If you are the winning party, the judgment entered by the court is a legal determination
that another person owes you a certain sum of money, and court costs. The court may
order the judgment to be paid in full or in specified installments. COLLECTING THE
JUDGMENT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. Your judgment may be valid for twenty (20)
years. The length of time it will take to collect will depend upon both your diligence and
the debtor’s ability to pay. If payments are made to the clerk’s office, NEITHER THAT
OFFICE NOR THE COURT WILL MONITOR PAYMENTS, BUT YOU MAY CALL the
clerk’s office to ask about payments.
Your judgment will also become a judgment lien on any real property owned by the
debtor in this county now or in the future. For your judgment to be a lien on real
property in another county in this state, a certified copy of the judgment must be
recorded in that county. The judgment lien has a life of ten (10) years.
There are legal remedies available to help the Creditor (the party to whom the money is
owed) enforce the judgment. Pursuing these options and the Debtor, however, is your
responsibility.
The first step is filing a Proceedings Supplemental. Proceeding Supplemental forms are
available at the Justice Center in the Self Help Legal Center and on the County Clerk’s
and Courts’ websites. When a Proceedings Supplemental is filed, the debtor is ordered
to appear in court and answer questions under oath about his or her ability to pay based
upon income, assets, liabilities, family size, etc. If you know that the debtor has a job and
know the address of his or her employer, you may ask the clerk to issue
Interrogatories to the employer when you file the Proceeding Supplemental. The
court can determine from the answers to the Interrogatories whether the debtor has
wages which can be garnished. At the hearing the Judge may order any of the following:
The Defendant to pay the judgment in full or in installments (the installments may
be modified at any time in the future);
The Defendant to supply the court with current information regarding
employment status and address;
The Defendant to reappear sometime in the future to provide additional
information;
A garnishment of the debtor’s earnings (if the Interrogatories have been
returned);
And execution against the debtor’s personal property.
If at any time in the future the debtor fails to follow a court order or if you have reason