Legal Question in Appeals and Writs in Pennsylvania

Depending on what the judgment is for, there generally is no wage garnishment unless the judgment was for back rent or child support. If the person has less than $300 in the bank, you can't levy on bank accounts. As a practical matter, if the person has a house or a car with a lien, you cannot get that either.

The judgment is good for 5 years and earns interest at a rate of 6% per year. To keep the judgment alive, you have to renew it after 5 years if you want to be able to collect out of real property. Judgments on personal property (like cars, boats, planes, RVs, ATVs and motorcycles) is good for 20 years.

Some people just don't have anything and will never have anything. If that is the case, the debtors are called "judgment proof." If that has happened to you, there is not much you can do to collect other than harass them and hope they pay other than do a Tony Soprano on them, which I do not advise.

I represent debtors, not creditors. I suggest that you see an attorney who specializes in the collection of debts (there are tons of them in the eastern part of PA) in the county where the judgment debtor resides and see what the judgment is worth and how much it will cost the attorney to try to collect on the judgment for you.