Can I stay in my apartment if I file for bankruptcy? Practically speaking, you can stay in your apartment and continue with your lease in bankruptcy so long as you are current in your rent payments as provided by your lease or by the common law of landlord-tenant relations. → Read More
What does it mean to avoid a lien? When you avoid a lien, you obtain a judicial determination that the lien no longer encumbers a piece of property. This means that you would then be able to sell the property despite the lien. → Read More
How are judgment liens affected by bankruptcy? Judgment liens that exist before you file your bankruptcy generally survive the discharge issued by the bankruptcy court, with some exceptions. → Read More
How is a judgment perfected? At the conclusion of a lawsuit or settlement, the court will issue a judgment ordering the losing party to pay or satisfy the judgment. Some states require that a Notice of Entry be sent to the losing party or judgment debtor. Until this form is filed, the judgment is neither cleared nor perfect and cannot be considered satisfied. → Read More
How are money judgments enforced? The typical methods employed in enforcing money judgments include voluntary compliance, wage garnishment, judgment lien and execution and levy. When a judgment debtor refuses to pay a money judgment, a judgment creditor typically will proceed with both judgment liens and execution to enforce the judgment. → Read More
What is a money judgment? A money judgment is a court order that awards the plaintiff a sum of money. The award can be owed to the plaintiff for a variety of reasons. Some examples are unpaid rent, damages to a rental unit, money borrowed, hospital bills, credit cards, and money owed for repossessed vehicles. A money judgment can also include money owed for court costs and attorney’s fees. → Read More
Loss of Driver’s License When You Have Not Paid a Debt: Is That a Possibility? Creditors and collection agencies cannot have your driver’s license suspended for not paying debts. Agencies and creditors routinely use threats of dire consequences for not paying debts, sometimes including a very unlikely threat of imprisonment — as if the possibility of being sued were not serious enough. The creditors often claim that if the debt is not paid, they will contact the state Department of Motor Vehicles to have the debtor’s driving privileges suspended or revoked. → Read More
How can I enforce a judgment against a judgment debtor in another state? Once a money judgment has been issued, the judgment creditor tries to get the judgment debtor to voluntarily pay the judgment. If a judgment debtor does not cooperate, the judgment creditor determines what property the judgment debtor owns; if it is located in another state, the judgment creditor may need a sister-state judgment issued by a court in the state in which the property of the judgment debtor is located. → Read More
Collecting Money from Someone with Little or No Money and Assets If someone has little income and few assets, they are effectively’judgment proof’ and even if you win against them in court, you effectively lose: you spent the time and money to sue and receive nothing in return. → Read More
TCPA Requires Debt Collectors to Have Written Consent Before Calling Your Cell The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) prohibits debt collectors from calling you on your cell phone, among other things, unless you’ve given them express written consent to do so. Even though the Act has been in place for over 15 years, debt collectors continue to violate it. → Read More
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