Landstar Carrier Services, Inc v. Bouapha

Filing 39

ORDER GRANTING WRIT OF GARNISHMENT by Magistrate Judge Paul Singh Grewal granting 36 . (psglc1S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 4/21/2016)

1
2
3
4

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

5

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

6
7

LANDSTAR CARRIER SERVICES, INC,
Plaintiff,

8
9

v.

10

ORDER GRANTING WRIT OF
GARNISHMENT

JOHN BOUAPHA,

(Re: Docket No. 36)
Defendant.

11
United States District Court
Northern District of California

Case No. 5:11-cv-06332-PSG

12
13

Plaintiff Landstar Carrier Services, Inc. sued Defendant John Bouapha several years ago to

14

recover money Bouapha owed it.1 After Bouapha failed to appear, the Clerk of Court entered

15

default against him, and then default judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(1) in the amount of

16

$204,212.84 plus costs and interest.2 Landstar now moves for a writ of garnishment of Bouapha’s

17

wages.3
Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 69(a)(1), “[a] money judgment is enforced by a writ of execution,

18
19

unless the court directs otherwise. The procedure on execution—and in proceedings

20

supplementary to and in aid of judgment or execution—must accord with the procedure of the

21

state where the court is located, but a federal statute governs to the extent it applies.” Cal. Code

22

Civ. Proc. §§ 706.010 et seq. provide the exclusive judicial procedure for garnishing the wages of

23
24
1

See Docket No. 1.

2

See Docket Nos. 6, 14.

3

See Docket No. 36.

25
26
27
28

1
Case No. 5:11-cv-06332-PSG
ORDER GRANTING WRIT OF GARNISHMENT

1

a judgment debtor.4 Wage garnishment is accomplished by an earnings withholding order, which

2

orders the debtor’s employer to withhold a portion of the debtor’s disposable earnings to satisfy a

3

non-support judgment.5
In order to effectuate a wage garnishment, the creditor must obtain the earnings

4
5

withholding order by filing an application, supporting documentation and the required fee with the

6

levying officer in the county where the order is to be served.6 The levying officer must then serve

7

the withholding order on the debtor’s employer, at which point the employer must withhold the

8

nonexempt portion of the employee’s disposable earnings for any pay period that ends during the

9

withholding period, and pay the levying officer, by the 15th of each month, all funds withheld
during the preceding month.7 Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 706.050 governs the maximum amount of a

11
United States District Court
Northern District of California

10

judgment debtor’s disposable earnings that can be subject to levy under an earnings withholding

12

order.

13

Landstar has complied with the requirements for obtaining an earnings withholding order

14

under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 706.010 et seq.8 The earnings withholding order, Form WG-002,

15

explains how to calculate the maximum amount of withholding from disposable earnings.9

16

Landstar’s motion for writ of garnishment to execute the default judgment properly entered by the

17

Clerk of Court is GRANTED.

18
19
20
21

See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 706.020.

5

See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 706.020-25.

6

See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 706.102(a).

7

See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 706.022(b), 706.025(a), 706.101.

8

22

4

See Docket Nos. 36, 36-1, 36-2, 36-3, 36-4, 36-5, 36-6.

9

See Docket No. 36-1 at 2.

23
24
25
26
27
28

2
Case No. 5:11-cv-06332-PSG
ORDER GRANTING WRIT OF GARNISHMENT

1

SO ORDERED.

2

Dated: April 21, 2016
_________________________________
PAUL S. GREWAL
United States Magistrate Judge

3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

United States District Court
Northern District of California

11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

3
Case No. 5:11-cv-06332-PSG
ORDER GRANTING WRIT OF GARNISHMENT