§ 18.705 Duties of garnishor

18.705. Duties of garnishor

    (1) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, upon receiving notice of a challenge to a garnishment under ORS 18.702, a garnishor who is a creditor must send to the court specified in the writ of garnishment all amounts received by the garnishor that the debtor has claimed to be exempt or not subject to garnishment, unless the court specifically orders otherwise.

    (2) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, if the garnishor is not a creditor, upon receiving notice of a challenge to a garnishment under ORS 18.702, the garnishor must promptly send to the court specified in the writ of garnishment all amounts received under the writ that have not been delivered to the creditor and that the debtor has claimed to be exempt or not subject to garnishment. The creditor must promptly send to the court specified in the writ all amounts that the creditor has received under the writ and that the debtor has claimed to be exempt or not subject to garnishment.

    (3) Payments made to the court under this section must be in cash or by check made payable to the court. If the payment has not reached the court by the time of the hearing under ORS 18.710, the court administrator shall so notify the judge presiding at the hearing. If the court determines that any of the garnished money should be disbursed to the debtor and the payment has not reached the court by the time of that determination, the court may issue an order requiring that the garnishor or creditor appear and show cause why the garnishor or creditor should not be held in contempt. In addition to contempt proceedings, the court may require the garnishor or creditor to pay attorney fees under ORS 20.105. A court's imposition of sanctions under this subsection does not limit any remedy otherwise available to the debtor.

    (4) This section does not apply if the garnishor or creditor is not allowed by law to disburse the payment to the court.

    (5) The receipt of a challenge to a garnishment does not affect the requirement under ORS 18.755 (1) that the garnishor mail or deliver a written request for sale of property, and pay the fees determined by the sheriff under ORS 18.755 (3), not later than 20 days after the garnishee delivers the garnishee response to the court administrator for the court specified in the writ of garnishment as having authority over the writ. The garnishor must note upon the request for sale that a challenge to the garnishment has been made by the debtor.