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Case, Court and Financial Data Requirements

DAT File Error Correction Guide
Case, Court and Financial Data Requirements

Case Number Requirements

Description

Case information errors occur when case numbers are inconsistent or placed in the wrong field.

Correction Requirements

  • Case number must be present.
  • Case numbers must match the court-issued garnishment.
  • Case numbers must not contain hyphens or spaces within value.
  • Party records must be connected to the correct case number.

Correct Case Number Example

Field

Correct Example

Case Number

17008570NO

Incorrect Case Number Examples

Incorrect Example

Reason

Corrected Example

Case Number is blank

Missing required case number

17008570CZ

2026-CV-001234

Hyphens are invalid

2026CV001234

Court Detail Requirements

Description

Court detail errors occur when court type, court codes or court zip codes are missing or invalid.

Correction Requirements

  • Court Type code must be valid.
  • Court Code must be valid and match the approved 2026 Court Code list.
  • Court Zip Code must match the official 2026 Court Code list.
  • No hyphens within value; Use space to separate court number from single-digit branch number.

Correct Court Examples

Field

Values

Correct Example

Court Type

C = Circuit, D = District, M = Municipal P = Probate

C

Court Code

No hyphens; Use space to separate court number from single-digit branch number.

67 4

Court Zip Code

First five digits only

48842

Incorrect Court Examples

Incorrect Example

Reason

Corrected Example

Court Code is blank

Missing required court code

45B

Court Code: COUNTY CIVIL COURT

Text used where code is required

08 1

Zip Code: 25

Incorrect length 5 digits required

48042

Court Type: Municipal

Description used instead of code

M

Court Type: B

Bankruptcy Garnishment invalid

Must file via paper

Debt Amount Requirements

Description

Debt amount errors occur when monetary fields are missing, contain invalid punctuation, include negative signs where prohibited, use decimals incorrectly, or fail numeric formatting per EDP Layout.

Correction Requirements

  • Debt amount must be numeric.
  • Dollar signs, commas, decimals and spaces are not allowed.
  • Amount must include implied or explicit cents as specified.
  • Negative amounts are invalid
  • Value must be greater than 10
  • Amount fields must be right-justified and zero-filled in

Correct Debt Amount Examples

Amount Meaning

Correct Example

$1,234.56 with implied cents

00000123456

$100.00 with implied cents

00000010000

Incorrect Judgment Amount Examples

Incorrect Example

Reason

Corrected Example

$1,234.56

Contains dollar sign, comma, and decimal

00000123456

1,234.56

Contains comma and decimal if cents required

00000123456

1234.56

Decimal invalid if cents required

00000123456

00000000556

Value must be greater than 10.00

Invalid Amount

100 00

Contains space

00000010000

Judgment Date Requirements

Description

Judgment date errors occur when date fields are blank, invalid, in the wrong format, outside acceptable ranges, or inconsistent with case dates.

Correction Requirements

  • Judgment date must be present
  • Date must be formatted to the required EDP specifications, CCYYMMDD.
  • Judgment date cannot be in the future (20361201)
  • Date fields must not contain slashes, hyphens, spaces, or text.

Correct Date Examples

Date Meaning

Correct Example

August 11, 2026

20260811

January 5, 2026

20260105

December 31, 2025

20251231

Incorrect Date Examples

Incorrect Example

Reason

Corrected Example

08/11/2026

Wrong format

20260811

2026-08-11

Hyphens not allowed

20260811

08112026

Wrong order if YYYYMMDD required

20260811

2026081

Only 7 digits

20260801 or valid 8-digit date

AUG112026

Contains letters

20260811