Vermont Statutes Title 32 Sec. 5941
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 32 Sec. 5941
- Claimant agency: means any unit of State government, including agencies, departments, boards, commissions, authorities, or public corporations, including the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation and a collection agency under contract with the Court Administrator pursuant to 4 V. See
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Court: means a Superior Court or the Judicial Bureau. See
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Debt: means any obligation to pay a sum of money to a claimant agency, the amount of which is fixed by agreement between the debtor and the claimant agency or by operation of law. See
- Debtor: means any individual owing a debt to a claimant agency or owing any support debt that may be collected by the Department for Children and Families. See
- Department: means the Vermont Department of Taxes. See
- Judgment debtor: means any person who has not paid in full a court judgment for payment of a fine, penalty, surcharge, or fee, but not damages, due and payable to the State or a political subdivision thereof. See
- Refund: means any individual's State income tax refund under chapter 151 of this title and any payment due a claimant under chapter 154 of this title. See
§ 5941. Procedure for setoff of court judgments
(a) The court shall include in any judgment a notice that any unpaid amount of a fine, penalty, surcharge, or fee, but not damages, may be certified to the Department for a setoff on the judgment debtor‘s income tax refund and property tax credit under chapter 154 of this title, and the notice shall explain how the judgment debtor may challenge the certification.
(b) Subsection 5934(c) and section 5936 of this title, relating to the procedure for contesting the debt, shall not apply to a court seeking setoff from a judgment debtor under this subchapter.
(c) Notwithstanding section 502 of this title, the Department may assess against the judgment debtor a collection assistance fee in an amount established pursuant to section 5938 of this title.
(d) If a judgment debtor identified by the court clerk is entitled to a refund, the Department shall retain the collection assistance fee and then transfer to the court in which the judgment was issued an amount equal to the refund owed or the amount unpaid, whichever is less.
(e) The Court Administrator may contract with one or more collection agencies to serve as a claimant agency on behalf of a court for purposes of this subchapter. (Added 2005, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. Sept. 1, 2006; amended 2007, No. 33, § 4, eff. May 18, 2007; 2009, No. 4, § 116, eff. April 24, 2009; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 551, eff. July 1, 2022.)