What do I do with my judgment now
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Effective October 1, 2001, the way money judgments are enforced in Florida is undergoing a sweeping revision, affecting everything from the manner of perfecting a lien on personal property to the duration of judgment liens and priorities among judgment creditors. (1) The changes apply to all stages of the judgment collection process, from entry to expiration, and affect existing judgments and judgment liens as well. Despite the significant changes which the new system will cause to debtor-creditor law, transactional practice, and the perfection of judgment liens on personal property, it has received surprisingly little publicity. It is the intent of this article to highlight the major points of the new law. The Florida Legislature in the 2000 Legislative Session established a centralized system for perfecting and prioritizing judgment liens on personal property by filing of a judgment lien certificate with the Department of State, to be maintained in a statewide database accessible online. (2) Although the bill was signed by the governor in June 2000, the effective date of the centralized judgment lien filing provisions was delayed to October 1, 2001. (3) A “glitch” bill making additional changes was passed by the Florida Legislature in this year’s session, and also takes effect on October 1, 2001. (4) Judgment Lien Certificate Commencing October 1, 2001, the mechanism for obtaining a judgment lien on personal property of the debtor subject to levy shall be through the filing with the Florida Department of State (the “department”) of a judgment lien certificate. (5) This mechanism replaces the docketing of execution with the sheriff as the means of perfecting a judgment lien on personal property, and will create a lien on personal property of the debtor statewide, rather than only property within the county of docketing as heretofore. (6) More : accessmylibrary.com |