Enforcing and Collecting on a Judgment
Achieving victory in court and obtaining a judgment in your favor is not necessarily a comprehensive victory. Any judgment unenforced remains essentially worthless. A favorable decision is often overshadowed by enforcing the judgment itself.
Enforcing a judgment may involve many convoluted and complex steps. For example, with out-of-state judgments, this consists in domesticating the judgment in Florida court. Once you obtain a positive outcome in your favor, enforcement of foreign judgments in Cutler Bay can begin. However, you must still adhere to detailed legal requirements and other procedural roadblocks to finally collect.
For many creditors, domestication and enforcement of foreign judgments in Cutler Bay remain just as burdensome as the underlying cases themselves. Without overcoming this key hurdle, you cannot collect on the judgment, leaving your debtor’s assets far out of your reach.
The U.S. Constitution requires that every state provides “Full Faith and Credit” to other state rulings and laws. This requires the court system to recognize out-of-state judgments. However, creditors and their legal representation must follow all imposed procedures and rules.
Domestication and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Cutler Bay
Several key steps exist to domesticate and enforce a foreign judgment. The first is filing the judgment with the appropriate venue. This is often the court where a debtor resides, or where they locate and hold their assets.
You can file a judgment with the circuit or county court, but this depends on the amount of money involved. You must also submit detailed information to the clerk concerning the judgment, debtor, debtor assets, and a variety of other information. The debtor then possesses the right to a 30-day notification period. Once this period is up, you can engage in other judgment collection actions.
The specifics behind the process will vary from county to county. Nevertheless, Florida is a signatory to the UEFJA (Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act). This means that Florida has implemented the FEFJA, and act similar to the UEFJA. The UEFJA enables creditors to establish a foreign judgment as a Florida judgment, enforceable like any Florida judgment case outcome.
Domesticating a foreign judgment alone forms a lien on any real property that the debtor owns in the new county. The clerks in other counties where a debtor wields property, business property, or vacant land may then also record the domesticated judgment.
Collecting on Foreign Judgments from Other States
If you possess a judgment that a court awarded in another state, there is a good chance you can file the judgment in Florida court. Once the clerk deems the new case filed in Florida, this entitles a creditor to any and all post-judgment collection activities.
If a clerk’s notice remains unnoticed or unchallenged, this will likely result in a “default judgment. This enables the creditor to begin collection activities as well. The average turnaround time for domestication or enforcement of foreign judgments in Cutler Bay is approximately 60 days. Nonetheless, some counties in Florida do impart longer wait times.
Once the courts finalize this domesticated judgment, it will remain in effect for twenty years, or as long as the original forum renders the judgment valid.
Alternatively, you may also file an independent action on an out-of-state judgment. This Florida legal action requires service of process. You must additionally commence the action within five years after entering and recording the judgment.
The difficulty in this secondary alternative stems from problems during service of process, as well as the regular rules of civil procedure applying. Unlike domestication and enforcement of foreign judgments in Cutler Bay, a defense team can litigate any issues in these legal actions.
Ultimate enforcement of foreign judgments in Cutler Bay remains another matter altogether. Enforcement methods will include execution of property, garnishment, replevin, and supplemental proceedings. All of these options require a skilled and experienced legal representative.
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Cutler Bay from the Law Offices of Paul A. Humbert, P.L.
Collecting on foreign court judgments is a troublesome task. An experienced attorney can help you comply with any procedural rules concerning out-of-state judgments while advising you throughout the collection process.
As a creditor, you must understand that your ultimate financial interest remains at stake with every late or overdue payment from a debtor. Our firm recognizes the importance of decisive action. For this reason, we can produce fast, efficient results.
We wield decades of combined legal experience, designing and implement proactive, aggressive strategies to move collection efforts to an optimal resolution. This involves investing the necessary time, dedication, and effort to represent your best interests in court, as well as at the negotiating table.
This may include utilizing various legal modalities to collect on a judgment including securing liens or attachments, asset location and seizure, filing replevin actions, garnishing wages, and pursuing foreclosures.
At the Law Offices of Paul A. Humbert, P.L., our enforcement of foreign judgments in Cutler Bay legal team possesses the necessary knowledge and experience to ensure a swift resolution to a state court judgment anywhere in Florida. We then seek to enforce this judgment to the fullest extent of the law.
Conversely, if you represent a Florida creditor seeking to domesticate your state court judgment elsewhere, we can help as well.
As the body of law that regulates creditors grow, it is crucial to enlist legal counsel wielding in-depth knowledge of any local laws of procedures. For more information on enforcement of foreign judgments in Cutler Bay, contact the Law Offices of Paul A. Humbert, P.L. today!