You've got company in this forum. Did they send a "Notice of State Tax Lien"? If so, then you might try the methods others have used to remove the bogus notices from the IRS, as both the FTB and the IRS usually only issue a computer generated notice when no real UCC lien is in place. This involves going to your SoS (Secretary of State) or Clerk of the Superior court for you state, wherein the lien office resides (If you are still in California, I think it is the SoS), and do a UCC-11 search for any and all liens with your name on it.
If the FTB never bothered to get a real court judgment, then there won't be one. Then, you have to get something in writing from them stating this, and then go to the county recorder's office where the notice is stored in your county, and file a UCC-3 addendum with orders to remove it. Here's how one guy did it in Tennessee on an IRS notice:
http://web.archive.org/web/200402171...2/08_27_02.htm
Also, keep searching through the forum here. Someone linked to a step-by-step document recently that says how to do it, although they cautioned that it doesn't work 100% of the time. I would think that as long as you are polite and act like you know what you are doing, they will comply at the county recorders office.
Then, assuming you have gotten the Notice removed by the county recorder, get evidence of this from the form they fill out. You might also see if you can get them to sign something stating that it was removed from their records.
Finally, you get the Credit Reporting Agencies to try to verify the entries on your credit report. If they come back and give you any static, you need to show them the SoS and County Recorder's statements that there is no lien or even a notice of lien on record any more.
As for your garnishment, this is a problem with your employer, not the FTB. The FTB most likely sent an unsigned, unnamed, anonymous letter requesting earnings to be withheld. It's probably easier to get the employer not to start in the first place than to stop after starting.
First of all, make sure they aren't taking more than 25% as some go overboard. Secondly, if this is tied to a ficticious lien, then you'll need to show them evidence that it was never so, and that they are taking money without authorization which will make them liable. I'm not sure but I think the penalties can be up to 3x the amount taken. It would be personally against the person that authorized it in your payroll dept.
You must consider the possibility that it might take a lawsuit to get them to stop. You might also consider petitioning a court to get a temporary injunction in light of the fact that there is no evidence that there ever was a lien in the first place.
KenG's videos (
www.showmethelaw.net), suggests writing another unnamed, unsigned anonymous letter to the payroll dept like the IRS does releasing the lien. I'm not sure how serious he was, but the thinking is that the IRS hid their identity when asking the company to steal your money, so there's no way they can prove that one from you that looks like theirs didn't come from them.
Anyone else care to jump in here with suggestions?
The FTB is bugging me too, but they aren't to the point of a notice of lien, and I'm in another state, which may make it harder. Even if they were to break their habits and get a judgment, it would have to be transferred from California to my state, but I don't expect them to even do that.
In my state, there is a state statute that says that no part of a person's withholding shall be withheld without a summons of garnishment (which comes from a court judgment), so I've got this to use as well. You should check your state.
If you are in California, I would strongly suggest you move. I was there for 1 year, and it just wasn't worth the hassle that the state gov't puts you through.
