How do I get paid from a personal lien against a property?

When a debt of some sort is not paid, it is possible for a person or business to take out a lien against real property (land and all things attached to it) or personal property (all other property, like vehicles, etc.), in order to recoup the money they should have received. There are several why a lien might be taken out on someone's property, for example for unpaid property taxes, or unpaid work performed on property (called a construction or mechanic's lien), even personal lien for things such as unpaid child care payments. Judgments might be awarded by the court as well for compensation or labor and materials furnished by unpaid for. When it comes to collecting on these liens, whether they be judgments or personal liens the steps that need to be taken can get rather involved, but they can be legally enforced.

To begin with be sure that the statute of limitation has not expired. If the state in which you live has a statute of limitations that governs the judgment you received it will take precedence. In the case of construction or mechanic's liens many states limit their enforcement to within a year of the original filing. Tax liens, on the other hand, can be collected for anywhere between 6 to 10 years. The statute of limitations for judgments will vary from state to state some providing as long as 20 years for their enforcement.

The second thing you need to do is file a lawsuit on your lien. Since liens are generally attached to real property in order to collect on them a judgment will be required. This means that you will have to file suit against the debtor in order to enforce the lien. Once the judgment inyour favor is granted, you can begin the sale/auction proceedings of the real property in order to collect what you are owed.

The third step is to acquire a "Writ of Execution" (or judgment lien against the personal property) if at this point the debtor has still failed to pay the judgment. State laws will vary on this point, but generally the debtor's primary residence is exempt. When the judgment is attached to real property, it is best to request an Abstract of Judgment from the court.

The final step is to present the Writ of Execution (or judgment lien) to the sheriff's office. The sheriff is the one who will conduct the auction or sale of the personal property - or if necessary evict the owners and then sell the real property. The sheriff will require you to pay a deposit in order to cover his costs and expense. Depending on state laws the deposit will be repaid to you after the Writ of Execution is complete.It will be your responsibility to provide notice of the sale of the debtor's property to any and all interested parties (including other lien holder and creditors with a Uniform Commercial Code security interest). It is also possible that you will have to advertise the auction in the local newspaper. Once this is complete the sheriff's office will conduct the auction of the debtor's property and you will then be paid what you are owed.