Bankruptcy Judgment Collection Guide
When a judgment debtor files, two things can be lost quietly and neither of them is lost by argument. One is a deadline: a proof of claim at 70 days, a nondischargeability complaint at 60, an objection to discharge at 60, each running from a trigger most creditors read wrongly. The other is your lien, which a discharge does not touch but which the debtor can attack under a formula written into the statute. This page is the calendar and the lien, read from the enacted rules as restyled in December 2024.
The Short Version
A petition stays your collection, and a willful violation exposes you to actual damages, costs and fees under section 362(k)(1). After that, three dates decide most of what a judgment creditor can still do. A proof of claim is timely within 70 days after the order for relief in a voluntary Chapter 7, 12 or 13 case, and a claim arising from a judgment may be filed within 30 days after that judgment becomes final. A complaint on dischargeability under section 523(c) must be filed within 60 days after the first date SET for the 341(a) meeting, extendable only by a motion filed before the time expires. An objection to discharge runs on the same 60-day trigger. That clock is fatal only for debts under section 523(a)(2), (4) and (6). Separately, a discharge enjoins collection of the debt as a personal liability, but a judicial lien survives unless the debtor avoids it under section 522(f), which uses an arithmetic test set out in the statute.
Watch: The Creditor’s Clock and Lien
What gets lost quietly, and when.
Watch Overview
First, Everything You Are Doing Stops
And the penalty for not stopping is personal.
The filing of a petition operates as a stay. Garnishments stop, levies stop, the debtor’s exam comes off the calendar, and demand letters stop — not when you find out, but when the petition is filed. 11 U.S.C. 362 sets out what is stayed, and subsection (k)(1) sets out what happens if you carry on: an individual injured by any willful violation of a stay shall recover actual damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees, and in appropriate circumstances may recover punitive damages. Note the word ‘shall’. This is not a discretionary sanction.
Having stopped, most creditors then ask whether their judgment survives. That is the right question in the long run, and our guide to collecting a judgment after a debtor files works through the case from filing to close. But it is not the urgent question, because survival is decided later and by argument, whereas the things that can be lost in the first ten weeks are lost silently and by a calendar.
This page is about those two mechanical subjects: what you must file and by when, and what happens to your lien, which is a separate question from what happens to your debt.
The Three Dates That Decide It
Read from the rules as restyled effective 1 December 2024.
| Deadline and rule | What it runs from, and how it can move |
|---|---|
| Proof of claim — 70 days. A proof of claim is timely if filed within 70 days after the order for relief, in a voluntary Chapter 7 case or in a Chapter 12 or 13 case | The trigger is the order for relief, not the petition date. In a voluntary case they coincide; in a converted or involuntary case they do not. Involuntary Chapter 7 runs 90 days; a governmental unit gets 180 |
| A claim that comes from a judgment — 30 days. Where an unsecured claim arises or becomes allowable because of a judgment, it may be filed within 30 days after that judgment becomes final | A narrow but valuable exception for creditors whose judgment is entered after the bar date has already passed |
| Nondischargeability complaint — 60 days. A complaint to determine whether a debt is dischargeable under 523(c) must be filed within 60 days after the first date set for the 341(a) meeting of creditors | The clerk must give creditors at least 30 days’ notice. An extension is available only on a motion filed before the time expires — there is no relief afterwards |
| Objection to discharge — 60 days. In a Chapter 7 case a complaint objecting to discharge must be filed within 60 days after the first date set for the 341(a) meeting | Chapter 11 runs to the first date set for the confirmation hearing instead. At least 28 days’ notice. After expiry, the only route is the narrow one for facts that would have supported revocation under 727(d) |
Four dates, three rules: Rule 3002(c), Rule 4007(c) and Rule 4004(a). None of them is negotiable after the fact, and two of them run from the same trigger — which is the trigger most creditors read wrongly.
The Date SET, Not the Date Held
The single most expensive misreading in creditor practice.
Both 60-day clocks run from the first date set for the meeting of creditors. Not the date the meeting is actually held. Not the date it is concluded. The first date the court originally set.
That matters because meetings routinely get adjourned, continued, or held open while the trustee waits on documents. A creditor who marks their calendar from the day they actually sat in the meeting, or from the day the trustee finally closed it, can be four or six weeks past a deadline that expired while they were waiting. The rule is indifferent to how long the process took.
Two related points are worth having straight. The 341 is a meeting, not a hearing: no judge presides over it, and the statute bars the court from doing so. What a creditor can actually do there — and it is more than most creditors realise — is the subject of our 341 meeting of creditors guide. And the extension mechanism is not a safety net: for the nondischargeability deadline, a motion has to be filed before the time expires, so the moment to think about an extension is week seven, not week ten.
The 60-Day Clock Applies to Only Three Categories
Miss it on the wrong debt and nothing happens. Miss it on the right one and everything does.
Fraud, false pretenses, false representation
Section 523(a)(2). Requires a timely request or the debt is discharged notwithstanding the fraud.
Fiduciary defalcation, embezzlement, larceny
Section 523(a)(4). Same rule: the creditor has to ask, within the 60 days, or the exception is gone.
Willful and malicious injury
Section 523(a)(6). The category most judgment creditors with a tort judgment are relying on.
Everything else in 523(a)
Domestic support, most taxes, student loans and the rest are self-executing exceptions. No complaint, no deadline, no forfeiture for silence.
The statutory rule is stated plainly in 11 U.S.C. 523: the debtor shall be discharged from a debt of a kind specified in paragraph (2), (4) or (6) unless, on the creditor’s request and after notice and a hearing, the court determines the debt to be excepted. Which side of that line a particular judgment falls on is the subject of our page on fraud judgments and non-dischargeability. And there is a cost to getting it wrong in the other direction: where a creditor requests a determination on a consumer debt under 523(a)(2) and the debt is discharged anyway, the court shall award the debtor costs and a reasonable attorney’s fee if the creditor’s position was not substantially justified.
Your Lien Is a Separate Question From Your Debt
A discharge is an injunction against a person, not an eraser for a lien.
Read the discharge provision closely and the reason becomes obvious. 11 U.S.C. 524(a)(2) says the discharge operates as an injunction against any act to collect, recover or offset the debt as a personal liability of the debtor. It is aimed at pursuing the person. It does not, by its own terms, extinguish a lien that has already attached to property.
What can extinguish a judgment lien is a motion by the debtor under 11 U.S.C. 522(f), and this is the provision judgment creditors should know cold, because it is aimed squarely at them. It permits avoidance of a judicial lien to the extent that the lien impairs an exemption the debtor is entitled to. That is a different attack from the one described on our page about lien stripping against secured creditors, which concerns junior consensual liens and turns on what the collateral is worth. A judgment creditor’s lien is attacked under 522(f), against an exemption, and the arithmetic is written into the statute.
Section 522(f)(2)(A) defines impairment as a sum: add the lien in question, plus all other liens on the property, plus the amount of the exemption the debtor could claim if there were no liens at all. If that total exceeds what the debtor’s interest in the property would be worth with no liens on it, the lien impairs the exemption to that extent, and to that extent it can be avoided. Two refinements sit alongside it: a lien that has already been avoided is not counted when the calculation is run for the other liens, and the paragraph does not apply to a judgment arising out of a mortgage foreclosure.
One more thing, easily missed. If the case is later dismissed rather than completed, 11 U.S.C. 349(b) provides that unless the court orders otherwise for cause, dismissal reinstates transfers avoided under section 522 and liens voided under section 506(d). A dismissal is not always the end of the story for a creditor whose lien was avoided along the way.
Where Creditors Actually Lose It
Six failures, and five of them are administrative rather than legal.
The notice went to a dead address
Court notices go where the schedules say. A creditor who has moved, or was scheduled under an old trading name, may never see the bar date.
The date was calendared from the meeting held
Both 60-day clocks run from the first date set. Adjournments do not move them.
The extension motion was filed a day late
For the nondischargeability deadline the motion must be filed before the time expires. Afterwards there is nothing to extend.
Nobody checked whether the lien was recorded
An unperfected lien in the right county is not a lien. The 522(f) arithmetic never gets run because there is nothing to defend.
The property was valued by assumption
Impairment is arithmetic. A wrong value for the property or for the senior debt produces a wrong answer in both directions.
Collection continued after the filing
A single garnishment that keeps running past the petition date can cost more than the claim was worth.
The first four are calendar and record problems, and both are solvable with facts gathered early. Where you suspect the debtor concealed or transferred assets rather than merely ran out of money, the remedy is broader than a single debt — see objecting to the discharge entirely under section 727. Where the concern is that value moved before the filing, the trail matters more than the schedule does: tracing a transfer. And if the real question is whether the debtor had anything to begin with, that is judgment-proof versus bankrupt, which are not the same condition.
Our Part: The Facts the Filings Rest On
What we establish, and what we do not touch.
None of the deadlines above are met with argument alone. A proof of claim needs the claim documented. A 523(c) complaint needs facts about what the debtor said, held and moved. A 522(f) response needs the property valued, the senior encumbrances identified, and your own lien confirmed as recorded in the right county. And all of it needs the debtor’s current address, because a creditor working from a stale file is a creditor who finds out about the case late. Working from lawful public records and licensed data, and only under a permissible purpose such as collecting a judgment you hold, that is what we establish and document, with sources attached.
The exclusions are worth spelling out on a page full of dates. Nobody here files your claim, drafts your complaint, computes your deadline, or opines on whether your judgment sits inside section 523(a)(2), (4) or (6). Those belong to your lawyer, and what you are reading is general information about federal procedure, not legal advice. Neither is this licensed investigation — not a private detective’s licence in sight, and none suggested on this page. A bankruptcy file attracts a particular temptation, so to be plain about it: no trustee, clerk, employer or bank is ever told something untrue about who is asking or why, there is no pretexting here, and account contents are never obtained. And a request that is really an effort to find someone who fled a violent household, or who is in hiding for their own safety, is turned away rather than worked.
What We Commit To
We establish the facts your filings rest on: the debtor’s current address so notices reach you, the property and its senior encumbrances so the impairment arithmetic is run on real numbers, whether your own lien is recorded where it needs to be, and the transfer trail where value has moved. Every item is tied to its source. We do not compute your deadlines, draft your filings, or advise on which discharge exception applies. Lawful public-records and licensed-data research for creditors and their counsel since 2004.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a proof of claim?
In a voluntary Chapter 7 case or a Chapter 12 or 13 case, a proof of claim is timely if filed within 70 days after the order for relief. An involuntary Chapter 7 runs 90 days from the order for relief, and a governmental unit gets 180.
What if my judgment is entered after the bar date passes?
There is a specific exception. Where an unsecured claim arises in your favour or becomes allowable because of a judgment, the claim may be filed within 30 days after that judgment becomes final.
When exactly does the 60-day nondischargeability clock start?
It runs from the first date SET for the section 341(a) meeting of creditors — not the date the meeting was actually held, and not the date it was concluded. Adjournments and continuances do not move it.
Can I get more time for that complaint?
Only on a motion filed before the time expires. Once the 60 days have run, the rule offers no relief, which is why the moment to consider an extension is well before the deadline rather than after it.
Does the deadline apply to every non-dischargeable debt?
No, and this catches people both ways. It applies to debts under section 523(a)(2), (4) and (6) — fraud and false representation, fiduciary defalcation and embezzlement, and willful and malicious injury. Other exceptions, such as domestic support and most taxes, are self-executing.
Does the discharge wipe out my judgment lien?
Section 524(a)(2) makes the discharge an injunction against collecting the debt as a personal liability of the debtor. It does not by its terms remove a lien that already attached. A judgment lien is instead attacked by the debtor under section 522(f), to the extent it impairs an exemption.
How is that impairment actually calculated?
The statute sets out the sum: the lien, plus all other liens on the property, plus the exemption the debtor could claim if there were no liens. If that total exceeds what the debtor’s interest would be worth with no liens on it, the lien impairs the exemption to that extent.
What do you do on a file like this?
The factual groundwork: the debtor’s current whereabouts, the property and what already encumbers it, confirmation of where your lien is recorded, and the transfer trail if value moved. An initial picture typically comes back within 24 hours, sourced.
Get the Facts Before the Clock Runs
Deadlines are your counsel’s to calculate; the facts underneath them are ours to establish. Send us the debtor’s identifiers and we will document the property, the encumbrances, the transfers and the current address — lawfully and typically within 24 hours. Contact us to begin.
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