GAR - Govt. E-Levies & Auto-Answers

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Overview: Special Functionality for Government Agency Legal Orders ('Levies')

Attachment orders fall into two broad categories, and this distinction shapes how Levy Manager handles them: 

1. Legal Orders (Levies) — Issued by government agencies at the federal, state, or local level. Most commonly called "levies," though terminology varies by jurisdiction.
   
2. Court Orders (Garnishments) — Obtained by private parties to enforce civil judgments. Most commonly called "garnishments" or "writs," though terminology also varies by jurisdiction.
   

The table below summarizes how these categories differ and how Levy Manager's features apply to each.

	Government Agency 'Levies'	Private 'Garnishments'
Common Names	Levy, Legal Order, Writ of Garnishment, Warrant	Garnishment, Writ of Garnishment, Court Order
Source of Authority	Government agencies typically have independent authority to issue levies directly, though some jurisdictions require the agency to obtain a court order.	The private party must obtain an order from a court.  One notable exception are ISRN's in New York.
Standardized File Format?	Yes. The X9.129 standard — approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) — is specifically designed for government agency levies. It covers the original levy, follow-up maintenance orders (such as remit orders), and responses from financial institutions. Note: currently, only a minority of government agencies issue levies in X9.129 format.	No. There is no equivalent standardized format for private garnishments, although the X9 financial institution industry organization is hoping to publish a standard for them in 2026.
Intake:  Electronic Formats and Data Capture	Levy Manager supports three intake methods for government agency levies, all of which provide automatic data capture:    (1) direct ingestion and processing of X9.129-formatted levies;    (2) a dedicated Government Agency ServePort portal for receiving levies in PDF format; and    (3) AI-assisted data capture for levies not in X9.129 format, which automatically extracts key information such as debtor name and levy amount.	AI-assisted data capture is not currently available for private garnishments but is scheduled for release in Q2 2026.
Auto-Answer:  No Touch	When Levy Manager receives an electronic government agency levy, it automatically checks for a matching customer, account, and available funds. If any of those checks come up empty, Levy Manager generates and delivers the appropriate response with no human intervention required.	Not available.
Auto-Answer: 1-Click	For government agency levies that require human processing, Levy Manager can automatically generate a response in the ANSI-approved format and deliver it directly to the issuing agency. Note: If a notice is also required for the debtor, the financial institution is responsible for ensuring that delivery.	Auto-answer is generally not available for private garnishments. Customers must use templates to generate responses and are responsible for delivering them to the garnishor — and to the debtor, if required.

This page covers the special functionality Levy Manager provides for government agency levies, including electronic format support, AI-assisted data capture, and auto-answer.

Electronic Formats and Data Capture

VIDEO (8 mins) - Levy Manager Automation 

Levy Manager transforms your processes for government agency levies. Our system can receive any form of electronic levy from agencies, automatically extract the relevant data into Safari fields, and trigger seamless workflows. If an agency is unable to deliver an electronic levy, simply scan and upload the document into Safari, and we’ll handle the data extraction.

With fully automated processes, situations like "No Customer" or "No Account" levies can now be fully automated, achieving the dream of no-touch levies. Even when a levy process isn’t entirely automated, the time savings and risk reduction will be significant.

This help page covers the following topics:

• List of Registered and Recognized Agencies
• How to register an agency
• Appointing Safari as an agent to receive electronic levies from agencies
  

Registered Agencies & Recognized Agencies

Overview

Safari categorizes agencies into two types: Registered and Recognized. Here’s what each term means:

• Registered Agency (Service + Data Extract): This agency serves electronic levies to Safari customers through an SFTP secure site or the ServePort Agency Portal. No paper levy is received by the financial institution, and the matter is automatically created in Safari. Regardless of whether the levy is in X9.129, spreadsheet, or PDF format, Safari extracts key levy data and stores it in the matter fields during creation. In addition, Safari will have established the format and a secure data exchange method for delivering answers back to the agency.

• Recognized Agency (Data Extract only): Safari has trained Levy Manager to extract data from PDF copies of levies from these agencies. However, these agencies do not deliver electronic levies to Safari.

How to "Register" an Agency (or cause Safari to "Recognize" the levy)

The Registration Process - Meeting with an Agency

The ideal solution is for an agency to become registered, meaning they’ve set up an electronic connection with Safari for serving electronic levies. To begin this process, a meeting must be scheduled between Safari and the agency. Safari will handle all onboarding activities, and the only requirement is that the agency wishes to serve its levies electronically rather than on paper.

The Process to Recognize an Agency - Training on Levy Forms

If an agency is not ready to serve electronic levies, you can still have them recognized by providing Safari with five sample levies. These actual levies allow Safari to train Levy Manager to recognize the form and extract relevant data into the matter fields. This does not require any involvement from the agency, as Safari can handle the training on its own.  

Appointment of Safari as Agent for Service of Electronic Levies

For any agency that becomes a Recognized Agency, Safari must act as an agent of the financial institution to receive the levy or legal order directly from the agency on the bank's behalf. As illustrated in the diagram below, Safari facilitates the delivery of electronic levies from government agencies for our financial institution customers. To confirm this relationship, Safari will provide your organization with a document titled 'Appointment of Safari SOP as Financial Institution Agent for Electronic Service of Process Exchange,' which must be signed by your organization. Once signed, this document authorizes the agency to work with Safari on your behalf. For more information, please contact your Safari Customer Success Manager.

Auto-Answer Functionality for Government Agency Levies

VIDEO: Levies Auto-Answer

Levy Manager enables an automated answer capability for government agency levies. By simply changing the matter status, Safari will automatically generate the appropriate response and send it. This capability can also be disabled when needed. This help page provides an overview of this feature.

Setup Options for Auto-Answer

How to Set Up Auto-Answer in a Matter

The auto-answer setup is controlled by the "Auto-Send Answer" field in the "Serving Party" section of the matter:

Default Auto-Send Answer Settings
The default setting for the "Auto-Send Answer" field is based on the Org Type field:

Org Type	Auto-Send Default
Federal	ON: Email
State	ON: Email
Local	ON: Email
Everything Else	OFF

ON: ServePort Exchange

If the agency is a Registered Agency and has specified a preferred method for delivering answers, the "Auto-Send Answer" field will be locked and set to "ON: ServePort Exchange."

MASKING TINs FOR EMAIL: When Safari auto-generates an answer to send via email, Safari automatically masks the TIN field. (For details on masking, see Setup - Templates and Library.) If there is no case number and the TIN is stored in the Case No. field—matching the value in the TIN field—Safari will also mask the Case No. value.

Sending an Auto-Answer

Notification that Auto-Answer Will Be Sent Upon Status Change

When you update a status that triggers the need for an agency answer, Safari will display a notification confirming that the answer is being sent. The notification will be shown beneath the Reviewer field:

Answer Types Based on Status

Safari generates answer types based on the ANSI X9.129 electronic levy standard. The table below outlines the answer types for different statuses in Safari:

Safari Status	Answer Type
Closed - No Debtor	No Customer
Closed - No Account	No Accounts Found
Closed - No Funds	No Funds Available
Closed - Funds Exempt	Fund Exempt
Closed - Accounts Closed	Accounts Closed
Closed - Customer Deceased	Customer Deceased
Closed - Account Not Attachable	Account Not Attachable
Changing status from To Do - Seize Funds to To Do - Send Payment	Funds Held
Closed - Funds Released	N/A (standard does not require an answer)
Closed - Funds Paid	N/A (standard does not require an answer)

If auto-answer is enabled for the matter (as described below), changing the status as indicated will trigger Safari to automatically generate and send the answer.

Sample Answer

To view a sample of the auto-generated answer, download the Answer Sample available at the bottom of this page.

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