What can we do if there is a foreclosure of the current account and how can we protect ourselves in these cases? What can we do, preventively, to prevent the account from being foreclosed, that is when we are in the conditions for which this unpleasant event can occur? Can money be secured so it won’t be touched?

In this article I go back to talking about “subversive” topics, which help to survive in the system, because we are often victims of injustice or uncomfortable situations and it is right to know how to move in total legality.

Disclamer

With this article I don’t want to induce people to evade the tax department or fool others. Life, we know, is full of particular cases and it is not always said that whoever is in trouble, is for just cause. In recent years, I have received hundreds of testimonials from people who have had to pay unjust compensation after lawsuits triggered by cunning or generated by family situations, to say the least absurd. The law is not always suitable for all situations and often those who have money and knowledge manage to override others, even if they are wrong.

Knowledge, however, is also a defense weapon and that is why it is good to learn the information you will find in this article before finding yourself in trouble, to protect yourself and know how it is more fun to move.

When can a current account be attached?

If we are in an uncertain legal situation, we have debts, problems with the taxman or we are facing a process of some kind, then we may be at risk of foreclosure of our checking account and for this it can be interesting to know how to act.

The first thing to know is that once the account is foreclosed there is very little to do, so it is always important to act in advance, that is to know who and in what situations we can repossess the account and immediately run for cover.

In general, a current account can be seized if we have debts, but not all debts are equal: in fact, the creditor (the person to whom we owe the money) must possess what is called “executive title”, or an “official” document that has full legal value and that certifies the existence and extent of a specific credit. They fall into this category:

• Sentences of condemnation (also of first instance).

• Injunctive Decrees.

• Bills of exchange.

• Checks.

• Mortgages.

• Public deeds drawn up before a notary.

• Conciliations signed before any body in charge.

The first notion that we learn is that a utility bill, an installment of a financial or an unpaid invoice are not enough to block a current account and therefore to seize it. Call center operators or lawyers often threaten to forcefully recover a credit, but they bluff because a simple unpaid invoice does not allow this type of action. The person who is responsible for the money must in fact initiate a legal proceeding and have a judge issue an “injunction” that requires time and money to spend on a lawyer. What, in reality, happens is that if the amount is contained, the creditor is unlikely to proceed legally. The latter will prefer to act directly, order and put pressure (rightly) on the debtor, but then more often than not, everything is resolved into nothing.

On the other hand, it is when the Revenue Agency, through its executive arm “Revenue Collection Agency” (ex Equitalia) moves. In this case, a judge is not required and our account can be seized in 60 days.

How is the account blocked?

If our creditor is the Revenue Agency, then the bill is foreclosed without notice and we, one fine day, go to the counter to withdraw, realizing that we cannot do it. If, on the other hand, any other company, a freelancer or a citizen, has requested an injunction to attach the current account, this is an obligation to communicate to the debtor his intention to act on an executive basis. This is a sort of “last warning”, that is, an order to pay within 10 days, before the account is blocked. Here, in this case, you have a certain amount of time to act and to run for cover by putting in place some tricks to avoid getting your current account attached or at least to prevent someone from withdrawing the money, against our will.

If you don’t have money, what will they seize you?

The moment we are aware that we have no escape and we risk that our current account is foreclosed, one strategy may be to empty it completely. Before it is frozen, we withdraw all the money it contains. An account with zero balance cannot be attached because the sums that are attached are the sums contained.

At this point we can open a new current account, strictly with another bank, and deposit all our money there. Of course the creditors, through the tax registry, can know the existence of a new current account and proceed with the blocking of this too, but in any case it requires time and a new judicial procedure.

Buy Bitcoin

The best solution is precisely that of buy bitcoins. Bitcoin by its nature besides having privacy it cannot be attached and for these reasons it is the best protection that exists. Obviously, it is strongly advised to pay attention to where these bitcoins are stored the greatest place where you can store them is precisely the exchange or custody wallet because in turn they too could be attacked by “external sources”. So the optimal idea would be to have a bitcoin wallet where the public and private key pair are held.

Opening of another account only for salary

As seen, nobody forbids opening a new current account and this can be an interesting strategy to put into practice a stratagem that avoids the blocking of the account on which we are credited with the salary. The law in fact says that a current account on which only the salary (or pension) is credited cannot be attached. Other sums of money probably flow into our current account, perhaps deriving from rents, extra jobs or credits of different nature such as the sale of electricity through a photovoltaic system. In this case, since it is a “mixed” account, it can be easily seized.
In this way we will have created a flow of money that cannot be attached (for the moment).

The need to open a new account is essential because, even if we had the old account at zero, if a salary credit arrived, the money would be immediately blocked by the bank.

At this point the creditor could discover the new account and then ask for it to be seized but, if only the salary (or pension) flows into this account then the law says that these cannot be seized until the minimum life (€ 525.89 ). If, on the other hand, we perceive more, then the sum that exceeds those € 525 can be forfeited only by a fifth. For example: if we have a salary of € 1000, then € 525.89 are untouchable and, on the difference (1000 – 525.89 = 474.11), they can only take one fifth, or € 94.8. At the end of the € 1000 we receive, there are still € 905 left.

Activate a credit line

Again on the principle that if there is nothing on a current account, this cannot be attached, in fact it cannot be attached even if the balance is negative. The credit line does exactly that, that is, it allows those who open it to have a continuous loan of money even if there is no money. For example, imagine that there are 1000 € in the account and that a credit of 2000 € is applied to it. From an account of this type we can withdraw up to € 3000 and, in fact, the account would remain open, but with a balance of € -2000. At this point, each payment we make goes first to restore the credit line, therefore, if every month we receive a salary of 1500 € and maybe some other extra income of 200 or 300 €, and every month we take care to withdraw the right amount to maintain the negative balance, here the account cannot be foreclosed.

Account in the name of another person

If we have a trusted person, such as a family member or a friend of great honesty, we can withdraw the money from our checking account every day (keeping the balance at zero) and then transfer it to the account of this other person. Since the account is registered in the name of a subject unrelated to our legal proceedings, this will not be detachable. It is not necessary to physically withdraw the money, you can also make online transfers, the important thing is to take into account the timing so that the money is not present on the current account for too long.

To avoid that the person to whom we pay the money has problems with the Inland Revenue (where does this money come from and why does it receive it?) In the reason for the truth we always indicate the word “loan”, in this way we define a temporary transfer of money that will be returned.

To protect ourselves, however, we perform a private writing between us and the person of trust where we write down the figures that we deliver, so that this cannot be pocketed.

Co-registered account

In joint accounts, i.e. in the name of two people, the law establishes that 50% of the money contained belongs to each owner. The classic case is that of husband and wife with communion of assets that have only one checking account to save on management costs. In this case, only 50% of the contents of the account can be attached, so even if the vast majority of the money that flows into the account comes from our work (for example, we are entrepreneurs) only half can be attached.

Take out a life policy

Avoid foreclosure of the current account Lifetime policies are impignable by any creditor, even from the taxman himself, so a good idea would be to take out a policy that has a reduced duration, as short as possible. These financial instruments do not pay much today and if you want to withdraw money first, you will pay significant percentages. The so-called “redemption of the policy” is possible only after 3 years from the subscription and contemplates penalties which, however, are reduced if you wait at least 5 years.

Even if you lose money in this way, it is still better than having us freeze all the capital due to a foreclosure on the current account. We can in fact take out a policy through a large initial payment and then request the suspension of the installments. Many insurance companies allow suspension without applying penalties and therefore, for a limited period of time, we have money safe without the need to pay more.

Foreign current account

It is legal to have a bank account abroad as well as it is legal to bring out less than € 10,000 outside our national borders without declaring them. Furthermore, a foreign current account that contains, within a year, figures that never exceed € 10,000, it is not mandatory that it be declared to the Italian tax authorities. So no one forbids us to cross borders, open a bank account at any bank and pour liquid money over there that we don’t want to be foreclosed. At European level, in fact, there are no automatic exchanges of information between banks in different states or between them and our tax authorities. There is also no obligation (if not after international letters rogatory) by a foreign bank to communicate the data and sums of an Italian citizen who has an account abroad.

In fact, having one or more accounts abroad is perfectly legal and is a great way to keep safe sums that we want to remain unassailable.

Buy cult objects

Another alternative idea to turn money into something that cannot be attached is to use it to buy cult jewels. In fact, the law provides that objects that are used to exercise one’s belief cannot be foreclosed, such as a bible, a cross or other similar objects. For example, if we have a nice amount to protect and buy a large gold cross that we hang on a wall inside the house, well, this cannot be foreclosed because it is supposed to be used to exercise our creed.

Once the story has ended we could always think of reselling it and getting back the amount spent on the purchase, perhaps making a profit.

Conclusions

Those who are victims of a law that does not always cover all situations and who, on many occasions, have shown that they are blind to the reality of the facts, generating injustices, can have some perfectly legal means of protection. I repeat, here it is not a question of cheating others, it is only a matter of knowing our rights and knowing how to move in case of need.

It is important to be aware of this information beforehand, because as explained, once the attachment of a current account is executive, we cannot do anything. By acting in advance, however, we can preserve our sums and have some chance of getting out of complicated and sometimes unjust situations.