(a) Within fifteen days after receipt of process that is sufficient for legal form and contains sufficient information to identify the employee, the Authorized Agent shall send written notice that garnishment process has been served, together with a copy thereof, to the affected employee at his or her duty station or last known address. The Authorized Agent shall respond, in writing, to the garnishment or interrogatories within thirty days of receipt of process. The Authorized Agent may respond within a longer period of time as may be prescribed by applicable state Law. Neither the Authorized Agent nor any employee shall be required to respond in person to any garnishment served according to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 5520a and the regulations in this section. A sufficient response to legal process shall consist of any action of the Postal Service consistent with these regulations. The action shall be considered to be given under penalty of perjury and shall constitute a legally sufficient answer to any garnishment. The Postal Service may, in its sole discretion, answer or otherwise respond to documents purporting to be legal process which are insufficient as to the manner of service, insufficient as to the identification of the employee, insufficient as to legal form or insufficient for any other reason.
(b) The requirements of paragraph (a) of this section are illustrated by the following example:
Example:Each periodic check with the accompanying Financial Institution Statement shall be considered to be a legally sufficient answer. Where legal process has been processed but no money was deducted, (for the reason of insufficient pay, prior garnishment in force, etc.) the mailing label or other written response shall be a sufficient answer. Where the Postal Service sends a check or mailing label, no further action will be required (such as a cumulative report or notarized statement.) Documents which are defective with respect to service, lack of legal sufficiency, failure to properly identify the employee, or other reason, do not require a response or an answer but if the Postal Service chooses to act in any way, such as to return the document, that act shall be a sufficient answer.
source: 63 FR 67403, Dec. 7, 1998, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 39 CFR 491.6