By Jason Botelho, Associate
Ok, so you decided to commence a claim for monetary damages and after some hard work by either yourself or your lawyer, you win and you get judgment; congrats! Now, while you may think that the cheque will arrive any day, the truth of the matter is that you may be waiting quite some time before you receive a penny. Unless the person you sued has assets, or you are a secured creditor, it may be that the satisfaction of the judgment may never come to fruition. Don’t despair though, there are steps that you can take that may increase your recovery rate.
One option in enforcing a judgment is to file a “Writ of Seizure and Sale of Land”. This is done at the local Sheriff’s Office in the region where the debtor owns land, most likely in the jurisdiction where the debtor lives. These executions then attach to any property owned by the debtor in that particular region. This writ will cause problems for the debtor should the debtor attempt to sell or mortgage the land as the writ will show up on an execution search. The writ is effective for 6 years and can be renewed for a further 6 years indefinitely and, yes, there are fees associated with these filings and renewals.
What happens if the debtor has no property? Well that’s when things get a bit trickier and more costly. A judgment creditor does have the option of bringing the debtor to a judgment debtor exam in order to question them about his/her assets and find out where he/she works and banks. This information is useful as it leads to another option for a judgment creditor - garnishment. This form of enforcement allows the judgment creditor to garnish bank accounts and wages to satisfy a judgement. Please note that there are some exemptions; not all sources of monies are subject to garnishment and there are limitations on the percentage an employer can deduct from a debtor’s wages for garnishment. It is best to speak to a lawyer to find out what can be garnished and by how much.
So, while you may think that obtaining judgment is the final chapter in your quest for recovery of money, the unfortunate reality is that it is not. The hard and fast truth is that a successful judgment is the end of one journey and the beginning of another.