Florida Judgment Liens
When a certified copy of a judgment is recorded in a Florida County, it creates a lien against real property located within the County. Our Florida collection attorney has written articles before, however, reminding creditors that Florida has very stringent homestead protection. Our Florida debt collection firm has several active debt collection cases where our collection attorney is attempting to have the court find the equitable exceptions to Florida homestead. If you are attempting to collect money from a debtor in Florida and you believe that the debtor may have a homestead, speak to our Florida collection lawyer and discuss if there is the possibility of piercing the Florida homestead protection.
Florida Judgments Are Valid for Twenty Years
Florida Statute 55.081 provides that judgments shall act as a lien against both real and personal property in Florida for no more than 20 years. Our Florida collection attorney reminds creditors, however, that a certified copy of the judgment must be recorded in the county of the debtor’s residence to perfect the lien. The lien after recorded is valid for ten years and is able to be renewed one time, to extend the lien for the twenty year life of the judgment. Creditors should be mindful that to acquire priority against personal property of a debtor, a judgment lien certificate must be filed with the Florida Department of State. Judgment Lien Certificates a re valid for 5 years and are able to be renewed for an additional 5 years. Florida Statute 55.204 . Our Florida collection attorney can still proceed to execute on personal property if a Judgment Lien Certificate is not acquire. The caveat is that if there are other creditors who have recorded their judgment Lien Certificate, their judgments must be satisfied before your judgment upon execution by the sheriff.
Florida Debt Collection Law Firm and Collection Attorneys
Our Florida debt collection law firm welcomes your inquiries to see if we will be able to assist you in collecting on your Florida Judgments. Our collection lawyer explains, getting a judgment is usually the easy part. How you collect your Florida Judgment can sometimes be difficult. Please call our Florida debt recovery law firm and ask t speak to one of our collection attorneys to devise a debt collection strategy.