Judgment Liens
If a debt collection case is not settled during the course of a lawsuit, the lawsuit
results in a money judgment in your favor, and the debtor fails to pay the judgment in full, William R. Wohlsifer, PLLC, can pursue judgment enforcement and execution. Typically, the first step is to record the money judgment in the county, or counties where the judgment debtor owns real property or conducts business, to create a lien that can be executed or foreclosed upon in that county.
The judgment lien has a 10-year life and can be renewed for an additional 10-year period, thus 20 years total. The money judgment can also be docketed with the Florida Secretary of State in the form of a Judgment Lien Certificate to create a lien that attaches to the debtor’s personal property located anywhere in the State of Florida.
Judgment Enforcement
Our office utilizes various remedies to enforce satisfaction of a judgment lien, including:
– Attachment and levy of personal property
– Garnishment of accounts receivable
– Garnishment of bank accounts
– Garnishment of wages
– Foreclosure of real property
Post-Judgment Discovery
After a money judgment is obtained, the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure allow for a broad scope of investigation to identify the judgment debtor’s assets to assist the judgment creditor in judgment execution. When appropriate and pre-approved by the client, William R. Wohlsifer, PLLC, may conduct comprehensive electronic asset and skip trace searches to locate or identify real property, personal property (vehicles, boats), business ownership, other judgment liens, bank accounts, brokerage accounts and other assets and liabilities of the judgment debtor that may be reached to satisfy your unpaid judgment.
Florida’s Rules of Civil Procedure require mandatory disclosure by the judgment debtor to the judgment creditor of an individual debtor, a debtor corporation, or other business entity’s complete financial profile. The failure to cooperate with a properly executed demand for mandatory post-judgment disclosure can ultimately result in a finding of contempt of court, which can result in incarceration of an individual debtor or a court-imposed civil penalty (a monetary fine) against a business entity. We are aware that sometimes, unfortunately, it requires the threat of incarceration, actual incarceration, or civil penalties before the judgment debtor realizes that there and/or can be consequences for ignoring his, her, or its obligation to their creditor and orders of the court.
Florida’s post-judgment discovery has been a useful tool for William R. Wohlsifer, PLLC, for pursuing judgment enforcement and execution.
If you are in need of post-judgment recovery in Florida, please do not hesitate to call our office at Please contact us for a free telephone or email review of your case at (727) 378-3657 or [email protected]. Research shows that the sooner a post-judgment collection process is engaged, the more likely debt recovery will be.