Checklist · Litigation
Collecting a Judgment or Protecting Exempt Property: A Practical Checklist
11 U.S.C. § 362
- Type
- Checklist
- Jurisdiction
- National
- Date
- 2023-11-26
- Topic
- Litigation
This checklist works from both sides of a judgment. For a creditor it runs from confirming finality through asset investigation, lien recording, garnishment, levy, and renewal, with the cost of each step noted. For a debtor it runs from the moment a garnishment notice arrives through the exemption claim, the hearing, and the negotiated satisfaction. Each box carries a note on why it matters, and warnings mark the deadlines that are short and the steps that are irreversible. A cost table and a decision tree close it out.
Collecting a Judgment or Protecting Exempt Property: A Practical Checklist
Litigation > Judgment Enforcement | Published 26 November 2023 - Updated 22 July 2025 | UpLaw - uplaw.us
⚠ Enforcement procedure is state law even in federal court — Rule 69 says so expressly. Confirm every amount, form, and deadline against your own state's statute.
Part One — If you hold the judgment
Stage 1 — Confirm you can enforce
☐ Check the automatic stay period after entry. Rule 62 supplies one in federal court; states vary from none to thirty days.
☐ Check for a supersedeas bond or a stay pending appeal. If one is posted, enforcement waits.
☐ Check the bankruptcy docket. 11 U.S.C. § 362 stops everything, and violations carry damages.
☐ Confirm the judgment is final and correctly entered — correct parties, correct amount, correct interest rate.
☐ If it was a default, confirm service was proper. ⚠ A default judgment on defective service can be vacated years later, after collection, with restitution ordered.
☐ Calendar the renewal deadline now, and a reminder one year before it.
Stage 2 — Investigate
☐ Serve post-judgment interrogatories and document requests under Rule 69.
☐ Take the debtor's examination. ⭐ This is the highest-value step in collection and the one most often skipped. Failure to appear is contempt.
☐ Subpoena third parties under Rule 45 — banks, employers, title companies, business partners.
☐ Search county land records in every county where the debtor has lived or done business.
☐ Search UCC filings to learn who is ahead of you. See secured transactions and liens.
☐ Search entity registrations for businesses the debtor owns, and for successors at the same address.
☐ Search other court dockets for competing judgments, support orders, and tax liens.
☐ Look for insurance that might respond to the underlying claim.
Stage 3 — Record the lien
☐ Obtain the abstract or certified copy in the form your state requires.
☐ Record in every county where the debtor owns or may acquire property.
☐ Verify the recording and keep the stamped copy.
☐ Note the priority date and identify senior mortgages and liens.
☐ Calendar the lien's expiration separately from the judgment's.
⭐ This step is cheap, permanent, and self-executing. Do it first, before any other enforcement.
Stage 4 — Garnish wages
☐ Confirm the employer's exact legal name and service address.
☐ Compute the cap. 15 U.S.C. § 1673: the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the excess over thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage. Check whether your state is more protective — § 1675 preserves stronger state rules.
☐ Serve the garnishment summons and the debtor's notice with the exemption form.
☐ Track the garnishee's answer deadline. A garnishee that ignores the order can be liable for the whole judgment.
☐ Watch for competing orders — support has priority and a higher cap under 42 U.S.C. § 666; federal tax levies operate under 26 U.S.C. § 6331.
☐ Renew or reissue as your state requires.
☐ ⚠ Do not seek discharge of the employee. 15 U.S.C. § 1674 prohibits discharge for garnishment on one indebtedness.
Stage 5 — Levy the bank
☐ Identify the institution's legal process address.
☐ Expect the federal benefit lookback to protect two months of directly deposited Social Security, SSI, VA, and federal retirement deposits. See 38 U.S.C. § 5301.
☐ Time the levy relative to deposit cycles.
☐ Serve the debtor's notice and exemption form as required.
☐ Expect a joint-account claim and be ready to litigate ownership.
☐ Do not levy again immediately on an account you know holds only exempt funds.
Stage 6 — Everything else
☐ Writ of execution on identifiable, unencumbered personal property. Budget the sheriff's fee, the bond, and storage. Rule 64 makes state seizure remedies available in federal court.
☐ Turnover order for specific property — enforced by contempt, which is what makes it work.
☐ Charging order against an LLC or partnership interest. ⚠ Expect no distributions and therefore no money from a closely held entity.
☐ Receiver or assignment of rents for income-producing property, where the amount justifies the cost.
☐ Levy accounts receivable if the debtor is paid on invoices rather than as an employee. This is the workaround for the debtor who becomes a "consultant."
☐ Consider veil piercing or successor liability for entity debtors, remembering that a new claim against a non-party needs its own jurisdictional basis — Peacock v. Thomas, 516 U.S. 349 (1996).
☐ Do not seek contempt for nonpayment. Contempt reaches disobedience of orders, not inability to pay.
Stage 7 — Chase transferred assets
☐ Identify transfers in the four years before and any time after the claim arose.
☐ Score the badges of fraud: insider transferee, retained possession or control, concealment, timing after suit, substantially all assets, absconding, inadequate consideration, insolvency.
☐ Record a lis pendens against transferred real property when you file.
☐ Sue the transferee, seeking avoidance, attachment, and a money judgment.
☐ ⚠ Do not attack a regularly conducted foreclosure sale price. BFP v. Resolution Trust Corp., 511 U.S. 531 (1994), forecloses it.
☐ Calendar the fraudulent transfer limitations period — commonly four years, or one year after discovery.
Stage 8 — Across state lines
☐ Confirm the judgment is alive in the rendering state.
☐ Domesticate by filing an authenticated copy with the clerk in the new state and notifying the debtor. Federal judgments register under 28 U.S.C. § 1963; full faith and credit is required by 28 U.S.C. § 1738.
☐ Wait out the statutory objection period before enforcing.
☐ Record liens in the new state's counties.
☐ Note the limits — Baker v. General Motors Corp., 522 U.S. 222 (1998).
Stage 9 — Maintain
☐ Compute interest correctly and keep a running ledger.
☐ Credit every payment and record partial satisfactions.
☐ Renew before expiration. ⚠ A lapsed judgment cannot ordinarily be revived, and every lien depending on it dies.
☐ File the satisfaction promptly on payment. Many states impose a penalty for failing to do so after demand.
☐ Know when to stop. A judgment against a person with only exempt income and no property returns nothing until circumstances change.
Part Two — If a judgment has been entered against you
Stage A — The first week
☐ Get the court file. Read the complaint, the affidavit of service, and the judgment.
☐ Check whether it was a default and whether you were properly served. ⭐ Defective service is the most common and most successful ground to vacate. Rule 55 governs default in federal court.
☐ Calendar the vacatur deadline — often 30 to 60 days for ordinary grounds; a void judgment may be attacked at any time.
☐ Verify the amount, including interest and any added fees. Unauthorized fees are challengeable.
☐ Do not transfer assets to anyone. ⚠ It converts a collection problem into a fraudulent transfer case with your name on it.
Stage B — Protect exempt income
☐ Move all federal benefits to direct deposit.
☐ Keep benefits in a dedicated account with nothing else in it. Commingling defeats the automatic protection.
☐ Do not withdraw benefits as cash and redeposit them elsewhere — you lose the trace.
☐ Know your wage floor. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1673, if disposable earnings do not exceed thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage, nothing may be garnished for an ordinary debt.
☐ Confirm whether your state is more protective than the federal cap.
Stage C — Claim the exemption
☐ Read the notice the day it arrives. ⚠ The deadline is often ten to twenty days, and missing it forfeits money the law says you may keep.
☐ Complete the claim form fully, identifying the source of every protected dollar.
☐ Attach proof: benefit award letters, deposit histories, pay stubs, vehicle titles and loan balances, retirement account statements.
☐ File with the court and serve the creditor exactly as the form directs.
☐ Appear at the hearing. Non-appearance is treated as abandonment.
☐ Ask about the wildcard exemption, which many states allow to be applied to cash or any asset.
☐ List every category: homestead, wages, retirement, federal benefits, vehicle equity, household goods, tools of trade, life insurance and annuities, public assistance, personal injury recoveries. See public benefits.
Stage D — Evaluate the bigger options
☐ Consider bankruptcy honestly. 11 U.S.C. § 362 stops collection immediately; § 522 supplies exemptions; § 727 discharges most consumer debts. See preparing and filing a consumer bankruptcy case.
☐ Ask whether this debt would even be discharged. Fraud, willful injury, most taxes, and support obligations are excepted.
☐ ⚠ Do not liquidate a retirement account to pay a judgment. It was probably exempt; the withdrawal is taxable and may carry a penalty.
☐ Do not borrow against exempt property to pay a non-priority creditor without advice.
Stage E — Negotiate and close it out
☐ Offer a lump sum at a discount. Judgment holders settle far more often than debtors expect.
☐ Get the payoff in writing with the interest computation attached.
☐ Put the agreement in writing before paying anything.
☐ Do not pay by a method that gives the creditor access to your account.
☐ ⭐ Require a filed satisfaction of judgment as the deliverable — not a receipt, not a letter.
☐ Confirm lien releases in every county where the judgment was recorded.
☐ Keep the satisfaction and the releases permanently. They resurface at every refinance and sale.
☐ Watch for improper collection conduct — see 15 U.S.C. § 1692f and disputing a credit report error and defending a debt collection suit.
Cost and yield table for creditors
| Step | Cost | Typical yield |
|---|---|---|
| Record abstract of judgment | Low, one time | Full payment eventually, if property exists |
| Debtor's examination | Moderate | Information; the precondition for everything |
| Wage garnishment | Low per issuance | Steady and capped while employed |
| Bank levy | Low to moderate | Snapshot; often zero |
| Execution on goods | High plus bond and storage | Frequently less than cost |
| Charging order | Moderate | Frequently zero |
| Receivership | Very high | Substantial in the right case |
| Fraudulent transfer suit | Very high | Substantial where badges are clear |
| Domestication | Moderate | Access to a new state's remedies |
Worksheet 1 — Asset investigation grid
Complete one per debtor. Blank rows are as informative as filled ones.
| Asset | Source checked | Found? | Encumbrances | Exempt? | Reachable value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment and wages | Examination, licensing records, subpoena | Cap under 15 U.S.C. § 1673 | |||
| 1099 or contract income | Examination, payer subpoenas | Not wages — levy the receivable | |||
| Deposit accounts | Examination, bank subpoenas | Federal benefit lookback | |||
| Real property | County land records, tax rolls | Homestead | |||
| Vehicles | Title records | Vehicle exemption | |||
| Business interests | Entity registrations | Charging order only | |||
| Accounts receivable | Customer subpoenas | Prior security interests | |||
| Retirement accounts | Examination, plan subpoena | Broadly protected | |||
| Life insurance cash value | Examination, insurer subpoena | Varies by state | |||
| Safe deposit boxes and storage | Examination, bank records | Contents may be exempt | |||
| Claims owed to the debtor | Examination, court dockets | Assignable | |||
| Transfers in the last four years | Examination, land records | Fraudulent transfer analysis |
Worksheet 2 — Wage garnishment computation
Complete each pay period; keep it with the file.
| Line | Item | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gross earnings for the period | |
| 2 | Legally required deductions (taxes, Social Security, mandatory retirement) | |
| 3 | Disposable earnings (line 1 − line 2) | |
| 4 | 25% of line 3 | |
| 5 | Thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage, for this pay frequency | |
| 6 | Line 3 − line 5 (if negative, enter zero) | |
| 7 | Federal maximum — lesser of line 4 and line 6 | |
| 8 | State maximum, if more protective | |
| 9 | Amount to withhold — lesser of line 7 and line 8, reduced by any senior support or tax withholding |
⚠ Line 2 includes only legally required deductions. Rent, insurance premiums, union dues, and voluntary retirement contributions do not reduce disposable earnings.
Worksheet 3 — Exemption claim assembly (for debtors)
☐ The garnishment notice, with the deadline circled. ☐ The claim form, completed and signed. ☐ Benefit award letters for every federal benefit received. ☐ Two months of account statements showing the source of every deposit. ☐ Pay stubs for the last three pay periods. ☐ Vehicle title and current loan payoff statement. ☐ Mortgage statement and a recent valuation, for a homestead claim. ☐ Retirement account statements identifying the plan type. ☐ A one-page cover sheet listing each exemption claimed, the statute, and the exhibit that proves it. ☐ Proof of filing and proof of service on the creditor. ☐ Calendar entry for the hearing date.
⭐ The cover sheet is what wins these hearings. Judges hearing exemption claims have minutes, not hours, and a claim organized by statute with an exhibit for each line is granted far more often than a stack of documents.
Worksheet 4 — Collectability score before filing suit
Score each 0–3. Below 10, discuss with the client whether the case is worth bringing.
| Factor | Score |
|---|---|
| Insurance likely to respond | |
| Defendant employed above the garnishment floor | |
| Defendant owns real property in a reachable county | |
| Few or no senior liens | |
| Business is operating and solvent | |
| Claim would survive bankruptcy as pleaded | |
| Enforcement cost low relative to claim | |
| Defendant has a professional license or other compliance pressure |
⭐ The sixth row is the one lawyers control. The same facts pleaded as fraud rather than breach of contract can be the difference between a collectible judgment and a discharged one — and that choice is made at the complaint stage.
Decision tree
Does the debtor have real property? → Record the abstract. Always. Then continue.
Is the debtor employed above the floor? → Garnish wages. This is the reliable stream.
Is the debtor paid on invoices instead? → Levy the receivables.
Is there a non-exempt bank balance? → Levy, timed to a deposit.
Is the debtor an entity? → Search UCC filings first; then receivables, then successor and veil analysis.
Did assets move recently? → Fraudulent transfer analysis, and record a lis pendens on any transferred realty.
Is all income exempt and is there no property? → Record, renew, and stop spending.
Did the debtor move out of state? → Domesticate, then start again from the top in the new state.
The five mistakes that cost the most
- Skipping the debtor's examination and guessing at assets.
- Missing the exemption claim deadline (debtor side) — the single most expensive omission in this entire area.
- Letting the judgment lapse without renewal.
- Paying a judgment without obtaining a filed satisfaction.
- Spending on execution before checking who holds a prior perfected security interest.
See the paper that beats everyone else and taking, perfecting, and enforcing a security interest or lien.
Worksheet 5 — Debtor's examination question set
Serve document requests first, then use the examination to lock down the answers.
Identity and background
- Full legal name, all names used, date of birth, and current address.
- Marital status, and whether your spouse's name appears on any account or title with you.
- Every address in the last five years.
Income 4. Every employer, payer, and client in the last three years. 5. How you are paid, and to what account. 6. Any income received in cash, and from whom. 7. Anyone who pays your expenses directly — rent, car, insurance, phone.
Accounts 8. Every financial institution used in the last three years, with account numbers. 9. Every payment application or digital wallet with a balance. 10. Every safe deposit box or storage unit.
Property 11. Every vehicle, trailer, boat, and recreational vehicle, titled in any name. 12. Every real property interest, including remainders, life estates, and inherited interests. 13. Any property held by someone else for your benefit.
Business 14. Every entity in which you hold any interest, and the other owners. 15. Every entity that has paid you or paid your expenses.
Transfers 16. Every transfer of property over $500 in the last four years, to whom, and for what consideration. 17. Any property you have deeded, gifted, or sold since this lawsuit began.
Owed to you 18. Any money owed to you, including deposits, refunds, and claims. 19. Any pending lawsuit, insurance claim, or inheritance. 20. Any expected tax refund.
⚠ Ask question 17 last and slowly. It is the question that most often produces a fraudulent transfer claim, and the answer is given more candidly after nineteen routine questions than at the start.
Worksheet 6 — Payoff and satisfaction record
Keep this for the life of the judgment and permanently afterward.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Case name and number, and court | |
| Date judgment entered | |
| Principal amount | |
| Statutory interest rate and accrual method | |
| Counties where the abstract is recorded, with book and page | |
| Judgment expiration date | |
| Renewal deadline and date renewed | |
| Payments received: date, amount, source | |
| Partial satisfactions recorded | |
| Final payoff figure and date computed | |
| Satisfaction filed: date, court, instrument number | |
| Lien releases recorded: county, date, instrument number |
⭐ A debtor who paid but never obtained the recorded satisfaction and releases has not finished. Years later a title company will not accept receipts, the creditor may be dissolved or uninterested, and clearing the record becomes its own lawsuit.
A short note on tone
Collection practice attracts strong feelings on both sides, and the practical advice is the same either way: be accurate, be documented, and be prompt.
For creditors, that means a correct payoff figure, a properly served exemption notice, a prompt satisfaction, and no threat that cannot lawfully be carried out. For debtors, it means opening the mail, meeting the exemption deadline, appearing at the hearing, and negotiating rather than hiding.
⭐ Almost every catastrophic outcome in this area — a garnished benefit account, a vacated judgment after years of collection, a lien that surfaces at a closing — traces to a deadline someone did not read or a document someone did not file. The law in this area is not especially harsh. The calendar is.
See representing yourself in civil court, the self-represented litigant's toolkit, and the limitations, deadlines, and timeliness toolkit.
Related Documents
- Winning Is Not Collecting: What Happens After the Judgment Is Entered
- Judgment Enforcement and Debtor Exemptions: A Comprehensive Guide to Garnishment, Liens, and Levies
- The Judgment Collection and Exemption Toolkit
- Filing, Trying, and Collecting a Small Claims Judgment: A Practical Checklist
- Preparing and Filing a Consumer Bankruptcy Case: A Practical Checklist
- The Consumer Debt and Credit Reporting Toolkit