Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

Re: Recovering a judgement from an out-of-state party

Step One: Establish where the defendant lives; that governs the county in which you will file.

Step Two: Obtain a "transcript of judgment" from the court that rendered the decision in your favor. Have the judgment "exemplified" by the court (this is a special kind of three-step certification under which the clerk of the court certifies the copy of the transcript; then a judge certifies that the clerk really is the clerk of the court; and then the clerk certifies that the judge really is a judge).

Step Three: Bring the exemplified judgment to the clerk of the county in which the deadbeat lives and have it "docketed." The fee for this is fifty cents outside the City of New York, and $35.00 within the five boros.

At this point, you will have a judgment filed in New York. Keep in mind that there might be a judgment recorded by the credit reporting agencies already, but they might not link the existing judgment to the deadbeat, especially if the debtor's social security number is not linked to the judgment. You could also have enforcement proceedings issued against the debtor, including sending information subpoenas to every bank in the area. You would do well to ask the Clerk of the Court when you docket the transcript about the court issuing these subpoenas. (Only an attorney for a judgment creditor or the court can issue subpoenas.)