Code of Civil Procedure 700.170 contains one of the most powerful and versatile judgment collection and enforcement tools in the California Enforcement of Judgments Law. Generally (meaning not always, but usually) when a debtor is receiving money/payment streams from any source (otherwise known as “Accounts Receivable” or “General Intangibles“), these payments can be levied upon, and the money then goes to the creditor to pay the judgment, instead of the debtor. Examples of ongoing payments which can be levied upon using this method are:
*Rents
*Royalties (such as actor royalties, music royalties, book royalties, etc)
*Commissions (Such as real estate agent commissions)
*Any payments from 3rd parties to debtor (Such as from apps and websites, like Airbnb/youtube, entertainment venues paying debtors to perform there; clients of debtor for whom debtor performs services or to whom debtor sells goods of any sort (such as legal clients, security firm clients, purchasers of manufactured goods, to name a few – the list goes on.)
These levies are not only effective means of garnishing payment streams, but they often put pressure on debtors by involving third parties in the judgment enforcement, and creating liabilities for third parties who fail to comply. (See write – up on Imposing Third Party Liability for more discussion of this)
A Collection Law Firm Favorite, we have collected seven figures many times over, utilizing the intangible levy, combined with third party liability [CCP 701.020] , and third party discovery. (Often, we will serve third parties with subpoenas at the same time as the levy, which requires them to provide us all documents connected to monies they have paid to debtor(s)- so that way they know that if the fail to comply, we will know- and they will end up on the hook for any money they do not pay us.)
Exemptions still apply and there are multiple defenses to these, as there are in most legal scenarios. Collection Lawyers in Los Angeles since 2011, The Evanns Collection Law Firm has been enforcing judgments for years and we have plenty of experience with these claims.
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