12-808.5.Certification of judgment balance.

Section 12-808.5 addresses what happens when a wage deduction order stays in effect for months rather than resolving in a single pay period. If the order has not fully satisfied the judgment by the end of the first full calendar quarter after the summons was served, the creditor (or the creditor's attorney) must prepare a certification stating how much of the judgment remains unpaid as of the last day of each full quarter the order continues in effect. That certification must reach the employer -- by mail or delivery -- within 15 days after each quarter ends, and the employer in turn must send a copy to the debtor's last known address by first-class mail or hand delivery.

The statute also protects the employer if the creditor drops the ball. If the creditor fails to provide a required certification, the employer must keep withholding funds from the debtor's wages, but it may hold those funds without remitting them until the certification finally arrives -- the employer is not forced to guess at the balance or release the money to either side in the meantime. None of this certification paperwork needs to be filed with the court.

Any party to the wage deduction proceeding can still ask the court to step in: on motion, with notice to the other parties, any party may ask the court to review the balance the judgment creditor claims is still due. That gives the debtor (or the employer) a check on a creditor who overstates what remains owed.