Can My Savings Account Be Attached?


By: Dr. Luz Eneida Saldaña, Attorney (Universidad del Rosario), specialist in Administrative and Financial Law

This article was published in November 2021. The peso amount it mentions corresponds to that year; the unattachability cap is calculated on the minimum wage in force each year. It is kept as a historical reference.

Financial institutions must comply with an attachment order issued by a court or by a national or local administrative authority, for example for non-payment of a traffic ticket, a fine, a tax, or a debt through an enforcement proceeding.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF MY SAVINGS ACCOUNT IS ATTACHED?

Keep in mind that financial institutions have a duty to cooperate with the justice system, which requires them to comply with the order given. Therefore, anyone who believes the attachment ordered has no basis must go to the body that issued the attachment order, whether a court or an administrative authority, to find a way to get up to date or to file the legal remedies needed to lift the attachment on the account.

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• ATTACHMENT ORDERED BY A JUDICIAL AUTHORITY:

If the attachment of money deposited in banking institutions is ordered by a judicial authority, it is governed by the General Code of Procedure (CGP), which requires the court to notify the institution and state the maximum amount of the measure (the value of the debt and costs plus 50%), warning it that a deposit certificate must be issued to the order of the court and placed at the judge's disposal within 3 days of receiving the communication. Upon receipt of the official letter, the attachment is complete.

• ATTACHMENT ORDERED BY AN ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY:

On the other hand, when the measure is ordered by administrative authorities in the exercise of their coercive collection powers, it is governed by Articles 837 to 839-1 of the Tax Statute (Estatuto Tributario), by express provision of the Code of Administrative Procedure and Administrative Litigation (Art. 100).

That Statute establishes in Article 837-1 that individuals' deposits are unattachable up to 25 monthly legal minimum wages ($22,713,150 COP for 2021) and requires freezing the attached funds in the depositor's account, or transferring them to the enforcing entity.

Exception: Real estate subject to unattachable family patrimony or designated as a family home, and deposit accounts at the Banco de la República, are not subject to precautionary measures by the DIAN (Colombia's tax and customs authority) and other public entities.

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Source: General Code of Procedure and Tax Statute.

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