Legal

Kontopfändung

Account Garnishment / Freezing

Simple Definition

When the Debt Collection Office (Betreibungsamt) forces the bank to seize money from your account to pay unpaid debts.

Why this matters to Expats.

The nuclear option. If you ignore Betreibungen (Debt Collections) long enough, they will freeze your account. This is serious and destroys your credit rating for 5 years.

Actionable Intelligence

Existenzminimum: They cannot take EVERYTHING. They must leave you the "Existential Minimum" (subsistence level) to buy food/rent. But they take everything above that.