[gumby]

Those corporations are just as subject to these kinds of laws (there are other laws that they are de facto immune from but let's not get into that). The bank of america case elsewhere cited is a famous example.

In my case, a few years ago: ADP double-debited our $250K IRS payroll tax deposit from our payroll account (pro tip: never allow third parties to make automatic withdrawals from your main bank account -- use a dedicated account you top up as needed). This would have caused employees' paychecks to bounce except my bank kindly called me first and I was able to move money across.

ADP didn't care: their position was they had sent the money to the IRS; I could get a credit from the IRS next quarter and it was none of ADP's business. I finally got through to the head of the nor cal region. Not only was he unsympathetic, he complained, "I don't know why you insist saying we 'took' your money -- we don't have your money, the IRS does. We didn't take anything, we don't even have much of a bank account." So I decided to agree with him: "You're right, I shouldn't say that. The correct term is 'felony grand larceny.' If the money isn't back in my account by the time the fed wire closes I'll take it up with the Santa Clara County Sheriff." (By that time it was about noon, so they only had about an hour to get their act together, having frittered away all morning with call centers and intransigence).

Remarkably, the F500 company that had "no possible way" to send me my money was able to get the $250K to me within the hour. They do not want to deal with the local sheriff.

[froindt]

A friend of mine is an attorney. His client had a judgement against a relatively small bank. In his words, the bank was being a "horse's ass" and not paying.

He got a judge to sign off on the sheriff assisting in collection. The client was about to be a proud owner of the servers run by the bank.

When the sheriff arrived, the bank manager immediately called their attorney to call the client's attorney (my friend) and tell him they're writing a check.

Sometimes companies just need a bit of persuasion.

[erichurkman]

A well publicized example happened during the mortgage crisis where a couple foreclosed on a Bank of America branch in Florida after BoA refused to pay court ordered restitution: http://business.time.com/2011/06/06/homeowner-forecloses-on-...

[phil21]

> When the sheriff arrived, the bank manager immediately called their attorney to call the client's attorney (my friend) and tell him they're writing a check.

I've always wondered what happens if you say too bad so sad, you had your chance - I don't believe you that the check is "in the mail". Will the Sheriff still let you collect assets?

If so, I'd absolutely cause them as much pain as possible. Typically in these cases you've already lost tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and lost time, so the goal isn't recovering your money - it's simply extracting as much pain as possible.

[froindt]

I actually asked that exact question. Ultimately the person wanted cash, and the best way to do that isn't to let the servers go to the sheriff's sale. But it sounded like if the person had FU money and didn't even care, they could have gotten the server.

[gumby]

I think the sheriff would rather not be collecting the hardware (unless he/she hastes the bank too) and would be quite happy if the person settled for a check at the last minute. Less work.

When I went to small claims the first thing the judge did was make everybody talk to their opponent in the hope that they would just find a settlement and save the judge's time.

[jgowdy]

Important point you touched on there. In the case of businesses you should always use zero balance accounts for checks, EFTs, ACHs, etc. The smaller your business, the more you're at risk of an existential threat if someone takes money from your master account unexpectedly or for the wrong amount.