COLLECTING THE JUDGMENT
A. USE OF JUDGMENT LIENS ON REAL PROPERTY
RECORDING THE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT: One of the easiest and most cost-effective collection tools in your arsenal is the transcript of judgment. You can lien any real property owned by the judgment debtor. (See 13-52-102, C.R.S.) . As soon as judgment is entered, you should obtain the transcript of judgment from the Clerk of the Court for a fee of $25.00 (as of July 1, 2008) and record it with the Clerk and Recorder of each county where the judgment debtor owns property. The transcript of judgment only encumbers real property in the county that it is recorded in, so you need to verify the correct county prior to recording the lien. You can record the transcript in multiple counties. The recording of the transcript does not effectuate execution of the judgment. Recording the lien makes the judgment a lien against the property, which needs to be paid off if the property is sold or refinanced. It may also make the judgment creditor a secured creditor in the event of a bankruptcy as long as the transcript is recorded at least 90 days prior to the filing of bankruptcy. It also gives the creditor the right to redeem the property in the event of a foreclosure.
REVIVAL OF THE JUDGMENT LIEN: Pursuant to Section 13-52-102(1), C.R.S. the lien expires 6 years from the judgment date, unless revived as set forth in Rule 54, C.R.C.P. A Motion to Revive the lien must be filed and the Court will issue a Show Cause Order, ordering the judgment debtor to file cause, in writing, within 10 days as to why the judgment lien should not be revived. The Order to Show Cause must be served upon the judgment debtor. If the debtor files an answer, a hearing must be held. If the Court finds no cause or no answer is filed, then the Court will enter an order reviving the judgment lien and the clerk will issue a revived transcript of judgment. The revived transcript of judgment must be recorded in the same county to keep the same priority date.
