Of course, winning a judgment for money is not the same thing as having the money itself. The judgment is the Court?s decision that you are owed a certain sum of money. Often the person you got the judgment against, the judgment debtor, will promptly satisfy the judgment by paying you. After all, credit bureaus keep track of such judgments, and so a judgment debtor who wants a clear credit record is eager to pay off all judgments.
But sometimes the judgment debtor will refuse to pay. If this happens, there are a few steps you, the judgment creditor, can take to turn the judgment into money.
1. The Judgment Lien
As soon as the judgment is filed at the courthouse the Clerk of Court enters it in the Lien Index for that county. When this happens, the judgment debtor becomes unable to sell any real estate the debtor then owns or later acquires in that county without first paying off the judgment. This restriction on the judgment debtor?s ability to sell his or her real estate lasts 10 years from entry of the judgment. Click here for more information on how long judgments and judgment liens last. If the debtor owns real estate in some other Iowa county, a special copy of the judgment is used. The special copy bears the seal of the court and is called an ?attested copy.? It can be filed in the appropriate county courthouse. The ?attested copy? will create a judgment lien on the debtor?s property in that county.
2. Execution on Personal Property, Bank Accounts or Wages
Although the judgment lien may eventually result in payment, it is not necessary for a judgment creditor to sit and wait for a real estate transfer to occur in order to be paid. The judgment creditor may ask the Clerk of Court to issue an ?execution? as soon as a judgment has been obtained. An ?execution? tells the sheriff to take steps to get the money from the judgment debtor. These steps include taking certain items of the judgment debtor?s property and selling them, taking possession of the debtor?s bank accounts, and garnishing part of the debtor?s wages. Money collected by the Sheriff from the judgment debtor will be used to pay the court costs and Sheriff?s fees involved in these collection procedures. But, if no money is collected from the judgment debtor, the person requesting collection, the judgment creditor, will get stuck paying such fees and costs. So you may want to think twice before starting execution procedures against someone who appears to be quite poor.
To get the execution process started, go to the Clerk of Court and explain that you won a judgment and you want an execution to issue to the Sheriff. The Clerk will give you a Direction to Sheriff or a Dictation to Sheriff form. It is on this form that you will be providing the Sheriff with the information necessary to collect on the judgment. If at all possible, you should have certain information ready to put on this form. Some of the details that would be helpful are listed below.
By giving such information to the Sheriff, the chances that the Sheriff will be prompt and successful in collecting on the judgment are greatly improved. Once a party obtains a judgment and wants to execute by garnishment, that party must serve a notice of garnishment on the person whose property is being garnished. This notice informs the garnished person that they have a right to ask the court to exempt property or reduce the garnishment. This notice gives the person who is garnished 10 days to file an objection and request a hearing in court. If no hearing is held or if the hearing is held and the objection is denied by a Judge, the person requesting the garnishment needs to file an Application to Condemn and Order Condemning Funds with the court. The Order Condemning funds simply allows the Sheriff to transfer the money received from the property to the Clerk of Court so the Clerk can transfer the money to you.
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