Judgment Enforcement Riverside CA

The process of collecting a judgment in Riverside and enforcing the judgment against the losing party, known as the judgment debtor, is a legal sub-specialty known as judgment collection law. There is a special section of the California Code of Civil Procedure dedicated just to this law, known as Title IX, the Enforcement of Judgments Law. Title IX is invoked the moment the Riverside judge orders the judgment debtor to pay a certain sum of money to the creditor. The case now becomes a totally different case: It turns from whatever type of case it was before into a judgment enforcement case or judgment collection case, in the local Riverside Court. Because a legal case “morphs” into a judgment collection case once the Riverside court judgment is entered, and because the whole different body of laws and procedures of judgment enforcement is now the applicable law, judgment collection experts who are familiar with procedures for enforcing your judgment in Riverside are often necessary. And you have found them.  Collecting a judgement in Riverside entails employing a variety of legal strategies as well as knowing local rules and infrastructure. A judgment collection in the Riverside local courts may be, and likely is different, than a judgment enforcement in another locality. The following regional differences are typical, and this is by no means a complete list of them:

• Potentially different remote appearance procedures in local Courts for Riverside judgment collection court hearings. Some courts do not even allow remote appearances anymore; others require special requests to be filed and approved by the Court long before the hearings. Other courts allow remote access for some things, but not for others. This process varies wildly post-Covid;
• Potentially different procedures for Riverside judgment enforcement efforts in the local Courts of Riverside, for bringing certain kinds of judgment collection motions or seeking certain judgment enforcement remedies, with the Court;
• Potentially different rules for local Riverside judgment enforcement court filings, sometimes including specific local forms not required other places, which must be included in the Riverside judgment collection filings to satisfy local requirements;
• Potentially different substantive law requirements for Riverside judgment recovery procedures. It sounds strange, but the legal process and requirements for things like real estate levies/foreclosures are very different in different jurisdictions; debtor’s examinations are handled very differently from one locale to another, judgment enforcement departments with jurisdiction in Riverside likely handle things differently than other Courts. Getting these procedures wrong can cause major delays, or can even cause a judgment enforcement to fail altogether;
• Particular local procedures unique to the levying officer in charge of judgment enforcement in Riverside. Generally this will be the sheriff unit local to Riverside (Or in Federal Cases, the local Federal Marshal is the is the levy officer in charge of judgment collection in Riverside) Whoever the levying officer is with local jurisdiction over Riverside judgment enforcement, you can bet that they have their own procedures and ways of doing things. A judgment recovery specialist familiar with the levying officers local to Riverside will know exactly how to navigate all of this.

Our team of attorneys, in house process servers, document specialists and attorney service network, have decades upon decades of combined judgment collection experience in the region, including experience handling judgment collection in Riverside (and most other places in Southern California). If you have a judgment enforcement in Riverside, you have come to the right place.

Attorney Richard O. Evanns, the firm founder and head judgment collection attorney, is a pre-eminent authority in the judgment enforcement law field. He and his firm and their staff have decades of combined experience enforcing Riverside judgments, and an extensive understanding of not only local rules and procedures specific to Riverside Courts, but an extensive understanding of the California judgment enforcement laws. Mr. Evanns has spoken at various events and on various panels regarding the topic of Judgment Enforcement, including many speaking engagements for the California Association of Judgment Professionals (Previous board member) as well as speaking at the Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles yearly convention (2022), which is the largest lawyer convention in the U.S. Richard Evanns and his team of attorneys and judgment recovery specialists have settled / satisfied somewhere between $30 to $50 million in judgment debts since opening their doors.

Evanns Collection Law Firm can pursue judgment debtors by utilizing various methods to collect your judgment in Riverside. Once we obtain the necessary information on your debtor’s finances through various investigative channels, we then use the  local levying officer in charge of Riverside judgment enforcement, to seize/attach/garnish all available assets. Additionally, in Riverside judgment collections, we often drag the debtor into the local Courthouse on debtor examination services to assist you in getting the money you’re owed. We also work quickly- in some cases we can locate debtor assets within days of taking the case. Our methods of judgment collection range from basic tools such as levies and garnishments, to high level and complex court proceedings such as real estate Foreclosures, fraudulent transfer lawsuits, and receiverships. Our methods include but are by no means limited to:

• Bank Levies

Probably the most popular and quickest judgment collection method, the bank levy may be done when a creditor issues a writ of execution with the Riverside local Court , and then instructs the levying officer in charge of Riverside judgment enforcement to serve levies on financial institutions. The Evanns Collection Law firm almost exclusively uses its own in-house process servers in its judgment enforcements.

• Brokerage Account Levies

Another expedient  judgment enforcement remedy, the brokerage levy operates under the same writ of execution issued by the Riverside Court (just like the bank levy). The local levying officer in Riverside then serves brokerage houses where debtors may have stocks, bonds, retirements, etc. Sometimes, a Liquidation order is required under Commercial Code 8112.

• Debtors Examinations of Debtors and Third Parties; use of subpoenas to track financial information of Debtor

The Creditor serves a notice on the Debtor, and Debtor must come into the judgment enforcement department at Riverside court. The debtor will then be required to answer questions about all his/her assets in front of a Riverside Collection Judge, so that the creditor may pursue the assets. Each Court has its own local processes for handling these proceedings, and Evanns Collection Law’s decades of experience means that, there are very few Courts anywhere in Southern California where we do not have experience.

• Wage Garnishments/Spousal Support Wage Assignment Orders

If a Riverside Judgment Debtor is employed and owes on a judgment, the Riverside levying officer (or any levying officer who is local to the debtor’s employment) may serve a wage garnishment. As with many post judgment collections, a Riverside process server may also serve the garnishment, which is faster and more precise than the levying officer doing it (Sheriffs are often backlogged, inefficient, etc.)

• Real Estate Levies/Foreclosures

If a Judgment Debtor owes a Judgment, real estate owned by the debtor  may be executed on, and sold. This must be done in the locality where the real estate is. So even if a creditor is collecting a Riverside judgment, and even if the judgment debtor is local to Riverside, if the property is in another county, the judgment collection proceedings must be moved to the jurisdiction where the property is, and proceed under the laws of that jurisdiction.  Other remedies, include but are not limited to:

• Charging Orders against Debtor interests in Partnerships and LLCs;
• Assignment Orders against any and all types of debtor income streams
• Alter Egos and “veil piercing” when debtors play corporate shell games/hide behind illegitimate corporate entities and LLCs;
• Combatting Claims of Exemption
• Pursuit of Third Parties / Imposing Liability on Third Parties, such as family members, business partners, and others who are helping debtor conceal assets
• Third Party Claim Litigation
• Fraudulent Transfer Litigation
• Intangible Asset Levies

The list goes on, and the methods that debtors use to avoid creditors is long and ever changing. Rest assured, we know how to handle them all.

Due to a large population and strong economy, Riverside is a hotspot for judgment collections, meaning there are plenty of potential debtors and assets that can be collected. The Evanns Collection Law firm and its team of judgment recovery specialists has decades of collective experience in the Southern California Region, including judgment enforcement in Riverside. If you need assistance with your Riverside judgment recovery, please contact Evanns Collection Law Firm to talk more about your Riverside judgment collection.

Q: How do I recover my Judgment in Riverside?

The short answer to this is to contact a Riverside judgment recovery specialist (Or one with good knowledge of Riverside). The Evanns Collection Law Firm has collected tens of millions of dollars of judgment debts, and can assist you.

Q: Should I hire a judgment collection law firm to recover my judgement in Riverside?

There are multiple options for people and companies to hire to collect your judgment. Some are law firms, some are not. Law Firms are regulated by the state bar, and covered by insurance policies if mistakes are made. Law firms also have very high levels of fiduciary duties to clients, are required to act in certain ways (Example, the must return phone calls and emails), required to handle money in certain ways, etc. Collection agencies and other recovery companies do not have any such requirements or regulations. Of course many of such companies will do things in a way fair to their clients, but there is no State Bar overseeing them to make sure they act properly. Thus, a judgment enforcement law firm is generally more beneficial for a client, than a non-attorney judgment collector.

Q: Should I hire a collection agency to collect my Riverside judgment instead of a judgment enforcement law firm?

As stated above, there are many collectors and collection agencies who are good at judgment collections. In fact, many don’t know this, but Evanns Collection Law Firm started out as a non-attorney judgment recovery company, before Richard Evanns became a lawyer and turned it into a law firm!  Law firms are highly regulated by the State Bar, are covered by large insurance policies in case mistakes are made, and generally, law firms are legally required to handle clients in fair and proper ways, required hold client money in special trust accounts and provide speedy and exact accountings on any money collected–the list goes on. Non-law firm collection companies have no special obligations to clients, and no State Bar overseeing them, and most likely no insurance to cover any mistakes that might happen. So while non-law firm collection companies and judgment collectors can sometimes be just as good at their job as law firms, there are many safeguards and special regulations which apply to law firms, which provide very high levels of protection for clients. These protections for clients simply do not exist when a client hires a non-attorney judgment recovery company in Riverside. There are massive perks to hiring a law firm, so if you can get a lawyer to take your case, that is likely the smartest road for Clients.

Q: How long does it take to collect my Riverside judgment?

A Riverside judgment enforcement can be concluded in a matter of a couple of months, If assets can be located immediately, and levied upon and garnished. If the judgment recovery is more difficult, assets harder to locate, and the debtor is slippery, then the judgment collection could drag on for a much longer time. A Riverside Court may need to be heavily involved, there may be bankruptcies, there may be appeals. Generally, but not always, larger judgments will take longer to collect. Often we tell judgement enforcement clients, when they ask us how long the effort will take, that they know better than we do, because they know the debtor. Is the debtor a reasonable person who will pay up when some pressure is exerted? Or is the debtor a hardened deadbeat who would rather die than pay, or would rather spend money on lawyers instead of paying the judgment? If the former, the collection may not take too long, if the latter, then it could take years. (Sorry we wish we had a better answer.)

Q: Should I try to enforce my Riverside judgment myself?

You definitely could try to enforce your Riverside judgment yourself, but as we tell people, if you have anything else to do in life, such as a career or job for example, you are better off hiring expert judgment enforcement lawyers. The learning curve is steep. Enforcing your own judgment is similar to trying to replace your own roof. Could you maybe do it successfully and save money? Certainly possible. Could it go horribly wrong and cost more in the end? Also a definite possibility. Will it take you way more time, effort, trial and error, and general misery than if you hired someone? Certainly it will. And will you have learned a skill that will be valuable to you later? Probably not, unless you intend to become a roofer. (Or a judgment recovery specialist.)  Ultimately, for most people, hiring the pros is the best thing to do, and The Evanns Collection Law firm and its team of attorneys and judgment recovery specialists are the pros.