18 How Do I Enforce My Judgment?

Emma’s elation, indeed her exuberant joy, over the jury’s favorable verdict had quickly turned to confusion in the hours and days that followed it. Emma’s attorney had instead taken their trial win in stride, recognizing that it was only the next step, even if a big and good step, in their lawsuit’s proceedings. For her part, Emma had thought that things would quickly happen on their own right after the jury verdict. Instead, Emma began to see how much more work her attorney had to do in order to turn the jury verdict into something practically meaningful. Indeed, Emma could see that her attorney wasn’t even sure that anything practical would in fact result. Until then, the attorney had work to do. Emma only hoped that the post-trial work would produce meaningful results.

Judgments

Getting a judgment in your favor, whether by jury verdict or after a bench trial, is great. Judgments determine rights and thus vindicate claims. But a judgment is little more than a court paper. A judgment doesn’t necessarily accomplish the things that you set about to achieve in your lawsuit. The judgment you obtained doesn’t, for instance, put any money in your bank account. Nor does it pay any bills you have arising out of the losses you claimed in the lawsuit. If your lawsuit was for divorce, the judgment does terminate the marriage. You are now single and free to remarry. But as far as other rights and interests go, a judgment simply declares those rights and interests without necessarily carrying them into effect. You, others, or both you and others generally need to do things that the judgment determines or directs, in order to give it effect. 

Recording

The recording of a judgment is one example of carrying a judgment into effect. Some lawsuits determine rights and interests in land. In those instances, the result of the lawsuit may need to be the recording of a deed, easement, or similar interest, or discharge of a mortgage or similar claim, in the county’s real-property records. With real property, you don’t own it unless the register of deeds reflects it. If your lawsuit resulted in a judgment changing interests in land, you and the opposing party should cooperate in executing deeds, discharges, or other recordable documents to carry the judgment into effect. Your attorneys may help you do so. But sometimes, a party refuses or simply ignores the request. The party may never have even responded to the lawsuit. In that instance, the prevailing party’s attorney will generally prepare a recordable order or judgment for the judge’s signature. The register of deed may then record the order or judgment in the real-property records, accomplishing the lawsuit’s goal.

Titles

Your lawsuit may instead require carrying your judgment into effect as to the state-issued title of a motor vehicle, boat, airplane, or other personal property, or the discharge of a lien on that title. You may, for instance, need a new title in your own name, to replace one that had a former spouse, business partner, deceased relative, or prior owner on it. In that case, you or your attorney may prepare an order or judgment for the judge to sign, directing the state official to re-issue your title in the corrected form that your lawsuit determined. Your attorney will know, or you or your attorney can investigate and confirm, the form of order or judgment that the state office may require to issue the new title. Don’t just leave your win as a judgment in the court files. Turn your judgment into the deed, title, or other official document you need to be able to own and control the property that you won in your lawsuit.

Enforcement

Some judgments, though, require the opposing party to act. You may, for instance, have won a judgment requiring your opposing party to pay you substantial sums, return your personal property, vacate a premises, or stop using your tradename. Often, the opposing party will do as the judgment determined, with little or no prodding. But in some cases, the opposing party will simply ignore the judgment. After all, they have already ignored your legal rights. And they may not have even appeared to answer your lawsuit. In that instance, you’ll need to take appropriate action to enforce your judgment. Enforcing a judgment requires invoking post-judgment procedures. The same court in which you won the judgment generally has powers to help you enforce the judgment. Judges rightly expect parties to carry out their judgments. While judges and courts don’t have their own police powers, they do have authority to invoke the police powers of the executive branch. You may be able to invoke that authority to make your opposing party do as your judgment ordered. It may just take some work. 

Representation

Enforcing a judgment can be just as technical and complex as filing your lawsuit and winning your judgment. No magic wand appears along with the judgment. You have to know the law and rules for enforcing judgments. In the best case, the attorney whom you retained to pursue your lawsuit will also pursue the judgment’s enforcement. If your attorney has a contingency-fee interest in the judgment’s recovery, then your attorney will almost surely do so. Otherwise, you may need to address your retainer agreement with your attorney again, to ensure that you continue to have your attorney’s representation. Or you may need to retain new representation to enforce the judgment. Beware throwing good money after bad. If you find that you cannot enforce the judgment, such as because your opposing party is imprisoned, uncollectible, or has disappeared, then don’t waste time and resources trying to do so. 

Duration

When pursuing enforcement of your judgment, be aware of how long your judgment may last. States vary, but they typically have a statute of limitation on the enforcement of civil judgments. You may, for instance, have ten years within which you can take action to enforce your judgment. Some states permit a prevailing party to renew a judgment for another ten years or similar period, if doing so before the judgment expires. Plan accordingly, if for instance your opposing party is temporarily unemployed, away, or imprisoned but may some day regain employment, win the lottery, or otherwise become responsible and collectible. 

Motion

One way to get an opposing party to do something that the judgment requires is to file a motion with the court, requesting that the court enforce its judgment by ordering the specific action you need. Appreciate the irony, though, of a motion to enforce a judgment. The judgment is already a court order for the party to do as the judgment directs. In that vein, seeking another order makes little sense. But sometimes, judgments are insufficiently specific, and an opposing party may quibble over whether the judgment requires the action you need to carry it into effect. In that instance, your motion to enforce the judgment may make the best sense. The opposing party may contest the motion at the motion hearing, where the judge should rule consistent with the judgment, you hope in the specific way that you request. With a clarified order from the judge, you’d hope that your opposing party would then do as the judge ordered. 

Contempt

Judges do hold contempt powers to impose sanctions against parties who disobey the judge’s orders. Contempt sanctions are not generally available for money judgments. Courts won’t generally incarcerate individuals for being uncollectible, as if in debtor’s prison. But if your opposing party clearly violates the judgment that your lawsuit won, not simply in failing to pay the judgment but instead in doing something that the judgment prohibited, then your motion to enforce may include a request for an order to show cause why the court should not hold the opposing party in contempt. Contempt proceedings to enforce a judgment typically involve that two-step process of first obtaining an order to show cause, serving it on the opposing party, and then asking for a contempt sanction if the opposing party does not comply and has no good reason for failing to do so. Given that contempt sanctions can include fines and jail time, seeking an order to show cause can be an effective means of enforcing a judgment. Get your attorney’s help pursuing that course. 

Garnishment

When enforcing a judgment, though, the best remedies can be those that allow for a certain kind of self-help or help through others. If the judgment you seek to enforce requires the opposing party to pay you money, then a garnishment may be your answer. A garnishment is an order to a non-party to pay over to the party obtaining the garnishment, amounts the non-party owes to the party suffering the enforcement action. Garnishing an employee’s wages is one example, while garnishing a party’s bank account is another example. If you know where your opposing party works or banks, you may wish to obtain a garnishment writ from the court and serve it on the employer or bank. The employer will then pay a portion of the wages, and the bank may pay over the account, to satisfy your judgment, unless the opposing party objects to the garnishment and the judge rules at a hearing not to enforce it. Garnishments are powerful and generally effective means of enforcing a money judgment. 

Insurance

If the party owing a money judgment has liability insurance to pay the amount owed, you should expect the insurer to make reasonably prompt arrangements for payment. Ordering the check and arranging its exchange for a satisfaction of judgment or order of dismissal may take some time, as much as a month or two, and may require your attorney’s preparation and exchange of various documents. Be patient, but not too patient. If the insurer unreasonably delays or refuses, you may seek to enforce the judgment by garnishment or other means, which may trigger or hasten the insurer’s payment. The insured opposing party and that party’s attorney will be your ally in pressuring the insurer to pay. Otherwise, the insured opposing party will still owe the judgment and may face your enforcement action personally. 

Execution

Attachment and execution is another means of enforcing a money judgment. If you know of non-exempt property that your opposing party owns, you may obtain from the court a writ of attachment, under which the sheriff or another official may seize the property, or execute on it, to sell the property to apply the proceeds toward payment of the judgment. Exemptions protect the opposing party’s home, clothing, tools, transportation, and other essentials up to certain values. But if the opposing party has boats or other valuable recreational items, collections, lands, or other assets of significant value, you may find that attachment and execution are a means of collecting on your money judgment. If nothing else, the threat of attachment may cause your opposing party to pay the judgment or negotiate with you for installment payments. 

Installments

As just mentioned, installment payments may be an appropriate option for a party to pay an uninsured money judgment that the party lacks the funds to pay all at once. Indeed, state law may permit the party owing a money judgment to apply to the court to make installment payments rather than suffer garnishment of wages or bank accounts, or execution on property. The judgment debtor may, in other words, be able to force the party owed the judgment to accept installment payments. If, though, the judgment debtor misses an installment, the judgment creditor may be able to resume with garnishment and execution. Consider seeking installment payments if you owe an unaffordable judgment. 

Liens

Judgment liens may be another attractive enforcement option for the judgment you won in your lawsuit. If you instead suffered a judgment, beware a judgment lien. A lien is a claim against a property or obligation, preventing the property’s transfer or obligation’s satisfaction without extinguishing the lien. If, for instance, you obtain a money judgment against your opposing party requiring the party to pay for land that you sold the opposing party, you might record the judgment as a lien against the land. The opposing party would then not be able to sell the property without applying the proceeds to pay off your judgment and extinguish the lien. Buyers don’t buy property subject to liens. Your lien would prevent a sale unless the seller pays off the lien in the course of the sale. Consider a judgment lien as a way to ensure that your opposing party pays the judgment, if not right away then in time.

Discovery

You may not know where your opposing party works to garnish that party’s wages, where your opposing party banks to garnish accounts, or what other income or assets your opposing party owns on which you may execute your judgment. If not, then you may wish to undertake discovery of your opposing party’s assets. Judgment creditors generally have a right to discover a judgment debtor’s income and assets. Your attorney may, for instance, obtain an order and serve a subpoena for a judgment debtor’s examination. A judgment debtor’s exam is in effect a deposition under oath in which your opposing party owing the judgment must disclose assets and income in answer to your attorney’s questions. You may also use subpoenas and requests to get information from employers, banks, and others who may owe your opposing party payments, hold your opposing party’s accounts, or control other property belonging to your opposing party on which you may execute your judgment. If instead you owe a money judgment, know that your opposing party can discover your income and assets, whether through you or through others.

Satisfaction

The goal of the enforcement of a judgment is its satisfaction. When a party makes a partial payment to reduce a money judgment, the judgment creditor should file with the court a partial satisfaction of the judgment, reflecting the payment. If a party pays a money judgment in full, the judgment creditor should file with the court a full satisfaction of the judgment, so that the world will know that the debtor no longer owes the judgment. In effect, the party owing the judgment exchanges the payment on the judgment for the satisfaction document, for the party owing the judgment and making the payment to file with the court. The exchange of the payment for the satisfaction document ensures that the judgment debtor has an official record of the debtor’s payment.

Reflection

Do you anticipate difficulty enforcing your judgment? Has your attorney agreed to represent  you in enforcing your judgment? If so, do you understand the retainer and payment terms? Do you know where your opposing party works? Do you know where your opposing party banks? Do you know of other obligations that others owe your opposing party? Does your opposing party own non-exempt items of substantial value on which you might execute? Would having a judgment debtor’s examination of your opposing party help you discover income and assets to pay your judgment? Does your opposing party own land or some other asset related to the lawsuit, on which you can record a lien to secure payment of your judgment? Is your opposing party likely to be sensitive and responsive to a court order enforcing the judgment, if you were to file a motion to enforce? Is your opposing party likely to seek installment payments in lieu of garnishment or execution? 

Key Points

• Judgments are not self-executing but can instead require enforcement.

• Recording a judgment may take the place of a new deed to lands.

• The judgment may induce public officials to issue corrected titles.

• You have several other options for enforcing a money judgment.

• Ensure that you have qualified legal representation for enforcement.

• A judgment lasts for a certain period like ten years or more if renewed.

• Filing a motion with the court to enforce the judgment may help.

• Judges may hold parties in contempt of court for violating judgments.

• A judgment creditor may have a right to discover the debtor’s interests.

• Garnishing wages and bank accounts may be effective enforcement.

• Attaching and executing on property may be effective enforcement.

• Judgment debtors may have a right to make installment payments.

• A judgment lien against involved property may induce payment.

Read Chapter 19.