Courts award judgments. They do not collect them. Enforcement is a separate project that the winning party has to initiate, fund, and manage, and a meaningful share of civil judgments are never collected in full because the losing party has no reachable assets.
The governing structure in federal court is unusually deferential to state law. Rule 69 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that a money judgment is enforced by a writ of execution, and that the procedure on execution — and in proceedings supplementary to and in aid of judgment — must accord with the procedure of the state where the court is located, except as a federal statute governs. Exemptions, the property a debtor gets to keep, are likewise defined by state law with a federal overlay for certain benefit types. So even in a federal case, collection is fundamentally a state-law exercise.
Before spending money: is this collectible?
Collection costs real money — filing fees, sheriff or marshal fees, service costs, records searches, and attorney time. Spending it against a defendant with no equity, no steady wages, and exempt income converts a paper loss into a cash loss. Do the triage first.
- Is there employment? Wage garnishment is the most reliable collection tool against individuals, but only where wages exist and exceed protected minimums.
- Is there real property with equity? A recorded judgment lien is cheap, passive, and may be paid at the next sale or refinance even if you never force anything.
- Are there business assets? Receivables, equipment, and bank accounts of an operating business are often more reachable than an individual's property.
- Is income exempt? If the debtor lives on protected federal benefits, ordinary collection may reach almost nothing regardless of effort.
- Is bankruptcy likely? Aggressive collection against an insolvent debtor sometimes precipitates the filing that eliminates the debt.
- Would a payment plan work better? A stipulated installment agreement, entered as an enforceable order, often nets more than forced execution.
Post-judgment discovery: finding what exists
You are entitled to look. Rule 69(a)(2) permits the judgment creditor to obtain discovery from any person — including the judgment debtor — as provided in the federal rules or by the procedure of the state where the court is located. State courts have parallel mechanisms, usually called a debtor's examination, supplementary proceedings, or an order of examination.
- Written interrogatories about accounts, employers, real property, vehicles, and transfers
- Requests for production of tax returns, bank statements, and loan applications
- An in-person examination of the debtor under oath, often at the courthouse
- Third-party subpoenas to banks, employers, and business partners
- County recorder searches for real property and existing liens
- Secretary of state UCC filings showing secured interests in business assets
- Business registry records identifying entities the debtor controls
Loan applications are especially useful, because debtors describe their assets favorably to lenders and unfavorably to creditors. A debtor who ignores a properly served examination order can face contempt, which is one of the few enforcement tools with genuine personal consequences.
Watch out: Collection activity is regulated. Depending on who is collecting and what kind of debt is involved, federal and state statutes restrict contact methods, prohibit misrepresentations, and bar threats of action that cannot legally be taken. The consumer-facing rules are covered in our guide to debt collection rights under the FDCPA, and violations can generate counterclaims that dwarf the judgment.
The enforcement tools compared
| Tool | Reaches | Effort | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Judgment lien | Real property in the county where recorded | Low — record an abstract of judgment | Passive; homestead exemptions may consume the equity |
| Wage garnishment | A portion of disposable earnings from an employer | Moderate — writ plus service on the employer | Federal and state caps; multiple garnishments compete |
| Bank levy | Funds in accounts at the time of service | Moderate — must identify the institution | Snapshot only; protected deposits must be released |
| Writ of execution on personal property | Vehicles, equipment, inventory | High — sheriff involvement, storage, sale costs | Sale proceeds often disappoint; senior liens come first |
| Charging order | Distributions from an LLC or partnership interest | Moderate — a court order | Reaches distributions, not management or assets |
| Receivership | An operating business or income-producing property | Very high — court appointment and oversight | Expensive; reserved for substantial judgments |
| Turnover order | Specific identified property in the debtor's control | Moderate — motion practice | Requires knowing the asset exists and where it is |
The recorded judgment lien deserves particular attention because its cost-to-value ratio is unmatched. Recording an abstract in each county where the debtor owns or may acquire real property is inexpensive, requires no confrontation, and often produces payment years later when the debtor sells or refinances. Renew it before it lapses; lien duration and renewal rules are state-specific.
Exemptions: what the debtor keeps
Every state defines property that cannot be taken to satisfy an ordinary money judgment, and the lists differ dramatically. Homestead protection ranges from a token dollar figure in some states to unlimited acreage-based protection in others. Typical exemption categories include a homestead interest, a vehicle up to a value cap, tools of a trade, household goods, retirement accounts, and public benefits.
Wages carry their own layered protection: federal law caps the portion of disposable earnings subject to ordinary garnishment, and many states protect more than the federal floor. Certain federal payments — Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, veterans' benefits, and others — are protected by statute, and banks are subject to rules requiring them to identify and preserve recently deposited protected federal benefit funds when a garnishment order arrives.
Practical step: If your account was frozen and it holds protected benefits or exempt wages, file the exemption claim your state provides immediately — these deadlines are typically measured in days, not weeks. Bring statements showing the deposit source. Courts routinely release protected funds, but usually only when someone asks in the required form and on time.
Judgments that cross state lines and time
A judgment from one state can be enforced in another, but not automatically. Most states have adopted an enforcement-of-foreign-judgments act — a family of uniform legislation tracked by the Uniform Law Commission — allowing a judgment to be registered with the clerk in the second state, after which it is enforced as a local judgment. Federal judgments can likewise be registered in other districts under federal statute; the court system's structure and district information is at uscourts.gov.
Judgments also expire. States set a term of years, commonly with a renewal mechanism that must be exercised before the original term lapses. Missing a renewal deadline can extinguish an otherwise valuable judgment, and post-judgment interest — accruing at a rate set by statute — makes an old judgment worth substantially more than its face amount when it is finally collected. Calendar the renewal the day the judgment is entered.
If the judgment came from a case the defendant never appeared in, expect a challenge to the underlying judgment rather than to the collection method; that route is described in our guide to default judgments and setting them aside, and it starts with the service questions covered in our guide to service of process.
Quick answers
How much of a paycheck can be garnished?
Federal law limits ordinary consumer garnishment to a portion of disposable earnings, calculated against a formula tied to the federal minimum wage, and many states protect more. Different and higher limits apply to child support, taxes, and student loans. Because the caps interact and multiple garnishments can be pending, the employer's payroll calculation is usually the practical answer.
Can I take the debtor's house?
Rarely in practice. You can record a lien easily, but forcing a sale is expensive and is limited by homestead exemptions and senior mortgages. In many states a forced sale nets nothing after the mortgage and exemption are satisfied. The lien itself, waiting for a voluntary sale or refinance, is usually the better play.
What happens if the debtor files bankruptcy?
An automatic stay stops collection immediately, and continuing after notice can bring sanctions. The debt may then be discharged, though some categories survive. A judgment lien recorded before the filing may retain value against the property in certain circumstances, which is one more reason to record early rather than late.
Does Rule 69 mean federal collection is different from state collection?
Not really — that is the point of the rule. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, execution follows the procedure of the state where the district court sits unless a federal statute applies. A federal judgment creditor uses state writs, state garnishment forms, and state exemption law, filed in the federal case.
Is it worth suing someone with no money?
Sometimes, because judgments last for years and can be renewed, and people acquire assets. But go in with realistic expectations about timing and cost. For modest amounts, the economics discussed in our guide to small claims court often make more sense than a full case whose judgment may sit uncollected.
Your next moves
Record an abstract of judgment in every county where the debtor holds or might acquire real property, and calendar the renewal date the same day. Then run post-judgment discovery before choosing a tool — guessing at a bank or an employer wastes writs and fees.
Match the tool to the asset: garnishment for wages, levy for identified accounts, a charging order for business interests, and liens for real property. Respect exemption rules and collection-conduct statutes, because violations turn a creditor into a defendant. And if a payment agreement gets more money into your hands faster than execution would, take it — the enforcement path continues in the Courts & Justice pathway, but the goal is payment, not procedure.