Domestication of Judgement

If you have obtained a court judgment against a debtor in another state, chances are you can domesticate that judgment here in Georgia. Nothing is more frustrating than having to file a lawsuit against a debtor for non-payment of a debt. Much less being forced to have to again file another lawsuit if the debtor moves to another state. Fortunately, that is where the Uniform Domestication of Judgment Act comes in. A good debt collection law firm in the State of Georgia can assist you with this procedure.
Most of the fifty states follow this Act, so that a judgment that was obtained in one jurisdiction can be “domesticated” or recorded in the new state where the debtor resides. This is sometimes termed domestication of a “foreign judgment”. While this term seems to indicate that the judgment was obtained in a foreign country, the term foreign judgment simply means a judgment that was obtained in a different, aka “sister state”. This procedure saves the time and trouble of having to start the process over again. In addition, the debtor will not be able to argue the merits of the case, as it has already been reduced to a judgment in the favor of the creditor plaintiff.

Post Judgment Remedies

Once your foreign judgment has been domesticated in the State of Georgia, you will then be able to proceed with your post judgment remedies. Georgia is a good creditor’s state and there are many post judgment collection remedies available to creditors, including bank garnishment, wage garnishment, sheriff’s levy, real estate levy, and foreclosure. If you can identify personal property of real property of the debtor, you can go out with the sheriff and levy on these items in order to collect on your judgment. If you are unable to identify immediate assets, you may serve the debtor with post judgment discovery. This can be in the form of interrogatories or post judgment request for production of documents. In Georgia, most judges will grant an order on a motion to compel discovery and will even issue sanctions for contempt against a debtor that fails to respond to this post judgment discovery.

Judgment Collection Law Firm

Howe and Associates has worked with hundreds of creditors to domesticate and collect on judgments obtained in other states. Please contact our office for a discussion of your options as a creditor.
A judgment obtained in another state, often called a “sister state judgement”, can be recorded and collected upon, here in Georgia. Georgia is one of about forty states that recognize the “Uniform Enforcement of Judgments Act“. This allows for a quick and simple procedure to register your out of state judgement here in Georgia, to start the collections process. Once your out of state judgement is recorded here in Georgia, we can start all post judgement collection efforts. Those efforts include Garnishment and Levy.