Enforcement of Judgments

Question 1

what is tangible personal property?

Answer 1

property that you can touch or feel but is not real estate (ie furniture, cars, clothing, cash in your wallet)

Question 2

what is intangible personal property?

Answer 2

property that you cannot touch or feel (ie bank accounts)

Question 3

what is a “Writ of Fieri Facias”?

Answer 3

also called a “Writ of Execution”. it gives the creditor the right to execute on personal property of the debtor

Question 4

what is the first step after getting a judgment that you want to enforce against personal property?

Answer 4

apply for a writ of execution on the judgment, describing the property to attach, and to give it to sheriff

Question 5

what is step 2 for reaching tangible pp?

Answer 5

after the sheriff gets the writ:
sheriff goes to the address directed by the writ and attempts to levy on the tangible pp of the judgment debtor

act of levy creates a lien on tangible pp

Question 6

what is step 3 for reaching tangible pp?

Answer 6

sheriff would then sell the property at a public auction. if the creditor wants the sheriff to seize the property and put it up for sale, the creditor must post a bond (the purpose of the bond is to protect the sheriff and any purchaser at the sheriff’s sale from claims of any person over the property (ie if judgment is on my neighbor’s property, but i parked my car there and the sheriff accidentally takes it, and i now want to sue him for conversion, the bond will protect him from any loss as a result)

Question 7

how does the sheriff reach intangible personal property?

Answer 7

after getting the writ, the sheriff can serve that upon a third party who holds or owes the debtor’s funds (ie the debtor’s bank or employer); this is called a garnishment

Question 8

how long is the lien enforced by the garnishment good for and where is it good for?

Answer 8

1 year; good for anywhere in the Commonwealth

Question 9

what creates the lien when you are dealing with intangible pp?

Answer 9

the writ of execution does (not the garnishment); the garnishment is used to enforce the lien

Question 10

what is a debtor interrogatory?

Answer 10

creditor can subpoena the debtor to appear before the court under oath and answer questions about what property the debtor owns

Question 11

what is this interrogatory conditioned upon?

Answer 11

a writ of execution being issued

Question 12

what happens if the debtor discloses owning anything?

Answer 12

the judge can order the debtor to surrender the property to be sold at a sheriff’s sale

Question 13

what court can these interrogatories be done in?

Answer 13

in gdc or cc

Question 14

how does one enforce judgments against real estate?

Answer 14

the judgment becomes a lien from the time of docketing (recording) in in the cc clerk’s office where the land is situated

the docketing of the judgment creates the lien and establishes priority of the liens

Question 15

what if the real property straddles multiple districts?

Answer 15

the creditor must docket the judgment separately in each place the debtor’s land is situated

Question 16

what happens when you take the abstract of judgment from the cc of one jurisdiction and docket it in another jurisdiction?

Answer 16

it will create a lien on any property the debtor owns in the subsequent jurisdiction

Question 17

what may a creditor with a lien on real estate ask the court to do?

Answer 17

enforce the judgment and sell the real estate to satisfy the lien

Question 18

what must the creditor prove for the court to authorize to order the land to be sold?

Answer 18

that any income (ie profits and rents) from the real estate will fail to satisfy the judgment within 5 years

Question 19

what if the creditor does not prove this?

Answer 19

the court will not order the sale and will instead order the rents and profits to be paid into the court and distributed to the creditor

Question 20

can the creditor reach debtor’s interest in a tenancy by entirety

Answer 20

no; it is protected from liens due to claims of a creditor of just one spouse

Question 21

what happens if the parties divorce?

Answer 21

tenancy is covered to a tenancy in common, which makes the interest of the debtor spouse reachable by the creditor

Question 22

what about other interests in land?

Answer 22

interest of one spouse or non-spouse owner can be reached by creditor of just that person in the following tenancies: tic, jt, jointly inherited property, and life estate

Question 23

what is the UEFJA?

Answer 23

Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act

Question 24

what does the UEFJA do?

Answer 24

foreign judgments from any state or federal court are entitled to full faith and credit in VA

Question 25

how are foreign judgments enforced?

Answer 25

by filing a property authenticated copy of the judgment in any VA CC. Out of state judgments Must be filed in the CC regardless of dollar amount

Question 26

can a debtor attack the validity of a foreign judgment?

Answer 26

yes on any grounds that could be used to attack the validity of a Virginia court judgment