How to collect your monetary judgment.

Winning a money judgment doesn't mean you will get paid right away, sometimes the debtor cannot or will not pay. This is when you will need to enforce your judgment. State laws govern Judgment enforcement. Although the court does not collect the money for you, it issues orders indicating that you must collect from the debtor. There are several options for collecting a judgment in California including, levy a bank account, garnish wages, perform a till tap levy, seize personal property, real estate lien, or action a keeper levy.

Income and Asset assessment

The first step is to research what income or assets the judgment debtor has that could be used to pay your judgment. In order to collect your judgment, the debtor needs to have something to collect from. The court can allow you to request an examination of the debtor's income and assets. Although some debtors are unable to pay their debts because they are insolvent or do not have the assets to collect, lawyers call this judgment proof. If you do find out that the debtor has assets that can be used to satisfy the judgment, you can then follow the legal steps to collect your judgment from those assets.

Bank Levy

Seizing money from the debtor’s bank account is known as a bank levy. You need to have details of the debtor’s bank account, account name, and the name of the bank for a successful cash transfer.

Wage Garnishment

Garnishing someone's wages is another option. If the debtor is not a federal employee and self-employed with pay above the poverty line, you can intercept up to 25% of the debtor's wages.

Till Tap Levy

A till tap occurs when the officer visits a business and gathers all cash and checks in the register

Seizure of Personal Property

Personal property such as jewelry, art, antiques, and other valuables can also be seized through a lien, this is known as a Personal Property Lien. Personal Property Liens are filed through the California Secretary of State.

Real Estate Lien

A real estate lien is satisfied if the judgment debtor sells or refinances their property (house, condo, land, or similar kind of property interest) and if there is enough equity in the property and it doesn't qualify for exemptions.

Keeper Levy

The final option is to issue a Keeper Levy which sends a sheriff’s deputy to a business for 4 to 8 hours in order to collect all cash and checks paid to the business. For a fee, the sheriff will stay at the debtor’s business and take all incoming funds until the court judgment is paid.