Interrogatories and Supplementary Proceedings

        Rules 69 and 33 of the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure also allow collection counsel to draft extensive interrogatories to be answered under oath, as in prejudgment discovery. They may be served upon debtors by mail or by personal service. Failure of a debtor to answer the interrogatories under oath within 30 days of the date of service may subject debtor to a motion to compel, followed by a possible contempt of court motion.

        Minnesota Statutes allow judgment creditors to apply to the court by affidavit for an order compelling judgment debtors to appear before a court reporter or notary public to be examined under oath as to assets, liabilities, cash flow, tax returns, etc. A writ of execution must first be “returned unsatisfied” by the sheriff’s office. The order in supplementary proceedings has the same effect on a debtor as a subpoena and notice of taking deposition to compel debtor’s testimony and the production of a debtor’s records. The order in supplementary proceedings must be served upon a deponent personally. No substituted service of process is allowed. A deponent should be first shown the inked signature of the judge signing the order, and then given a conformed copy of the order, along with a copy of collection counsel’s affidavit submitted to the judge in support of said order. The deposition must be in the venue of the county where a debtor resides or where a debtor’s business is conducted. A powerful specialized order directed at any of debtor’s assets, regardless of who possesses same, also can be obtained ex parte from the court, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 575.05. If the debtor has hidden known assets or placed them in the possession of third parties, the court “may order any of the debtor’s property in the hands of the judgment debtor or any other person, or due to the judgment debtor, not exempt from execution, to be applied toward the satisfaction of a money judgment.”

Seminar Article By: John A. Halpern