If a court has ordered me to pay a judgment, how can the court make me pay?

Someone has sued you, and you’ve lost the lawsuit, and the judge has ordered you to pay. You wonder: what can the court do to make you pay?

There are a number of remedies, which I will outline here; I will also discuss your rights.

Asset hearings

The creditor may ask the judge to hold an asset hearing. The judge will order you to appear at the asset hearing. At the asset hearing, the judge will order you to disclose what assets you have. The judge may order that your assets be seized to satisfy the debt. The judge can order seizure of any property except:

·       Your home

·       Your household and kitchen furniture that you use for personal, family, educational, or household use

·       Your personal computer, that you use for personal, family, education, or household use

·       A cemetery lot

·       “Implements of husbandry” needed to farm

·       Tools, apparatus, and books that you use for your job (up to $10,000 in value)

·       Books, portraits, or pictures that are for your personal, family, or household use

·       Your clothes or your dependents’ clothes (up to $4,000 in value)

·       Wedding and anniversary rings (up to $3,000 in value)

·       Professionally prescribed health aids

·       Five milk cows and their calves under six months old, that are primarily for your personal, family, or household use

·       One hundred chickens

·       Two horses, two bridles, and two saddles

·       One motor vehicle (up to $7,500 in value)

·       Gund for your personal, family, or household use (up to $2,000 in value). You may not exempt guns that are used as an investment, or for nonpersonal use

·       Ten hogs

·       Twenty head of sheep

·       Provisions or forage on hand, or growing for home consumption

·       Seventy-five percent of your wages earned during the past ninety days

·       Your right to receive alimony, support, separate maintenance, or child support payments

·       An interest in a retirement plan or arrangement qualified for tax exemption

·       Your interest in a claim for personal injury, death, or workers’ compensation (up to $50,000) and not including a claim for exemplary or punitive damages

·       An individual development account

·       Federal earned income tax credit

·       An Oklahoma College Savings Plan account

The judge may order anything else you own to be confiscated to satisfy the debt.

The judge may also order a payment plan, in which the judge will direct you to pay a certain amount at regular intervals (often monthly).

If you do not appear at the asset hearing, or if you fail to disclose your assets, the judge can hold you in contempt of court for violating a court order. If you are found guilty of contempt of court, you may be ordered to pay a fine of up to $500, and/or serve up to six months in jail.

In addition, if you do not appear at the asset hearing, the judge may issue a bench warrant for your arrest.

When I have a client who is summoned to an asset hearing, I encourage the client to work out a payment plan with the creditor. If you agree on a payment plan, then you and the creditor will have control over what the agreement is. If you do not agree on a payment plan, the judge will have control over the terms of payment. If you exercise some control over the terms of payment, you will likely be more satisfied with the result than you will if the judge controls the terms of payment. It would be wise to remember the words of Jesus:

“Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.  Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” (Matthew 5:25-26.)

Garnishment

In a garnishment, the judge will sign an order, and the creditor will send the order to your employer. The order will direct your employer to withhold a portion of your paycheck, and then send that portion to the creditor rather than to you. By federal law, the judge may only garnish up to seventy-five percent of your weekly earnings. The judge may also garnish any money or property that someone holds for you or owes to you. Many creditors will garnish bank accounts.

Judgment liens

After the judge enters judgment, the creditor may also file a judgment lien on your property. If there is a lien on your property and the property is not your residence, then the creditor may file a foreclosure action, just as on a mortgage. If the property is your residence, the lien will still attach to your property. That is, you may not be able to sell your property until the lien is released. For more information about what a lien is, read my earlier blog post here, and look at the definition of lien here.

Do you have questions about your rights as a debtor? Contact the Persaud Law Office

If you are a judgment debtor, you have important rights. If you want to know more about your rights, give us a call. Or, you may be a creditor, and you want to know what you can do to collect on a judgment.

The Persaud Law Office has represented both debtors and creditors in many lawsuits. If you want help with a collection proceeding, contact us today.

Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/carbonnyc/5747629074. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.