Winning in court gets you a piece of paper saying the defendant owes you money. Enforcing a court judgment — actually turning that paper into cash — is a separate job, and it falls on you as the judgment creditor. The court will not collect for you. What it will do is issue the orders that let you garnish wages, freeze bank accounts, place liens on real estate, and have the sheriff seize personal property. Each tool takes its own filing, its own fee, and a working knowledge of what the debtor actually owns.
Find the Assets Before You File Anything
No enforcement tool works if you can’t point it at something. The strongest asset-discovery method is a debtor’s examination, sometimes called a judgment debtor exam or supplementary proceeding. You ask the court to order the debtor to appear and answer questions under oath about their income, bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, and other property. If they don’t show up, the judge can issue a bench warrant.
At the exam you can ask for employer names and pay schedules, account numbers at specific banks, and whether the debtor recently transferred property to a spouse or relative. Evasive answers or refusal to cooperate can bring contempt sanctions, including fines and jail time until the debtor complies.
Public records fill in the rest. County recorder offices show real estate ownership; secretary of state filings reveal business interests. You need the debtor’s full legal name and current address at minimum. For most consumer judgments, a thorough exam plus basic records searching gives you enough to move.
Garnish Wages if the Debtor Has a Job
If the debtor draws a regular paycheck, wage garnishment is often the most reliable route. A court order directs the employer to withhold part of each check and send it to you. The employer has no choice once properly served, and the garnishment continues automatically until the judgment is paid.
Federal law caps how much you can take. Under the Consumer Credit Protection Act, garnishment on ordinary debts is limited to the lesser of 25% of the debtor’s disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly pay exceeds $217.50, which is 30 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment Disposable earnings means take-home pay after mandatory deductions like taxes and Social Security.
The limits are higher for support obligations. For child support or alimony orders, the cap jumps to 50% of disposable earnings if the debtor is supporting another spouse or child, and 60% if they’re not. Both figures climb another 5 points when the support order is more than 12 weeks overdue.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment Some states cap consumer-debt garnishment more tightly than federal law, so check local rules before filing.
Levy the Bank Account for Faster Cash
A bank levy lets you take money directly from the debtor’s account rather than waiting for paycheck installments. You file the paperwork, a levy order goes to the bank, and the bank freezes whatever balance sits in the account when the order arrives. After a holding period, those funds go to satisfy your judgment. A levy is generally a one-time snapshot; hitting the account again means a new levy.
Certain deposits are untouchable. Social Security benefits cannot be levied.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 407 – Assignment of Benefits The same protection extends to veterans’ benefits, federal disability payments, and certain pension deposits. Banks are required to review recent deposit histories and identify protected funds before releasing money. If the account mixes protected and unprotected deposits, the bank must segregate the exempt amounts. A debtor living entirely on Social Security will produce nothing from a levy no matter how big the judgment.
Put a Lien on Real Estate
A judgment lien is the patient tool. You record the judgment with the county recorder in any county where the debtor owns real estate, and the lien attaches to their holdings there. It doesn’t hand you cash, but it clouds the title. If the debtor sells or refinances, your lien is paid from the proceeds before they see any equity.
Liens also fix priority among creditors: first to file, first in line. Mortgages and property tax authorities almost always sit senior to your judgment lien, so check the title first to confirm enough equity remains behind those claims to make recording worthwhile.
You can push further and force a sale by obtaining a writ of execution and having the sheriff conduct a public auction. Every state protects some amount of home equity through homestead exemption laws, though, and that protected equity has to be carved out before you receive anything. If the home isn’t worth much more than the mortgage and the homestead combined, a forced sale can produce nothing while running up hundreds in fees. It can also push the debtor toward bankruptcy, which creates its own problems.
Seize Personal Property With a Writ of Execution
Taking physical control of belongings starts with a writ of execution. The court clerk issues it based on your judgment. You deliver the writ to the local sheriff or marshal with instructions identifying the property to seize and where to find it.3United States Courts. Instructions for Directors Form 2640 – Writ of Execution to the United States Marshal
The sheriff takes possession and arranges a public auction. Non-exempt items commonly seized include vehicles, boats, business equipment, and valuable personal property. Auction proceeds go to your judgment after service fees are deducted. Sheriff fees typically run $40 to $180 for labor, transport, and storage. Court filing fees for the writ itself run $15 to $350 depending on jurisdiction. You pay upfront, though many jurisdictions let you add these costs to the judgment balance.
From seizure to payout, expect 30 to 90 days. And used property sells at auction for a fraction of retail. A car worth $15,000 on a dealer lot might bring $6,000 at a sheriff’s sale. Do that math before ordering a seizure.
What You Cannot Reach: Exemptions
Every state protects certain categories of property from judgment creditors. The specifics vary sharply. Federal bankruptcy law provides a baseline exemption set that applies in some states; others have opted out and use their own schedules entirely.
Under the federal exemptions, a debtor can protect up to $31,575 of home equity, up to $5,025 in one motor vehicle, and up to $3,175 in tools and equipment needed for their livelihood.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 522 – Exemptions Those figures were last adjusted in April 2025 and are updated periodically for inflation.
State homestead exemptions vary most. Some states offer unlimited homestead protection, putting a primary residence completely off-limits regardless of value. Others provide none. Most protect a fixed dollar amount. If the debtor recently bought the home to shelter assets, federal law caps the homestead exemption at $214,000 for property acquired within roughly three and a half years before a bankruptcy filing.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 522 – Exemptions
Before spending money on writs and sheriff fees, verify what the debtor can legally shield. A debtor with a modest car, basic household goods, and a home holding little equity above the exemption can be effectively judgment-proof despite owing you a large sum.
If the Debtor and the Assets Are in Another State
Debtors don’t always keep assets where you won the case. To reach property in another state, you domesticate the judgment there. The Constitution’s Full Faith and Credit Clause requires every state to honor valid judgments from other states, so recognition itself cannot be denied.5Justia Law. Article IV – States Relations
Most states use a uniform procedure. You file a certified copy of the original judgment with the clerk of court in the county where the debtor lives or holds assets. The debtor receives notice and a chance to respond, but cannot relitigate the merits. Objections are limited to procedural issues like jurisdiction or expiration. Once entered locally, you use all the same enforcement tools you’d use at home. If the debtor has a bank account in one state, real estate in another, and wages in a third, expect to domesticate separately in each.
If the Debtor Files Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is the biggest disruption a debtor can trigger. The moment the petition is filed, an automatic stay takes effect and halts all collection activity. Garnishments stop. Levies freeze. Liens can’t be recorded. A creditor who knowingly continues enforcement after the stay attaches can be liable for actual damages, attorney fees, and potentially punitive damages.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
Not every judgment can be wiped out in bankruptcy. Federal law lists categories that survive a discharge. The ones that matter most for judgment creditors:
- Debts based on the debtor’s fraud, false pretenses, or a materially misleading financial statement
- Judgments for willful and malicious injury to you or your property
- Alimony, child support, and other domestic support obligations
- Judgments for death or personal injury caused by drunk driving
- Debts arising from embezzlement, larceny, or breach of fiduciary duty
If your judgment falls into one of these categories, you’ll need to file an adversary proceeding in the bankruptcy court to establish that the debt is non-dischargeable.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge The burden is on you. A judgment based on ordinary breach of contract or general negligence will likely be discharged.
Clawing Back Fraudulent Transfers
Some debtors try to move assets out of reach by transferring them to relatives, friends, or shell entities. Nearly every state has adopted some version of a uniform statute allowing creditors to reverse these transfers. The core rule: if the debtor gave property away, or sold it for far less than it was worth to a family member after the judgment was entered, you can ask the court to unwind the transaction.
Courts look for red flags. Transfers to close relatives or business partners, sales far below market value, and transactions made while the debtor was already facing a lawsuit all raise suspicion. You don’t always have to prove specific intent to cheat you. If the debtor was insolvent at the time and didn’t receive adequate value in return, that alone can be enough.
The remedy is either reversing the transfer or letting you levy against the property in the recipient’s hands. These cases require their own lawsuit, which adds cost and delay. Statutes of limitation run from the date of the transfer, so acting quickly matters.
Interest, Renewal, and the Deadline That Kills Judgments
A judgment is not a static number. Interest accrues from the date it’s entered. For federal court judgments, the rate is tied to the one-year Treasury yield for the week the judgment was entered, computed daily and compounded annually.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1961 – Interest State courts set their own rates by statute, and those vary widely, with some states fixing the rate in the range of 5% to 10% annually.
Judgments also expire. Most states give you roughly 10 years to enforce a judgment before it lapses, though some are longer and a few shorter. If collection isn’t complete when expiration approaches, you must file a renewal application before the deadline. Miss it, and the debt becomes legally uncollectible no matter how much is still owed. On renewal, the court recalculates the balance to include remaining principal plus all accrued interest.
Calendar the renewal deadline the day the judgment is entered, not when you start thinking about collection. A judgment accruing interest for nine years can be worth well more than the original award, and worth exactly nothing the day after it expires.
Weighing Costs Against Likely Recovery
Enforcement is not free. Court filing fees for writs and garnishment orders run $15 to $350. Sheriff or marshal fees for levies and seizures run $40 to $180. Assets in multiple counties or states mean paying those fees in each jurisdiction. Attorney fees are usually the largest expense, and contested proceedings such as fraudulent transfer suits or bankruptcy adversary actions can run into the thousands. Whether you can recover attorney fees from the debtor depends on your original contract or the statute under which you won. Some contracts shift fees to the losing party, and some states let creditors add reasonable enforcement expenses to the balance. Without those provisions, the fees stay on your side of the ledger.
A $5,000 judgment against someone with verifiable employment is worth pursuing through wage garnishment because the process is cheap and predictable. The same $5,000 against someone with no known income, a modest home in a high-exemption state, and an old car may cost more to enforce than you’ll ever recover. Evaluate the debtor’s asset picture honestly before committing to any strategy, and know that financial situations change. A judgment uncollectible today may be collectible in a few years, provided you’ve kept it alive.