ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS

When a plaintiff wins in court, thereby obtaining a judicial order to the defendant to pay the plaintiff money damages, more often than not there is more to be done before compensation can be obtained. This is also known as the enforcement of that judgment. While obtaining a favorable judicial order may be a necessary step in this process, it is not necessary the end of the process. Courts will not assist you in enforcing a judgment; rather, you must do it yourself, or retain an attorney that can.

In California, a person that obtains a judgment has ten years to enforce it. However, judgments can be renewed under certain circumstances, provided that the person that obtained the judgment follows the appropriate procedures.

There are a number of ways to enforce a judgment, many of which are based on locating assets of the debtor (the person whom the judgment was against) and levying on those assets in order to satisfy the outstanding judgment. Of course, debtors that do not pay are often caught in a web of debt themselves, and issues regarding priority of creditors, in addition to the attachment and levying of the assets themselves, can become very complex.

Speak with an attorney at Kenner Law Group to learn more about your collections options. If you have already taken the first major step toward compensation by obtaining a valid judgment, it is well worth the trouble of retaining our Diamond Bar lawyers to help you enforce that judgment.