Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

I'm so sorry to hear about your ordeal. But I have some encouraging news for you.

A judgment entered in 2008 is still valid. You will need to renew it before its tenth anniversary, which could be just a few months from now. If you miss that deadline, you will no longer be able to enforce the judgment. You can renew it yourself, but for a judgment of this size and with time potentially running out, you should probably hire a lawyer to do it for you.

You should also speak with an attorney about actually enforcing the judgment. That could be easy or difficult, depending on specifics. You're more than welcome to contact me directly if you'd like, but it will probably make more sense to look for someone in or near Contra Costa county.

Good luck.

Yes, there ARE actions that you can take to collect including recording an abstract of judgment to create a lien against their real property, performing a judgment debtor examination, levying on any bank accounts, etc. You can do this on your own or hire an attorney on a contingency fee basis or use a collection agency.

Also, a judgment is only valid for 10 years. You CAN renew it BEFORE the end of the 10 years.

Best.

Caleb

:)

J. Caleb Donner

DONNER & DONNER

910 Hampshire Road, Suite R

Westlake Village, CA 91361

Tel: (805) 496-0500

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This reply constitutes legal information for education purposes and does NOT constitute legal advice nor establish an attorney-client relationship. We will only represent you based on a written retainer agreement. Therefore, you should contact this office to discuss representation if you do want legal advice/representation.

A money judgment is generally valid for 10 years. (CCP 683.020.) If you are going to pursue enforcement of your judgment, it is VERY important that you get the judgment renewed by the court prior to its expiration in August 2018. If you would like assistance or even would like to just further discuss it, feel free to call me at 805-659-6800. (I am based in LA now but I am from Walnut Creek originally and I still have clients up there...) This is me: https://www.fcoplaw.com/attorneys/joshua-hopstone/ . Anyway, good luck!

Yes, as everyone has said, your Judgement is still good, and needs to be renewed before 10 years. Many attorneys will enforce judgements on a contingency basis, meaning their fee is a percentage of what they collect for you.

As mentioned by other counsel, you should obtain and record an abstract of your judgment. You should also renew the judgment so it doesn't expire. You should do that before its tenth anniversary.

You should also hire an investigator to perform asset search on the judgment debtors.

You can attach their assets, levy on their bank accounts, force foreclosure of thief house provided there is sufficient equity, etc.

Many lawyers may take this type of case on a contingency. If I were you, I'd start calling lawyers now.

Take care,

Armen Tashjian

888-9ENFORCER