Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: collection on an awarded judgement

Thanks for your posting. Your first step should be to find out if there is an insurance policy (i.e., homeowner's insurance), which might pay the judgment. If there is not, then you will want to place a lien against the property. You do that by filing an abstract of judgment with the county recorder's office, and then a notice of judicial lien which is recorded against the property. You also have the right to have a judgment debtor's examination, if you don't have any of the above information, or if you want to find out if there are other assets (bank accounts, wages, etc.), that can be garnished to satisfy your judgment. Best of luck, and please call at 1-877-568-2977 or email me if you have more detailed questions.

Re: collection on an awarded judgement

In California, judgments are valid for 10 years from the date they are "entered," and can be renewed for an additional 10 years. The first thing you should do is a record an Abstract of Judgment with the County Recorder's office in the county in which the defendant owns the property. An Abstract of Judgment will ensure that if the defendant tries to sell the property, your judgment will be staisfied before the property is sold.

In addition, there are a number of methods you can use to collect on your judgment, including garnishing the defendant's wages, and seizing the defendant's bank accounts. While it would be impossible to explain each method in this reply, you can visit your local law library and look at a book by The Rutter Group called "California Practice Guide: Enforcing Judgments and Debts;" additionally, Nolo Press publishes a "self-help" guide on how to collect judgments. This book is relatively inexpensive, and would be of tremendous help to you.

Good luck.