Enforcing Criminal Restitution: Liens, Garnishment, Bank Seizures

Enforcing criminal restitution carries the same legal weight as collecting a federal tax debt. Once a federal court enters the judgment, the government has up to twenty years from the date of judgment or twenty years from the defendant’s release from prison, whichever is later, to collect through liens, wage garnishment, asset seizures, and interception of federal payments.¹ These tools stack. The exemptions available to the defendant are narrower than what protects ordinary debtors, and bankruptcy will not wipe the balance out.

The Automatic Lien

A restitution lien attaches the moment the judgment is entered. It reaches everything the defendant owns, real estate, vehicles, financial accounts, and business equipment, with the same legal authority as a federal tax lien under the Internal Revenue Code.¹ No separate court order creates it.

To make the lien enforceable against outside buyers, lenders, or other creditors, the government files a Notice of Lien in the same way an IRS tax lien is filed, usually recorded in the county where the defendant owns property.¹ After that filing, the defendant cannot sell a house, refinance a car, or transfer an asset without dealing with the restitution balance first.

The twenty-year window runs from the judgment date, but the clock effectively resets on release from imprisonment. A defendant who serves ten years faces twenty more years of collection authority from the release date, not from the original sentencing.² The statute contains no renewal mechanism. When the window closes on an unsatisfied balance, the obligation ends.

What the Government Cannot Reach

Restitution enforcement expressly overrides the usual Social Security Act protections and blocks the broader exemption menu that ordinary debtors get under the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act.³ The only exemptions available are the narrow ones that apply to IRS tax levies.

For 2026, protected categories include:

Household goods and personal effects, including furniture, clothing, and fuel, up to $11,980 in total value.⁴
Books and tools needed for the defendant’s profession, up to $5,990.⁴
Unemployment benefits, workers’ compensation, and certain annuity or pension payments.⁵
Undelivered mail.
Wages, capped by the Consumer Credit Protection Act limits described below.³

State homestead exemptions do not apply. The FDCPA election that normally lets a debtor choose between federal bankruptcy exemptions and state exemptions is specifically excluded for restitution enforcement.³ A primary residence that would be shielded from most creditors under state law is still reachable here.

Wage Garnishment

Once the government confirms employment, it obtains a writ of garnishment under the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act and serves it directly on the employer. The employer has ten days to file a written response confirming employment, describing available earnings, and disclosing any other garnishments in place.⁶ An employer that ignores the writ can be held personally liable for the debt.

Each pay period, the maximum reachable amount is the lesser of two figures: 25% of the defendant’s disposable earnings (what remains after taxes and mandatory deductions), or the amount by which those earnings exceed thirty times the federal minimum wage.⁷ At the current $7.25 federal minimum wage, that floor is $217.50 per week.⁸ Weekly disposable earnings below $217.50 cannot be touched. Between $217.50 and roughly $290, only the amount above $217.50 is reachable. Above $290, the flat 25% cap applies.

The garnishment runs automatically until the full balance, including accrued interest, is satisfied. No new order is needed for each paycheck. The employer sends the withheld funds to the court clerk.

Seizures and Bank Account Freezes

For defendants with tangible property or money in bank accounts, the government uses a writ of execution. That is a court order directing the U.S. Marshals Service to seize property or freeze financial accounts.⁹ The Marshals can take vehicles, jewelry, business equipment, and cash directly from a business register.

When a writ hits a bank account, the institution freezes the funds and stops outgoing transactions. The defendant receives written notice describing the property being taken and summarizing exemptions available under the law of the state where the property sits. The defendant then has twenty days to request a hearing, and the court must hold it within five days if requested.¹⁰ Funds that came from an exempt source, such as unemployment benefits deposited into the account, should be returned if the defendant can trace them. Without a timely objection, the frozen funds transfer to the court.

Physical property is stored by the Marshals and sold at public auction. Sale proceeds go against the restitution balance after storage and sale costs are deducted.⁹ Jointly held property complicates the picture. When a bank account or asset is shared with a spouse or someone else, how much the government can reach depends on state property rules, and a non-debtor co-owner generally retains a claim to their share.

Interception of Federal Payments

The Treasury Offset Program lets the Bureau of the Fiscal Service intercept federal payments owed to the defendant, including tax refunds, federal salary, and vendor payments, and redirect them to the restitution balance without a return trip to court.¹¹

Social Security benefits can be offset with limits. TOP cannot take more than 15% of a monthly benefit, and no offset is allowed on benefits of $750 or less per month.¹² A separate annual cap shields the first $9,000 in federal benefits received over any twelve-month period.¹¹ Those limits are specific to TOP. When the government enforces restitution through garnishment or a writ of execution instead, the restitution statute overrides the usual Social Security Act protections, and benefits already deposited into a bank account may be reachable.³

Before an offset, the defendant gets written notice of the intent to intercept and an opportunity to pay directly or dispute the debt. A processing fee is deducted from the intercepted payment before the rest is applied to the balance.

Interest, Penalties, and Default

An unpaid balance grows. If restitution exceeds $2,500 and is not paid in full within fifteen days of the judgment, interest starts to accrue at a rate tied to the weekly average one-year Treasury yield published by the Federal Reserve for the week before the obligation kicks in.¹³ A court can waive interest or cap the total if the defendant genuinely cannot pay.

Two additional penalties can apply. A delinquency penalty equal to 10% of the overdue principal hits when a payment becomes delinquent, and a default penalty of an additional 15% of the principal hits when the account goes into full default.¹³

A finding of default opens a wide sanction menu. The court can revoke probation or supervised release, hold the defendant in contempt, order the sale of specific property, issue a restraining order against asset transfers, or adjust the payment schedule.¹⁴ Before choosing, the court weighs the defendant’s employment, earning ability, financial resources, and whether nonpayment was willful. Someone who cannot pay is treated differently than someone hiding assets.

Windfalls and Reporting Duties

If a defendant comes into significant money during incarceration through an inheritance, a lawsuit settlement, or any other source, federal law requires those resources be applied to the outstanding balance.¹⁵

Defendants must also notify the court and the Attorney General of any material change in financial circumstances that could affect the ability to pay.¹⁵ That cuts both ways. Losing a job supports a request for a modified schedule. A higher-paying position or a new asset gives the government or a victim grounds to seek increased payments or full payment now.

Bankruptcy Will Not Discharge It

Criminal restitution survives bankruptcy. Restitution orders issued under Title 18 are listed as non-dischargeable debts regardless of the chapter filed.¹⁶ Chapter 7, Chapter 13, and Chapter 11 filings all leave the balance intact. Filing fees and attorney costs paid to try will not reduce it.

Victims Can Enforce on Their Own

A victim named in a restitution order does not have to wait for the government. The victim can ask the court clerk to issue an abstract of judgment certifying the amount owed. Once recorded in local court records where the defendant has property, it becomes a lien under state law and functions like any other civil judgment.¹⁵ That opens a separate enforcement track using state civil collection tools, including the victim’s own garnishment and execution actions.

Death of the Defendant

Fines end at death; restitution does not. The statute’s termination provision for restitution refers only to the twenty-year time limit and does not list death as a termination event.² The lien continues against the estate until a written release is issued. Whatever passes through probate can be tapped to satisfy the balance, reducing what heirs would otherwise receive.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3613 – Civil Remedies for Satisfaction of an Unpaid Fine
2
GovInfo. 18 USC 3613 – Civil Remedies for Satisfaction of an Unpaid Fine
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3613 – Civil Remedies for Satisfaction of an Unpaid Fine
4
Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2025-32
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6334 – Property Exempt from Levy
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 3205 – Garnishment
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #30: Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act
9
U.S. Marshals Service. Writ of Execution
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 3202 – Enforcement of Judgments
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3716 – Administrative Offset
12
eCFR. 31 CFR 285.4 – Offset of Federal Benefit Payments
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3612 – Collection of Unpaid Fine or Restitution
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3613A – Effect of Default
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3664 – Procedure for Issuance and Enforcement of Order of Restitution
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge