💰 Won a Judgment But Can’t Collect? Here’s What to Do in 2025

A Step-by-Step Guide for Judgment Creditors Who Are Struggling to Get Paid — Including How to Find the Debtor, Discover Hidden Assets, and Use Every Legal Collection Tool Available

⚖️ Winning the Lawsuit Was the Easy Part

You went to court. You presented your case. The judge ruled in your favor. You have a judgment — a legal document that says the debtor owes you money. But now you’re discovering what every experienced litigator already knows: a judgment is just a piece of paper until you can actually collect on it. The court doesn’t collect the money for you. The debtor isn’t voluntarily writing you a check. And you’re wondering what you’re supposed to do next. This guide walks you through every option available to judgment creditors in 2025 — from finding the debtor to identifying their assets to using legal enforcement tools to get paid.

80%+ Of civil judgments are never fully collected

5–20 yrs Judgment enforcement period in most states (renewable)

📈 Interest accrues on unpaid judgments in every state

🚧 Why Judgments Are Hard to Collect

The American legal system is excellent at determining who owes what to whom. It is far less effective at actually transferring money from the debtor to the creditor. When you win a judgment, the court issues an order saying the debtor owes you a specific amount of money. But the court doesn’t seize assets, garnish wages, or force the debtor to pay. That’s your responsibility — and the tools available to you, while powerful, require knowledge, persistence, and often professional help to use effectively.

Several factors make judgment collection difficult. The debtor may have moved and you don’t know where they are. The debtor may not have obvious assets — no real estate in their name, no known employer, no visible income stream. The debtor may have assets but may be hiding them — transferring property to relatives, creating shell companies, keeping cash in undisclosed accounts. The debtor may be in a state with generous exemption laws that protect much of their property from seizure. Or the debtor may simply be uncooperative, ignoring your attempts to collect and forcing you to use increasingly aggressive legal tools.

The good news is that judgments don’t expire quickly. In most states, a judgment is enforceable for 5 to 20 years and can be renewed for additional periods. Interest continues to accrue on the unpaid balance. And the debtor’s circumstances can change — someone who is genuinely judgment-proof today may inherit money, start a new job, buy a house, or come into assets tomorrow. A judgment is a long-term asset, and patience combined with persistent monitoring often pays off.

💡 Key Insight: The most common reason judgments go uncollected isn’t that the debtor truly has no assets — it’s that the creditor doesn’t know how to find the assets or doesn’t know how to use the legal tools available. An experienced investigator can often locate assets that the creditor didn’t know existed, and an experienced collection attorney can deploy enforcement tools that turn a paper judgment into real money.

📋 First Steps After Getting Your Judgment

Before you can collect, you need to take several preliminary steps to ensure your judgment is properly recorded and enforceable.

Record the judgment as a lien. In most states, you can record an abstract of judgment with the county recorder’s office, which creates a lien against any real property the debtor owns in that county. This is one of the most important collection steps because it attaches to the property and must be satisfied before the debtor can sell or refinance. Record the lien in every county where the debtor may own property.
Obtain a writ of execution. A writ of execution is a court order that authorizes the sheriff or marshal to seize the debtor’s non-exempt assets and sell them to satisfy the judgment. In most jurisdictions, you need to apply to the court for a writ of execution, which is then delivered to the local sheriff or marshal for enforcement. Learn more in our writ of execution guide.
Send a demand letter. Before deploying aggressive collection tools, send the debtor a formal written demand for payment. Include the judgment amount, accrued interest, and a deadline for payment. Some debtors will pay or negotiate a payment plan when faced with a formal demand — especially if the letter comes from an attorney and makes clear that wage garnishment, bank levies, and property seizure are next.
Check the judgment interest rate. Every state sets a rate at which interest accrues on unpaid judgments. In some states, the rate is generous — 10% or more per year. This means your judgment is growing every day the debtor doesn’t pay. Calculate the current total including interest, as this is the amount you’re entitled to collect. See our judgment interest rates by state guide for specific rates.

🔍 Step 1: Find the Debtor

You can’t collect from someone you can’t find. If the debtor has moved, changed phone numbers, or disappeared since the lawsuit, your first task is locating them. This is where professional skip tracing becomes essential to the judgment collection process.

A professional skip trace will search property records, vehicle registrations, utility connections, court filings, business registrations, social media, and dozens of other data sources to determine the debtor’s current address and identify where they work. Without a current address, you can’t serve collection documents. Without employer information, you can’t garnish wages. Without property records, you can’t record liens. Skip tracing is the foundation that makes every other collection tool possible.

🏠 Current Address

Essential for serving collection documents, recording liens in the right county, sending the sheriff to levy assets, and conducting debtor examinations. A skip trace can identify the debtor’s current residence even if they’ve moved multiple times since the judgment was entered.

💼 Current Employer

Critical for wage garnishment — one of the most effective collection tools. A skip trace can identify the debtor’s current employer through database searches, professional license records, business filings, and social media research. Once you know where they work, you can garnish a portion of every paycheck.

🚗 Vehicle Information

Vehicles are seizable assets. A skip trace can identify vehicles registered in the debtor’s name, including make, model, year, and VIN. If the vehicle has equity (value exceeding any loan balance and applicable exemptions), it may be subject to levy and sale.

🏢 Business Interests

If the debtor owns or operates a business, that business may have receivables, equipment, inventory, or other assets that can be reached. A skip trace can identify business filings, DBA registrations, professional licenses, and other indicators of business ownership.

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🔎 Step 2: Discover the Debtor’s Assets

Once you know where the debtor is, you need to identify what they own. A judgment is only collectible against assets — and you need to know which specific assets exist before you can deploy collection tools against them.

💎 Types of Assets to Search For

🏠 Real Property

Homes, land, commercial property, investment properties, vacation homes, and any other real estate owned by the debtor. Property records are public and searchable through county recorder and assessor websites. Real property is the ideal target for a judgment lien because it’s impossible to hide, can’t be moved, and must eventually be sold or refinanced — at which point your lien gets paid. Search in every county and state where the debtor has lived or has connections.

💼 Employment Income

Regular wages and salary from an employer. Once you identify the debtor’s employer, you can serve a wage garnishment order that requires the employer to withhold a percentage of each paycheck and send it directly to you. Garnishment rates vary by state — see our wage garnishment laws by state guide for specific limits.

🚗 Vehicles

Cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, RVs, and other titled vehicles. Vehicle registrations are searchable through professional databases. If the vehicle has equity above the applicable exemption amount, it can be seized by the sheriff and sold at auction to satisfy the judgment.

🏢 Business Assets

Business equipment, inventory, accounts receivable, intellectual property, and business bank accounts. If the debtor owns a business — whether a sole proprietorship, LLC, or corporation — the business assets may be reachable depending on the business structure and applicable law.

💰 Financial Accounts

Checking accounts, savings accounts, investment accounts, and other financial holdings. Bank levies allow you to seize funds directly from the debtor’s accounts. The challenge is identifying where the debtor banks — this often requires a debtor examination or professional investigation.

📋 Other Assets

Tax refunds, insurance proceeds, lawsuit settlements, rental income, royalties, commissions, retirement accounts (limited exemptions may apply), and any other property or income stream with value. Creative asset discovery often uncovers sources of collection that the debtor assumed were safe from creditors.

⚖️ Step 3: Use Legal Collection Tools

Once you’ve identified the debtor’s location and assets, you have several powerful legal tools available to force payment.

Collection Tool	How It Works	Best Used When
💵 Wage Garnishment	Court order served on the debtor’s employer requiring them to withhold a percentage of each paycheck (typically 25% of disposable earnings) and send it to the creditor until the judgment is satisfied	Debtor has regular employment. Most reliable ongoing collection method. Produces steady, automatic payments.
🏦 Bank Levy	Court order served on the debtor’s bank requiring the bank to freeze and turn over funds in the debtor’s account up to the judgment amount	You know where the debtor banks and believe there are sufficient funds. One-time grab — debtor may close account after levy.
🏠 Property Lien	Abstract of judgment recorded with the county recorder creates a lien against all real property the debtor owns in that county. Lien must be satisfied when property is sold or refinanced.	Debtor owns real property. Patient strategy — you get paid when they sell or refi. Also prevents them from transferring property clear of the debt.
🚗 Personal Property Levy	Sheriff or marshal seizes the debtor’s non-exempt personal property (vehicles, equipment, valuables) and sells it at public auction	Debtor has valuable non-exempt personal property. Less common than garnishment or bank levies due to exemption limits and auction logistics.
📋 Assignment Order	Court order directing a third party who owes money to the debtor (rental income, commissions, royalties, business receivables) to pay that money to you instead	Debtor has income from non-employment sources — rental properties, freelance work, business receivables, royalties.
🏢 Charging Order (LLC/Partnership)	Court order that intercepts distributions from the debtor’s LLC or partnership interest, directing them to the creditor	Debtor owns an interest in an LLC or partnership that makes distributions. Doesn’t give you control of the business but captures income.
📄 Till Tap Order	Court order directing the sheriff to go to the debtor’s business and seize cash from the cash register or safe	Debtor operates a cash-intensive business. Dramatic but effective — sends a strong message that the judgment will be enforced.

📋 The Debtor Examination

If you don’t know what the debtor owns or where they bank, a debtor examination (also called a supplemental proceeding, judgment debtor examination, or order of examination) is one of your most powerful tools. A debtor examination is a court proceeding in which the debtor is required to appear — under oath — and answer your questions about their income, assets, property, bank accounts, and financial affairs.

The debtor must answer truthfully under penalty of perjury. You can ask about their employer, salary, bank accounts, real property, vehicles, business interests, investments, insurance policies, expected income (tax refunds, settlements, inheritances), and any transfers of property they’ve made in recent years. The information obtained in a debtor examination often provides the roadmap you need to deploy specific collection tools against specific assets.

If the debtor fails to appear for the examination, the court can issue a bench warrant for their arrest. If they appear but refuse to answer questions or provide false answers, they can be held in contempt of court. The debtor examination is one of the few collection tools that compels the debtor’s direct cooperation — and it’s available in every state. For a detailed guide, see our debtor examination guide.

⚠️ Practical Tip: Before conducting a debtor examination, do your homework. Run a professional asset search and skip trace first so you already know as much as possible about the debtor’s financial situation. This allows you to ask targeted questions that catch the debtor in lies or omissions, and it prevents the debtor from hiding assets between the time they learn about the examination and the date they must appear.

🕵️ Dealing with Hidden Assets

Debtors who don’t want to pay often take steps to hide their assets. They transfer property to relatives, create LLCs to hold assets, keep money in cash, use other people’s bank accounts, or arrange their financial lives to make it appear they own nothing. Uncovering hidden assets requires investigative expertise and persistence.

🏠 Property Transfers to Family

The debtor deeds their house to a spouse, parent, or child — often for no consideration or for $1. These transfers may be voidable as fraudulent conveyances if they were made to avoid paying the judgment. An investigator can trace property transfer history and identify suspicious transactions.

🏢 Asset-Holding LLCs and Trusts

The debtor creates an LLC or trust to hold property, vehicles, or other assets in an entity name rather than their personal name. Professional investigation can trace the debtor’s connection to these entities through business filings, registered agent records, and property-entity analysis.

💵 Unreported Cash Income

The debtor works for cash, operates an unreported side business, or receives income through channels that don’t create obvious records. Social media surveillance, lifestyle analysis, and investigation of their spending patterns can reveal income that doesn’t match their claimed financial situation.

🔄 Nominee Arrangements

The debtor uses another person — a friend, significant other, or family member — to hold assets, bank accounts, or business interests on their behalf. The debtor effectively controls the assets but nothing appears in their name. Tracing these arrangements requires investigating the debtor’s close associates and analyzing financial patterns.

🏦 Out-of-State Assets

The debtor moves assets to another state, hoping the creditor won’t look beyond the jurisdiction where the judgment was entered. A nationwide asset search can identify property, vehicles, business filings, and other assets regardless of which state they’re located in.

📊 Lifestyle vs. Claimed Poverty

The debtor claims to be broke but lives a lifestyle that says otherwise — nice cars, vacations, expensive restaurants, new electronics, home renovations. Documenting this lifestyle through social media research and surveillance creates evidence that the debtor has undisclosed income or assets. See our guide on signs a debtor is hiding assets.

💡 Fraudulent Conveyance: If a debtor transferred assets to avoid paying your judgment, you may be able to void the transfer through a fraudulent conveyance action. Most states allow creditors to “claw back” transfers that were made with the intent to defraud creditors, or transfers made without receiving reasonably equivalent value when the debtor was insolvent. The lookback period varies by state but is typically 4 to 6 years. Learn more in our fraudulent conveyance guide.

✈️ When the Debtor Moves Out of State

One of the most common evasion tactics is simply moving to another state. The debtor leaves the jurisdiction where the judgment was entered, hoping distance will make collection impractical. But under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution, a judgment entered in one state is enforceable in every other state — you just need to take the additional step of domesticating the judgment in the new state.

Domestication is the process of registering your judgment with a court in the state where the debtor now lives or owns assets. Most states have adopted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, which makes this process relatively straightforward — typically requiring you to file a certified copy of the judgment with the local court clerk and provide notice to the debtor. Once domesticated, your judgment is enforceable in the new state using all of that state’s collection tools, just as if the judgment had been originally entered there. For a detailed walkthrough, see our domestication guide.

The first step when a debtor moves out of state is locating them. A professional skip trace can determine where the debtor has relocated, identify their new address, find any property they’ve acquired in the new state, and discover their new employer — all of which you’ll need before you can domesticate the judgment and begin enforcement.

🛡️ What If the Debtor Is “Judgment Proof”?

“Judgment proof” is a term used to describe a debtor who genuinely has no assets that can be legally seized. They don’t own real property, they don’t have a garnishable job (or their income falls below garnishment thresholds), they don’t have bank accounts with meaningful balances, and all of their personal property falls within statutory exemptions. Some people really are, at least temporarily, judgment proof.

But “judgment proof” is a snapshot in time, not a permanent condition. People’s financial circumstances change. Someone who is genuinely broke today may get a job, receive an inheritance, win a lawsuit, buy a house, start a business, or come into money through any number of channels. As long as your judgment remains valid and enforceable — and in most states you can renew it indefinitely — you can wait for the debtor’s circumstances to improve and then enforce.

📋 Strategies for “Judgment Proof” Debtors

🔄 Renew Your Judgment

Don’t let your judgment expire. Most states allow renewal for additional periods — often 5 to 10 years — by filing a renewal application before the judgment expires. As long as the judgment is active, it remains enforceable and interest continues to accrue. See our judgment renewal guide.

🏠 Record Liens Everywhere

Record your judgment as a lien in every county where the debtor might buy property in the future. If they ever purchase real estate in a county where your lien is recorded, the lien attaches automatically. This turns your judgment into a passive collection mechanism that works even when you’re not actively pursuing enforcement.

📊 Monitor Periodically

Set up periodic monitoring — every 6 to 12 months — to check whether the debtor’s circumstances have changed. A professional skip trace and asset check can quickly determine whether the debtor has acquired new property, started a new job, opened a business, or otherwise come into collectible assets.

⏰ Be Patient but Persistent

Judgment collection is often a marathon, not a sprint. The debtor may be judgment proof for years before circumstances change. But when they do change — a new job, an inheritance, a property purchase, a business venture — you need to be ready to move quickly. The combination of patience and periodic monitoring is the most effective long-term collection strategy.

♟️ Playing the Long Game

Some of the most successful judgment collections happen years after the original judgment was entered. The creditor who gave up after 6 months would have been paid if they’d waited 3 more years. The key is maintaining your judgment’s validity, periodically monitoring the debtor’s financial situation, and being ready to act when circumstances change.

Interest is your friend in the long game. In states with generous judgment interest rates — California at 10%, New York at 9%, Texas at the higher of 5% or the post-judgment rate — the unpaid balance grows significantly over time. A $50,000 judgment at 10% interest becomes $100,000 in just over 7 years. When the debtor eventually does acquire assets or income, the total amount you’re entitled to collect has grown substantially.

Judgment liens on property are another long-game tool. A lien recorded today may sit dormant for years until the debtor tries to sell or refinance the property. At that point, the title company will discover your lien and require it to be satisfied before the transaction can close. The debtor can’t sell or refinance without paying you — and if they’ve been accruing interest, the payoff amount may be significantly larger than the original judgment.

📋 Your 10-Step Action Plan

Record the judgment as a lien in every county where the debtor owns or might own property. This is your most important first step — it secures your interest in real property and prevents the debtor from selling unencumbered.
Run a professional skip trace to confirm the debtor’s current address, employer, vehicles, and asset indicators. You need this information before you can deploy any collection tool.
Order a professional asset search to identify real property, vehicles, business interests, and other collectible assets nationwide. This search should cover all states where the debtor has connections.
Send a formal demand letter to the debtor with the full amount owed including interest, and a deadline for payment. Some debtors will negotiate a payment plan at this stage to avoid enforcement actions.
File for wage garnishment if the debtor is employed. This is the most reliable ongoing collection tool — a portion of every paycheck comes directly to you.
Serve bank levies on accounts where the debtor holds funds. A bank levy seizes the account balance up to the judgment amount on the day the levy is served.
Schedule a debtor examination to require the debtor to disclose their income, assets, and financial affairs under oath. Use the information obtained to target specific assets with collection tools.
Investigate hidden assets if the debtor claims to be broke but shows signs of concealed wealth. Look for fraudulent transfers, nominee arrangements, undisclosed business interests, and lifestyle inconsistencies.
Domesticate the judgment in any state where the debtor has moved or owns assets. A judgment is enforceable nationwide once properly domesticated.
Monitor and renew your judgment. Set periodic reminders to check the debtor’s financial status. Renew the judgment before it expires. Be ready to enforce when circumstances change.

🔍 We Help Judgment Creditors Find Debtors and Assets

Our professional skip tracing and asset search services are specifically designed for judgment creditors and collection attorneys. We locate debtors who have disappeared, identify hidden assets, find employers for garnishment, and provide the actionable intelligence you need to turn your paper judgment into cash. Results in 24 hours or less.

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

❓ How long do I have to collect on a judgment?

The enforcement period varies by state — typically 5 to 20 years from the date the judgment is entered. In most states, you can renew the judgment before it expires for additional periods, effectively extending the enforcement window indefinitely. Interest continues to accrue during the entire enforcement period. Check the specific rules in your state through our judgment collection by state resource.

❓ Can I garnish someone’s wages to collect a judgment?

Yes, wage garnishment is available in most states (a few states like Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina limit or restrict wage garnishment for most consumer debts). Federal law limits garnishment to 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less. Some states impose lower limits. See our employer location for garnishment guide for details.

❓ What if I don’t know where the debtor banks?

If you don’t know where the debtor has bank accounts, you have several options. A debtor examination can compel the debtor to disclose all bank accounts under oath. Professional asset investigation can sometimes identify banking relationships through public records analysis, payment pattern research, and other investigative techniques. Some jurisdictions also allow “turnover orders” that compel the debtor to turn over assets or disclose financial information without a full debtor examination.

❓ Can the debtor file bankruptcy to avoid paying my judgment?

Bankruptcy can discharge many types of debts — including some judgments. However, certain types of judgments are not dischargeable in bankruptcy, including judgments for fraud, willful and malicious injury, certain domestic support obligations, and some government fines and penalties. If the debtor files bankruptcy, you’ll receive notice and an opportunity to object to the discharge of your judgment if grounds exist. Consult with an attorney if the debtor files bankruptcy.

❓ What is a fraudulent transfer and can I undo it?

A fraudulent transfer (also called a fraudulent conveyance) is a transfer of assets made with the intent to put those assets beyond the reach of creditors. If a debtor deeds their house to a relative, transfers a business to a friend, or moves money to accounts in someone else’s name to avoid paying your judgment, these transfers may be voidable. Most states have fraudulent transfer statutes that allow creditors to “claw back” transfers made within a lookback period (typically 4 to 6 years). See our fraudulent conveyance guide.

❓ Should I hire a collection attorney or do this myself?

It depends on the size of the judgment and the complexity of the debtor’s financial situation. Small claims judgments may be collectible through self-help methods like wage garnishment and bank levies. Larger judgments, especially those involving hidden assets, out-of-state enforcement, or sophisticated debtors, typically benefit from professional representation. Many collection attorneys work on contingency (a percentage of what they collect) so there’s no upfront cost. At minimum, invest in a professional skip trace and asset search so you know what you’re dealing with before deciding whether to hire an attorney.

❓ Can I collect a judgment from a different state?

Yes. Under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution, a judgment entered in one state is enforceable in every other state. You need to “domesticate” the judgment by filing it with a court in the state where the debtor lives or owns assets. Most states have streamlined this process under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act. Once domesticated, you can use all of the new state’s collection tools. See our domestication guide for a complete walkthrough.

📚 Related Resources

⚖️ How to Collect a Judgment — Complete judgment collection overview
📋 Debtor Examination Guide — How to compel financial disclosure
🏠 How to Place a Judgment Lien on Property — Recording liens step by step
📄 How to File a Writ of Execution — Seizing assets through the sheriff
💰 How to Levy a Debtor’s Assets — Bank levies and personal property seizure
🔍 How to Find Hidden Assets — Professional asset discovery techniques
🚨 Signs a Debtor Is Hiding Assets — Red flags to watch for
🔄 Fraudulent Conveyance & Asset Transfers — Voiding improper transfers
🌎 How to Domesticate a Judgment — Enforcing across state lines
📊 Judgment Interest Rates by State — How much your judgment is growing
🏛️ Judgment Collection by State — State-specific collection rules
📅 Judgment Renewal Guide — Keep your judgment alive and enforceable
👻 Judgment Debtor Disappeared? — What to do when you can’t find them
🏢 Collecting Judgment Against a Business — Special rules for business debtors

💰 Don’t Let Your Judgment Go to Waste

A judgment is a valuable asset — but only if you enforce it. Our professional skip tracing and asset search services give you the information you need to turn paper judgments into real money. We find debtors. We find assets. We deliver results in 24 hours or less.

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