Collecting a judgment from a borrower who moved to another state

You usually do not have to sue all over again. Most states have adopted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act. It lets you file a certified copy of your judgment in the state where the borrower now lives and enforce it as if a local court had entered it. In this law, a "foreign" judgment simply means one from another state.

The idea comes from the full faith and credit rule in the U.S. Constitution, which requires each state to respect the final judgments of the others. The uniform act turns that rule into a filing at the clerk's office instead of a new lawsuit. In Florida, Section 55.503(1) says a recorded foreign judgment has the same effect and is subject to the same procedures as a judgment of a Florida circuit or county court. North Carolina says much the same thing in General Statutes 1C-1703(c).

The details differ by state, though, and those details decide how fast you can collect. Here is how the two states compare:

A worked timeline

Say you lent a friend $16,000 on an unsecured note while you both lived in Virginia. He stopped paying, and you won a Virginia judgment for $18,400. That figure is $16,000 in principal, $1,850 in interest, and $550 in court costs. Before you could collect, he took a job in Tampa, Florida.

First, you order a certified copy of the judgment from the Virginia court clerk. On June 2, you record it with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in Hillsborough County, along with the affidavit listing his last known address. On June 4, the clerk mails him notice by registered mail. If he wants to fight, Section 55.509(1) gives him until July 2, which is 30 days after the June 2 recording. By then he must file a lawsuit contesting the judgment and record a lis pendens. If he does nothing, July 4 is the first day you can enforce, because Section 55.505(3) bars execution until 30 days after the clerk mails notice. Section 55.507 says the judgment does not become a lien until that same date.

From July 4 on, you collect the way any Florida judgment creditor would. You might garnish his bank account or record the judgment where he owns property. Wages are harder. Under Florida Statutes 222.11(2)(a), all of the disposable earnings of a head of family whose disposable earnings are $750 a week or less are exempt from garnishment. If he supports a family on a modest paycheck, his bank accounts and other assets may be the better target. Our post on wage garnishment and collecting a judgment on an unpaid note covers those tools in more depth.

Now suppose he had moved to Charlotte instead. You would file in Mecklenburg County, where he lives, and then you would serve the notice of filing yourself. Under G.S. 1C-1704(b), that notice must tell him he has 30 days from receiving it to seek relief, and that the judgment will be enforced like any North Carolina judgment if he does not. Your 30-day clock in North Carolina starts at service, not mailing, so slow service means slow collection. North Carolina also limits wage collection. Under G.S. 1-362, the court cannot apply the debtor's earnings from the 60 days before its order when those earnings are needed to support a family that relies on his work.

Watch the new state's time limits

Registering a judgment in a new state does not give you a fresh clock. Florida Section 55.502(4) says the act does not alter, modify, or extend the limitation period for enforcing foreign judgments. Under Section 95.11(1), Florida gives an action on a judgment from a Florida court of record twenty years. Under Section 95.11(2)(a), an action on a judgment from any other state gets five years. North Carolina's period is ten years from the date the judgment was entered, under G.S. 1-47(1), and that same subsection says such an action may not be brought more than once or extend the lien of the original judgment.

That means a judgment that still has years left at home may have less time in the state where the borrower now lives. File in the new state as soon as you confirm where the borrower lives or owns property, and keep the home-state judgment current too. You can compare the deadlines for the note itself in our statute of limitations lookup.

A few habits make this process smoother. Confirm the borrower's address before you file, because both states build the notice around it. Ask the home court clerk for a certified or exemplified copy that meets the new state's requirements. Keep a running ledger of payments, interest, and costs so the affidavit's unpaid balance is exact. If the borrower owns property in a third state, you can register the same judgment there as well.

Sources

• Florida Statutes 55.502, Construction of act
• Florida Statutes 55.503, Recording and status of foreign judgments; fees
• Florida Statutes 55.505, Notice of recording; prerequisite to enforcement
• Florida Statutes 55.507, Lien; when effective
• Florida Statutes 55.509, Stay of enforcement of foreign judgment
• Florida Statutes 95.11, Limitations other than for the recovery of real property
• Florida Statutes 222.11, Exemption of wages from garnishment
• North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 1C, Article 17, Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act
• North Carolina General Statutes 1-47, Ten years
• North Carolina General Statutes 1-362, Debtor's property ordered sold