Appellate Practice Attorney serving New York, NY
There are various collection procedures available to judgment creditors (I assume that you have reduced your award to a judgment; you can't do anything without one), but you have to initiate them, they won't happen automatically. The procedures include seizing and selling the debtor's assets, but regardless of what price is received, you will receive no more than the judgment amount (plus interest and perhaps incidental fees). However, you may be able to "bid in" at any auction of property up to the judgment amount. So, for example, if you have a $100 judgment and the debtor's golf clubs were being auctioned, you could bid up to $100 without having to pay any actual cash. If you win the bid, the amount would just be deducted from your judgment. This gives you an advantage at any auction (which are generally poorly attended and don't generally result in a sale at fair market value), and you may be able to get a bargain.
Answered on Dec 01st, 2017 at 7:59 AM