Many companies, individuals, and attorneys have found, to their dismay, that they've gone through the entire litigation process and won their case, only to find that they are unable to collect any money from the losing party.
Judgment Enforcement is a term that specifically applies to the process of collecting that money.
Once a judgment is entered, there is still no guarantee that the judgment debtor (as the losing party is called) will pay the winning party (called the judgment creditor). In fact, in most instances, some degree of post-judgment enforcement will become necessary to ensure that the judgment creditor receives payment. In North Carolina, the process begins by filing a Writ of Execution, once the time for filing an appeal has passed. The county sheriff then serves the writ on the judgment debtor and attempts to locate and seize assets with which to pay the judgment.
More often than not, if a Writ has to be filed, the judgment debtor will not have assets readily available for seizure. If, as usual, the sheriff returns without locating enough assets, more advanced judgment enforcement techniques must be employed. I will discuss these techniques in more detail in future posts.
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