The first week after your bank account or home is provisionally attached

When withdrawals are blocked in your banking app, or you pull the property register and find a provisional attachment you knew nothing about, that day is usually the first you hear of it. This is because provisional attachment is often decided on the papers without calling in the other side. Rather than calling the creditor in a panic, the first step is to get hold of the decision.

First, check the decision

The decision states who provisionally attached which property, for how much and on what grounds. If it has not yet been served on you, check the file using the case number shown by the bank or on the register and get a copy. The decision also states a release amount (해방금액). By depositing this amount, you can ask for enforcement of the provisional attachment to be stopped or for enforcement already carried out to be cancelled (Articles 282 and 299 of the Civil Execution Act).

Provisional attachment only freezes property; it is not a procedure by which the creditor takes the money. For the creditor to actually be paid, they must win the main action and move on to a final seizure. That also means there are things you can do in the meantime.

If wages or deposits have been provisionally attached, the limits on seizure set by law also apply to provisional attachment. If even the portion needed for living expenses has been frozen, you can dispute that scope, so keep your bank transaction records and pay slips.

Choose how to challenge it

• If there is no claim or the amount is excessive, an objection to the provisional attachment (Article 283)
• If you have already paid or circumstances have changed, an application for cancellation due to changed circumstances (Article 288)
• If the creditor does not file the main lawsuit, an application for an order to file suit (Article 287)
• If you need to use the account right away, deposit of the release amount

There is no set deadline for an objection, but filing one does not automatically stop enforcement. If business funds are frozen and the matter is urgent, you can deposit the release amount to release them first and then challenge it through the objection procedure. If the creditor has only made the provisional attachment and keeps putting off the lawsuit, you can apply for an order to file suit so that they must file within a period set by the court.

When you file an objection, the court holds a hearing or an examination in which both sides take part (Article 286(1)). Bring contracts, transfer records and conversation records showing that there is no claim or that the amount has been inflated.

There is still work to do after it is lifted

If the provisional attachment was unjustified, you can claim for the losses it caused. The deposit or surety insurance the creditor provided as security exists precisely to cover such losses. If the creditor applies to cancel the security after the lawsuit ends, the court notifies the party subject to the provisional attachment to exercise their rights within a certain period, and if no damages suit or similar is filed within that period, they are deemed to have consented to cancelling the security (Article 125(3) of the Civil Procedure Act).

If you receive a notice from the court to exercise your rights, don't leave it; check the deadline first. Gathering materials in advance that show losses caused by the provisional attachment, such as lost business, blocked loans or costs spent on the objection procedure, will speed up the assessment. If the losses are not large, it is sometimes better to consent to cancelling the security and close the matter.

Avoid getting angry at the creditor or sending long messages explaining your circumstances because of the provisional attachment. Those messages can be used as evidence that you acknowledge the debt.