Originally Posted by bjuice
hello. Judgements can work in a number of ways.
1st off you need to have the judgement recorded in the local county (RMC) register of deeds where the person lives. If you do not have it recorded there will be no record of it. a Judge only issues the judgement they do nbot enforce it, its your responsibility to have it recorded ( here locally its only 10.00 to record)..
Now here are a few ways a judgement can play out once you have it properly recorded.
1- depending on the county,there is a process called execution of judgement its carried out by the Sheriff's Department as a civil matter, the Sheriff's department researches the person for titled collateral,if its found a levy can be placed anaginst the property and auctioned off and of course your debt is staisfied by the proceeds..( we have this option here in S.C.)
2nd and MOST COMMON..is that when you have the judgement properly recorded it will ATTACH itself to any REAL PROPERTY ( realestate) the person may own..this means buying also.....the judgement will lay dormant until the person sells his property or refinances his mortgage etc...the judgement will then have to be paid in full and satisfied. and released by you then the property can be sold, refinanced etc...
caution:...If you do not have the Judgement recorded and it made part of the PUBLIC record it will be useless...
hope this helps you.
I spent 10 years handling this crap for a large bank here in Northeast Ohio. Each state has different regulations on how judgments can be filed and acted upon. All the info bjuice gave out is very good but is also state dependent. The best thing for you to do is to google collection agencies. Find a reputable agency. They will charge you a percentage of what they can collect. You might find that you can hit bank accounts or get a garnishment in place now that you have a judgment.
The other great thing about the judgment being in place is it will now start to report to the bastard's credit bureaus. His score is going to drop significantly and lenders are going to start to question him. If the judgment can land you a lien on the property and you are in a 2nd lien position, most lenders will force this paid off as they will not take anything less then a 2nd lien when doing a home equity/2nd mortgage product.