Have a Judgment That Still Hasn't Been Paid?

Your judgment is a court order, but it won’t pay itself. If a Florida business owes you money under a judgment and isn’t paying, you’ll need court tools to reach what the company owns.

Learning how to collect a judgment against a business in Florida starts with matching a tool to the debtor’s assets and entity type. The main tools are judgment liens, levies on property, garnishment and charging orders against owner interests. This page explains each one in plain terms.

What a Florida Business Judgment Means for the Creditor

A money judgment is a court order that says one party must pay another a set amount. The winning party is the judgment creditor. The party who owes is the judgment debtor.

A judgment doesn’t move money by itself. Collection is a series of court steps, and each step takes time.

Check the exact debtor name first. If the judgment names an LLC, a corporation, a partnership or an owner personally, that name decides which tool you can use. Aim a tool at the wrong party and you lose time.

Timing matters too. An action on a judgment from a Florida court of record must be started within 20 years, under Fla. Stat. § 95.11. Interest also runs.

Entity type matters. A corporation, an LLC, a partnership and a sole proprietor each face different rules. Most of the steps below turn on that difference.

Finding the Business’s Assets Before You Enforce

You need to know what the company owns before you pick a tool. Public records are the best first stop.

The Florida Department of State’s Sunbiz system shows an entity’s status, registered agent and principal address. You need those details to send papers to the right place. For an LLC, a notice or demand can go to the registered agent at the registered office, to a member or manager in the cases the statute lists, or to the company’s principal office in Florida, under Fla. Stat. § 605.0117.

A certificate of status is another check. For an LLC, it shows, among other things, whether fees are paid, whether the latest annual report is filed, whether the company has been administratively dissolved or has received a record of judicial dissolution, whether articles of dissolution have been filed, and whether a statement of termination has been filed, under Fla. Stat. § 605.0211. A dissolved company changes your next steps.

Keep a written list as you go. Record each asset, where it sits and who holds title. A bank account, a vehicle, a customer’s unpaid invoice and an owner’s partnership share each call for a different tool.

Watch for transfers. In determining actual intent, a court may consider, among other factors, whether the transfer was made to an insider or whether the debtor had been sued or threatened with suit before the transfer was made.

Writs of Execution and Levy on Business Property

Florida law makes much of a debtor’s property available for levy and sale under execution. That list includes goods and chattels, stock in corporations and equities of redemption, under Fla. Stat. § 56.061. A levy is the step that seizes property so it can be sold to pay the judgment.

Not every asset can be reached the same way. Some property is protected by exemption laws. Identify what’s reachable before you ask for a levy, and start with the asset list from the last section.

The court paper that starts this process is called a writ of execution. Errors in the paperwork or the levy can delay recovery. Check every detail against the judgment before you file.

Do the homework first. A levy that targets the wrong property wastes the time you need for the steps that could actually pay.

Garnishment of Bank Accounts and Receivables

Garnishment reaches money that a third party owes the debtor. The two common targets are bank accounts the debtor holds and unpaid invoices its own customers owe it. The Miami-Dade Clerk’s judgments resource lists writs of execution and garnishment among Florida collection procedures.

Both targets can move fast. Money leaves an account quickly, so timing matters. Identify the accounts and customers you can find before you file, so you aren’t waiting on information while funds move.

Expect pushback. A debtor may contest a garnishment, and that can add time. Plan for a longer process, even when the first steps look simple.

Judgment Liens on Real Property in Florida

A judgment becomes a lien on real property once a certified copy is recorded in the official records of a county, under Fla. Stat. § 55.10. Under Fla. Stat. § 55.10, a judgment, order, or decree becomes a lien on real property in any county when a certified copy of it is recorded in the official records or judgment lien record of the county, whichever is maintained at the time of recordation, provided the judgment, order, or decree contains the address of the person who has a lien as a result of it, or a separate affidavit stating that address is recorded simultaneously. The lien attaches in the county where you record it, so the property’s location drives where you file.

The judgment must contain the lienholder’s address. If it doesn’t, an affidavit with that address must be recorded at the same time. Fla. Stat. § 55.10 reads: “A judgment, order, or decree does not become a lien on real property unless the address of the person who has a lien as a result of such judgment, order, or decree is contained in the judgment, order, or decree or an affidavit with such address is simultaneously recorded with the judgment, order, or decree.” Fla. Stat. § 55.10 reads: “(1) A judgment, order, or decree becomes a lien on real property in any county when a certified copy of it is recorded in the official records or judgment lien record of the county, whichever is maintained at the time of recordation, provided that the judgment, order, or decree contains the address of the person who has a lien as a result of such judgment, order, or decree or a separate affidavit is recorded simultaneously with the judgment, order, or decree stating the address of the person who has a lien as a result of such judgment, order, or decree.” Without one or the other, the judgment is not a lien on real property under Fla. Stat. § 55.10.

If the certified copy is first recorded on or after July 1, 1994, the lien lasts an initial 10 years from recording (7 years if first recorded between July 1, 1987, and June 30, 1994). It can be extended for another 10 years, subject to the limitation in subsection (3), by rerecording a certified copy of the judgment before the lien expires and, at the same time, recording an affidavit with the current address, under Fla. Stat. § 55.10. Without that affidavit, the extension won’t happen.

A recorded lien can affect a sale or refinance. Buyers and lenders check public records. That makes the lien a real pressure point, though it doesn’t force payment on its own.

Judgment Lien Certificates on Personal Property

You acquire a judgment lien on personal property by filing a judgment lien certificate with the Florida Department of State. Filing is the step that creates the lien, under Fla. Stat. § 55.202.

Timing rules apply. The judgment must be final, the time to move for rehearing must have run, no rehearing motion can be pending, and no stay can be in effect, unless a court, for cause shown, has authorized filing before the judgment is final when it has authorized a writ of execution in the same matter. A certificate filed out of compliance is permanently void. A compliant one can still be filed later.

The lien reaches the debtor’s interest in personal property subject to execution. It also reaches payment intangibles and accounts located in Florida, plus their proceeds, but the judgment lienholder’s rights are subject to the rights of a prior secured party with a prior filed financing statement under chapter 679. It excludes fixtures, money, negotiable instruments and mortgages.

Under Fla. Stat. § 55.202(2)(b), a judgment lien certificate that is not filed in compliance with the subsection is permanently void and of no effect, but that does not stop you from filing a judgment lien certificate that does comply with the subsection.

Once the conditions are met, file promptly. The Department of State’s judgment lien resource explains the filing process.

Charging Orders Against LLC and Partnership Interests

When the debtor is an owner, a charging order against that owner’s interest is the tool to examine. It is a lien on the member’s transferable interest. It also requires the LLC to pay the creditor distributions that would otherwise go to the debtor, under Fla. Stat. § 605.0503.

The number of members matters. For an LLC with more than one member, foreclosure on that interest is not available, and a court may not order it. For an LLC with one member, a court may order a foreclosure sale if the creditor shows that distributions won’t satisfy the judgment within a reasonable time.

A partner’s transferable interest in a partnership works differently. A court may enter a charging order against an LLC member’s transferable interest. Foreclosure on that interest is limited: a court may order it only for an LLC with one member, and only after the creditor shows that distributions under a charging order will not satisfy the judgment within a reasonable time. For a partner’s transferable interest in a Florida partnership, a charging order is the exclusive remedy, but the court may order foreclosure of the charged interest at any time, and the buyer gets the rights of a transferee, under Fla. Stat. § 620.8504.

Set expectations early. A charging order reaches distributions. A company that pays out little may send little, and that limits the tool.

Common Obstacles, Timing and Where to Start

Most collection efforts use more than one tool. Debtors often respond by moving assets or changing the company’s name, so plan for that from the start.

Check the entity’s current status and legal name before you file anything. A dissolved or renamed company can change where papers go and which record a lien must match.

Going after an owner personally for the company’s debt is a separate question. Florida courts pierce a corporate veil only on a showing of improper conduct. That means the corporation was organized or used to mislead creditors or to perpetrate a fraud on them, as stated in Wurtzebach v. Flooring Depot FTL, Inc.

Some matters may be referred to another lawyer or firm. Ask about that early in any engagement.

Frequently Asked Questions