What Is an Abstract of Judgment?
An abstract of judgement can be defined as a written summery of a court's decision. The document states the amount of money the losing defendant owes to a person or legal entity that won the lawsuit, formally known as the judgment creditor. Statements of judgement are widely used in courts in the U.S. and the U.K.
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Judgment Amount
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The judgement amount is the amount of money the defendant needs to pay, as stated in the abstract of judgement. It includes the money owed to the judgment creditor, the rate of interest that needs to be paid on the judgment amount and court costs.
Purpose
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The abstract of judgement is stamped and recorded, making it an official government document. The purpose of this document is to create a public record and, if necessary, create a lien or claim on the real estate property owned by the defendant. If the losing side doesn't pay the judgement amount voluntarily, then the winning side has the right to force a sheriff's sale of the defendant's property to collect the necessary funds.
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Problems
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The abstract of judgement is no guarantee that the winning side will recover the funds he is due in full amount. Several problems can arise. First, it is necessary to identify the country where the loser owns real estate property, which can be difficult if the loser owns real estate property in countries with unfriendly regimes. Secondly, there is always a possibility there are tax liens, secured loans or other judgments that come ahead of this particular judgment lien. And, thirdly, the defendant may simply go bankrupt.
Issuance
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The abstract of judgement is issued by the court in response to a written application by the person in whose favor the judgment is rendered. Alternatively, the application can be submitted by that person's agent, attorney or assignees.
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References
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