Gentlemen:

I am an Ed Slott registered member who lives in Florida. My issue is that I had a judgement placed against me by a Michigan bank, in the Michigan Judical Court, for an unpaid balance on a personal loan I had at their bank. The lawyer representing the bank filed a Request and Writ for Garnishment naming the holder of my IRA’s, TD Ameritrade, located in Nebraska, as Garnishee. TD Ameritrade completed the Garnishee Disclosure Form and sent it back to the banks Lawyer with an attachment listing all my IRA’s accounts (one standard and one Roth) and a non IRA account outlining the balances in each account even though the Writ specifically excludes IRA’s. I have been representing myself in this matter Pro Se because it is the only thing I have out of the State of Florida. My Florida lawyers were of the opinion that the Michigan bank would be required to file against me in Florida before they could attempt any Garnishment proceedings.

I spoke this morning with the banks attorney who filed the Writ and he said that because TD Ameritrade does business in Michigan that he can pursue me through them and that because I have more than one (1) IRA with Ameritrade that he can collect from one of them. I have not found anywhere were this is clear and wonder if he is basing it on something else, such a prohibited transactions, which is not the case here. He also suggested that I make an offer to the bank and that he would take to them which leads me to believe that maybe he is bluffing. If he is not bluffing, this could be a monumental issue for a lot of IRA holders in these difficult times.

What say you you?

Thanks,

Kurt