Payment of money under writ; garnishor’s duty to hold payments

(1) Unless the court has directed otherwise or the garnishee has received notice that a challenge to the garnishment has been filed by the debtor, a garnishee shall make payments of money under a writ of garnishment to the garnishor. (2) Except as provided in ORS 18.645 and 18.745, a garnishor receiving a payment under a writ of garnishment must hold the payment for a period of 10 days after receipt. The payments must be held in this state, must be clearly identifiable and must be held separate and apart from any account used for operating a business or used to pay personal or business expenses. A payment under a writ may be commingled with other garnished money. (3) If a garnishee receives notice of a challenge to the garnishment from the court administrator under ORS 18.702, the garnishee shall cease making payments to the garnishor and shall make all further payments to the court administrator in the manner provided by ORS 18.708. (4) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, if a creditor is a state agency as defined by ORS 183.750, the garnishor may require that checks issued for payments under a writ be made payable to the garnishor or to such other person as designated by the garnishor. A state agency may modify the forms provided in ORS 18.600 to 18.850 to reflect the provisions of this subsection.