Selling a Judgment in Los Angeles: How It Works and What It's Worth

You won your case in Los Angeles Superior Court. The judge signed the judgment, the clerk entered it, and the debtor still hasn't paid a dime. Now you're facing the part nobody warns you about: collecting it yourself.

Many creditors don't know they have another option. In California, a money judgment is property, and like other property it can be sold. When you sell your judgment, you get cash now and the buyer takes over the work of collecting.

This guide explains how selling a judgment works in Los Angeles County, what affects the price, and how a sale compares with hiring a collection attorney or agency.

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Key Takeaways

• California law lets you sell (assign) a money judgment. The buyer files an acknowledgment of the assignment with the court and becomes the assignee of record.
• You do not need the debtor's permission to sell your judgment.
• The price depends mostly on the debtor: what they own, where they work, and how hard they are to collect from. The age of the judgment, its balance and any liens already recorded matter too.
• Selling trades part of the balance for certainty. You get paid now, and the time, cost and risk of collecting move to the buyer.
• Final Verdict Solutions buys civil money judgments over $25,000 from Los Angeles County and the rest of the country.

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Can You Sell a Judgment in California?

Yes. Under California Code of Civil Procedure section 673, the person who buys a judgment can become the assignee of record by filing an acknowledgment of assignment of judgment with the court clerk. From that point on, the buyer has the right to enforce the judgment, and payments go to the buyer instead of the original creditor.

The debtor does not have to agree. A judgment is a right to collect money, and you are free to transfer that right the same way you could sell a promissory note or a piece of equipment.

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Why Los Angeles Creditors Sell Their Judgments

Winning a judgment and collecting it are two different jobs. The court does not collect for you. In Los Angeles County, collecting usually means getting writs of execution issued, sending levy instructions to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, recording an abstract of judgment with the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, and going back to court for debtor examinations or other orders when the debtor won't cooperate.

Creditors usually decide to sell when one or more of these is true:

• The debtor is fighting or hiding. Some debtors move money, change banks, or put property in someone else's name the moment they lose.
• The cost keeps climbing. Every writ, levy, motion and hearing costs money, and there is no guarantee any of it pays off.
• You want to move on. Many creditors are business owners who would rather spend their time running the business than chasing a former customer or partner through the courts.
• The debtor left Los Angeles. If the debtor moved to another state, the judgment may need to be domesticated there before it can be enforced against assets in that state.
• You need cash now. A judgment that might pay in five years doesn't help with this year's bills.

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Which Los Angeles Judgments Can Be Sold?

Final Verdict Solutions buys civil money judgments with a balance of $25,000 or more, including:

• Judgments from any Los Angeles Superior Court courthouse, from the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown to Long Beach, Torrance, Van Nuys, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Lancaster and everywhere in between.
• Judgments from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
• Out-of-state judgments that have been entered in California as sister-state judgments.
• Los Angeles judgments against debtors who have since moved to another state.

We do not buy small claims judgments or judgments arising from consumer debt or consumer credit transactions.

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What Is a Los Angeles Judgment Worth?

Judgments never sell for their full balance. The buyer is paying cash today for a right to collect that may take years and may never pay off in full, so the price reflects that risk. The stronger the judgment, the better the offer.

The main factors are:

• The debtor. This matters more than anything else. A debtor who owns Los Angeles real estate with equity, has a steady job or runs an active business is worth far more than one with nothing in their name.
• The balance and the interest. Most California civil money judgments earn interest at 10% a year, so the amount owed grows while the judgment goes unpaid.
• The age of the judgment. A California money judgment can be enforced for 10 years and can be renewed for another 10. An older judgment can still be valuable, but if it is close to expiring and hasn't been renewed, that affects the price.
• What has already been done. A recorded abstract of judgment, a lien on a business's personal property, or a pending levy can all make a judgment more valuable.
• Bankruptcy and other risks. A debtor in bankruptcy, or a judgment that is still being appealed, is a different situation and is valued differently.

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Selling vs. Hiring a Collection Attorney or Agency

If you search for help collecting a Los Angeles judgment, most of what you'll find are collection attorneys and collection agencies. Here's how the options compare.

Hiring an attorney or agency. You keep the judgment. The attorney or agency tries to collect it, usually on contingency or by the hour. On contingency, you give up a share of whatever they recover, and you get nothing if they recover nothing. By the hour, you pay whether they collect or not. Either way, you wait.

Selling the judgment. You give up the rest of the balance in exchange for cash now. The judgment becomes the buyer's, and so do the cost, time and risk of collecting it. You are done.

Neither option is right for everyone. If the debtor has plenty of easy-to-reach assets and you don't mind waiting, collecting may make sense. If you want certainty and want to move on, selling usually makes more sense.

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How Selling Your Judgment Works

1. Send us the judgment. Submit a copy through our form, along with the case number and anything you know about the debtor.
2. We review it. We look at the debtor, the age and balance of the judgment, the interest that has built up, and any liens already recorded.
3. You get a cash offer. There is no fee for the review and no obligation to accept.
4. You get paid. If you accept, we sign a purchase agreement and an assignment of the judgment, and the assignment is filed with the court. From then on, collecting is our job.

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What to Have Ready

• A copy of the signed judgment and the notice of entry of judgment.
• The case number and the courthouse where the case was filed.
• Any abstract of judgment, writ of execution, or other enforcement paperwork already filed.
• Any payments the debtor has made since the judgment was entered.
• What you know about the debtor: addresses, employer, businesses, property and bank accounts.

Don't worry if you don't have all of this. Send what you have and we'll take it from there.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need the debtor's permission to sell my judgment?

No. The debtor does not have to agree. Once the assignment is filed with the court, the debtor owes the buyer instead of you.

Will the debtor know I sold it?

Yes. The acknowledgment of assignment is filed in the court case, so it becomes part of the public record.

Can I sell a judgment I've already tried to collect?

Yes. Many of the judgments we buy have years of collection attempts behind them. Tell us what has been tried and what happened.

Do you buy judgments outside Los Angeles?

Yes. We buy civil judgments over $25,000 in all 50 states, including San Diego, San Francisco and the rest of California.

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Get a Cash Offer for Your Los Angeles Judgment

If you have an unpaid Los Angeles County judgment of $25,000 or more, submit it to Final Verdict Solutions or call (484) 312-3300. We'll review it and make you a no-obligation cash offer.