WHAT IF THE JUDGMENT DEBTOR OWNS REAL ESTATE?
If the judgment debtor owns real estate, you may be able to collect your judgment when the real estate is sold by putting a “lien” on the property for the amount of the judgment. Ownership of all real property is recorded in the County Clerk’s office. In order to put a lien against real property, you must get a “transcript of judgment” from the Small Claims Court clerk and file it with the County Clerk of the county in which the Small Claims Court is located. There is a fee for obtaining a transcript of judgment. You may contact the County Clerk’s office regarding the amount of the fee and how to go about filing a transcript of judgment there. If the real estate is situated in another county other than the county in which the small claims judgment was entered, a second transcript of judgment will need to be obtained from the County Clerk in whose office the first transcript of judgment was filed. The second transcript of judgment then must be filed with the County Clerk in the county w
