The Court of Appeals addressed 2 issues. 1) Where the Wisconsin Department of Revenue had docketed tax liens but had not commenced a garnishment action, was the DOR entitled to capture proceeds from the sale of real estate? Answered - Yes. 2) Where the property was held as a tenancy in common and only one debtor owed the taxes, and where the sale proceeds were first used to pay jointly held debt and with the remainder distributed to the owners, was the DOR nonetheless able to capture a proportionate share of ALL of the proceeds including those used to pay joint debt? Answered - Yes.
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¶19 The Intervenors next argue that, even if the final land contract payment is subject to garnishment, the garnishable amount is limited to one-fourth of the final payment. They observe that WIS. STAT. § 812.01(1) allows a creditor to garnish property “in [the garnishee’s] possession or under his or her controlbelonging to such creditor’s debtor[.]” They argue the property in Van De Hey’s possession that belongs to Vandenberg is limited to one-fourth of the final land contract payment, or $28,475. They essentially assert the circuit court employed an inconsistent analysis by treating the land contract payments as divisible for purposes of concluding the final payment is garnishable, but then treating the payments as indivisible for purposes of calculating the garnishable amount. ¶20 We conclude, as a matter of law, that the circuit court correctly interpreted the land contract and properly applied WIS. STAT. § 700.21(1). Under the plain language of the land contract, the full contract price is payable to all four covendors. However, by operation of § 700.21(1), the contract price is divided between the covendors according to their respective interests in the Brown County property. Contrary to the Intervenors’ assertion, the individual payments are not subdivided; only the full contract price is subdivided. Under § 700.21(1), Vandenberg has a property right to one-fourth of the full contract price, or $85,425. Accordingly, that is the garnishable amount.
