Andre Law Firm P.A. wishes you and yours a healthy and prosperous 2022. This particular post is directed at my colleagues who may have acquired judgments or verdicts for their clients this year and have not yet been paid on them.
Threshold Question:
Have you perfected your judgment liens? In a previous post I discussed the importance and practical value of perfecting your client’s judgment lien in order to preserve lien priority as to the judgment debtor’s personal and real property. As a brief recap, to perfect a judgment lien in real property, one must record a certified copy of the final judgment or verdict in the County where the Debtor has real property. To perfect a lien in personal property one must file a judgment lien certificate with the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations.
Even if your practice does not have the desire or bandwidth to engage in active collection of a judgment, these steps are crucial in preserving lien priority. With the current economic times we are in, often judgment debtors have several creditors and preserving lien priority is crucial. In addition, aggressively pursuing collection on the judgment sets you apart from passive creditors and gets your client paid.
Review Your Files:
I urge my legal colleagues to review their files and make sure that the judgments you have worked so hard at acquiring for your clients are properly perfected. For 2022, I further urge you to review your files to see what can be done to get these unpaid judgments collected. My firm would love to help you do this. If you require a review on the potential collectability or assessment of your unpaid judgments, contact us.
