DO NOT MESS UP THE EASY WAY TO COLLECT A JUDGMENT
In civil disputes getting a judgment often is only half the battle. Collecting a civil judgment can be very expensive, time consuming, and fruitless. Just ask Fred Goldman who has yet to realize anything from his $34 million judgment against O.J. Simpson.
The simplest, and least expensive, way to collect a judgment against a party that owns real property, is to record an abstract of that judgment. For an $15.00 clerk fee and a $9.00 recording fee, a judgment creditor can obtain and record an abstract judgment which creates a lien against any real property owned or later acquired by the judgment debtor. After the abstract is properly recorded, the judgment creditor need do nothing except sit back and renew the judgment every ten years. It may take a while, but if property owned by the judgment debtor ever changes hands or is used as collateral to secure a loan, the judgment creditor will get an urgent call from an escrow agent that is very eager to secure a quick release of the lien by paying the judgment in full plus 10% interest.
The abstract is a simple form and the procedure so easy, there has to be a catch; and there is. The form has to be filled out properly and accurately. Recently the bankruptcy appellate panel for the 9th Circuit in the case of Alcove Investment, Inc. v. Conceicao, 331 B.R. 885 (2005) affirmed a ruling by the bankruptcy court to deny a $50,200 secured claim because the judgment creditor failed to put the judgment debtor’s social security number on its recorded judgment. California Code of Civil Procedure §674(a)(6) requires an abstract of judgment to contain the social security number and the driver’s license number of the judgment debtor, if known. The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel did not agree with the judgment creditor’s contention that this was a mere technicality. Rather, the court held, it was a statutory requirement that helped prevent confusion of judgment debtors.
In the case of Keele v. Reich, 169 Cal.App.3d 1129 (1985) the judgment creditor thought it would be easier simply to indicated that the social security number was unknown. When it was later shown that this was a misrepresentation, and that the judgment creditor in fact knew the social security number, the California Court of Appeal refused to recognize the judgment lien.
The lesson to be learned is that the social security number and drivers license number are important to success in litigation. If you did not get that information when you entered into a transaction, it is absolutely necessary to get the information early in discovery when litigation begins. Drivers License number is an optional questions (2.03) on the approved California Form Interrogatories. A special interrogatory should be used to get the social security number. While an opposing party may object on the grounds of privacy, the court should overrule the objection because of the requirements of California Code of Civil Procedure §674.
