Winning a judgment against another party in civil court opens the door to the next step: enforcement. Collections are part of enforcement when a judgment involves a monetary award. But in many states, collection efforts cannot begin right away. The judgment creditor must wait for a specified amount of time in case the defendant wants to appeal.
If you are in the midst of suing someone right now, you might be wondering how long you will have to wait once a judgment is entered in your favor. That depends on the state and the type of case you are involved in.
Usually About a Month
Judgment Collectors is a Utah collection agency that specializes in collecting money judgments. They say that the wait time in the Beehive State is 28 days. Language in the Utah Code verifies their assessment. Judgment debtors must wait 28 days before they can begin collection. If a judgment debtor wants to appeal, that appeal must be filed within the 28-day period.
Meanwhile, the waiting period in California is 30 days. Yet a judgment debtor wanting to appeal is out of luck if his appeal is not filed within that 30-day window.
In both states, collection efforts can begin as soon as the waiting period has been completed. Smart creditors will have already worked with their attorneys or collection agencies to come up with a workable collection plan. That way, they can hit the ground running as soon as the appeal period is over.
Successfully Appealing Is Not Easy
Successfully appealing a civil judgment is not as easy as it sounds. The procedure is simple enough – the defendant’s attorney files the appropriate paperwork – but success is never guaranteed. In nearly every case, the burden is on the defendant to prove that the original court erred in some way.
The defendant’s attorney might argue that the court did not hear all the evidence. He might argue that the court saw evidence but did not view it properly, or even that the court misinterpreted the law in rendering its judgment. Regardless of the preferred strategy, the burden on the defendant is a heavy one.
Some states require a new trial when a civil judgment is appealed. Others rely on an administrative hearing in which the court reviews all the paperwork and data from the original trial. Should the defendant win on appeal, the judgment could be set aside entirely.
Collecting After an Appeal
Assuming a judgment debtor files an appeal and loses again, collection can immediately begin. The simplest and easiest way to settle matters is for the judgment creditor and debtor to work out some sort of amicable payment plan. A similar option is for the debtor to offer immediate payment in exchange for an amount lesser than what is owed.
If voluntary payments prove fruitless, judgment creditors have other options:
- Wage and/or bank account garnishment
- Judgment liens on personal property
- Writs of execution and seizure
All the options open to judgment creditors are governed by rules and regulations. For example, most states allow garnishing only a certain percentage of the debtor’s disposable income. Most states also classify certain types of property as exempt from writs of execution and seizure.
If you are currently involved in a lawsuit as a plaintiff, be prepared to wait a bit in the event that you win your case. The chances are pretty good that your state will allow the defendant a certain amount of time to appeal. In the meantime, you can begin formulating a plan to enforce any eventual judgment.