a debtor's ability to claim any exemption that otherwise is available to the debtor under law for any amounts in an account in a financial institution.(j) The initial base protected account balance is the combined total of $2,500 in all of a debtor's accounts in the financial institution. The State Court Administrator shall index the base protected account balance amount each year on or before July 1 to reflect increases or decreases in the cost of living for the previous calendar year, based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, West Region (All Items), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor or a successor agency. The State Court Administrator shall publish the adjusted exemption on the Judicial Department website. In adjusting the exempted amount, the State Court Administrator shall round to the nearest $100, but shall use the unrounded adjusted amount to calculate the exempted amount for the succeeding year. The new exempted amount becomes effective on July 1 of the year in which the State Court Administrator makes the adjustment and becomes the amount that the State Court Administrator must adjust in the succeeding year.(3) A financial institution that conducts the garnishment account review described in subsection (2)(c) of this section shall, within three business days after conducting the garnishment account review, notify the debtor, or a fiduciary that administers the debtor's accounts and receives communications on behalf of the debtor, of the financial institution's actions. The financial institution shall provide the notice in substantially the form specified in ORS 18.847 and must send the notice to the debtor or fiduciary separately, not as part of any communications unrelated to the garnishment that the financial institution provides to the debtor or fiduciary.(4) A financial institution must perform the calculations described in subsection (2)(c) of this section for each of the debtor's accounts with the financial institution, but may issue a single notice under subsection (3) of this section for multiple accounts of the same account holder.(5) Issuing a notice under subsection (3) of this section does not constitute giving legal advice. A financial institution is not obligated to provide legal advice by reason of issuing a notice under subsection (3) of this section.(6) The provisions of subsection (2)(c), (d), (e) and (f) of this section apply only to payments that a financial institution can identify, from information the payer transmits to the financial institution, as one of the types of payments listed in subsection (2)(c)(B) of this section.Amended by 2024 Ch. 100,§ 10, eff. 4/4/2024, op. 1/1/2025.This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.