Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Greetings, you do not provide enough information for ANYONE to give you a responsive answer. We need to know many more details than are here such as: is there a promissory note? is it real estate or secured with some other property? was the transaction completed in the US or elseswhere plus more. One questions that can be answered now with limited applicability is that you can not just "file a judgment" no matter where you are really. You would have to sue the person in the court that has jursidiction and obtain a judgment - it is not automatic. If this is a US based transaction and there is security for the investment , you must first seize or foreclose on that security before you do anything else. This is very complicated and with the scant information you have provided and amount of money owed to you, I would recommend asking the question again with far more detail and if you pay for the question you can have a you questions and answers go beyond one reply with the attorney who responds. I am happy to respond as a paid question as I know CA law as well US federal law and Tahitian law (believe it or not) but you will have to directly name me as the attorney to reply on the choices that lawguru gives you to pick an attorney - otherwise it may go out to several attorneys who do not have this strange combo of knowledge of law. My name is below and you can follow the instructions to repost with the question going to only me if you choose. It is rare you will find an attorney with this dual know how anywhere.

Best wishes

You probably mean "file a lawsuit." A judgment is a document signed by a judge during or after a lawsuit, and embodying the decision of the judge (sometimes with the guidance of a jury). There are occasions where the parties to a lawsuit will settle it by agreeing to a judgment, to be entered (filed) immediately or upon a party's failure to carry out the settlement - but even so, the lawsuit and the judge are necessary elements.

Your biggest legal issue here is probably going to be deciding where the lawsuit should be initiated, and how you will carry out service of process on the defendant.

If the deal was made here in Long Beach, sue him here in Long Beach. If you really can't find him, you might be able to serve him by publishing a notice in the newspaper, if you can prove you have tried all other ways to find him.