Judgment Debt 

If you have been served with a lawsuit or your creditor has already obtained a judgment bankruptcy may be your best option to help you get out of debt and get a fresh start.  You can file bankruptcy on judgments and in most cases your bankruptcy filing will eliminate the judgment and underlying debt.  You can even file bankruptcy before of after entry of a judgment to eliminate the underlying debt and prevent any judgment from occurring. 

File Bankruptcy On Judgment Debt San Diego

It is actually preferable to file bankruptcy before judgment rather than bankruptcy after judgment has been entered against you.  Once your creditor obtains a judgment against you they can levy on your bank accounts and garnish your wages, and you may not be able to file bankruptcy in time to stop a garnishment of your wages or levy on your bank account.  Filing bankruptcy prior to judgment will stop a lawsuit and avoid a judgment altogether.

Also, once you are sued, you will have to hire a lawyer to defend you otherwise you will lose automatically, by what is called a "default" and default judgment.  Default judgment means that if you fail to timely appear in Court and defend a lawsuit.  When you lose by default, a judgment can be immediately entered against you.

Once your creditor obtains a judgment against you, your creditor can attach your wages through Wage Garnishment, attach your bank account through a Bank Levy, place a lien against your home or rental property, and even ask the Sheriff to seize your car and sell it to pay off the judgment, among other collection remedies.

California judgment collection law is very judgment creditor friendly.  It means in California State Court collection proceedings your creditor has the upper hand.  Bankruptcy Court, by contrast, is much more judgment debtor friendly.  You will have more rights and protections under the shield of the San Diego Bankruptcy Court.

Judgment Enforced by Wage Garnishment

If your judgment creditor has already begun enforcing its judgment through a wage garnishment, filing bankruptcy will still eliminate the judgment and stop the wage garnishment.  Once you file bankruptcy, the bankruptcy stay stops the garnishment and your earnings are paid directly to you. 

Judgment Enforced by Bank Levy

If your creditor has obtained a judgment against you and levied upon your bank account through a bank levy, filing bankruptcy will stop any future bank levies.  Upon filing bankruptcy an automatic bankruptcy stay goes into effect and the levy will be stopped.

Any funds seized by a bank levy, if they are still in the hands of the Sheriff, will be turned over to the Trustee. If the levied funds are within your allowable bankruptcy exemptions (assets you get to keep when you file bankruptcy) then the funds will ultimately be returned to you. If the levied funds are not within your allowable exemptions, then they will be distributed to your creditors.

What will Happen to the Judgment?

Assuming that you did not commit was no fraud or other similar misconduct, then in most cases when you file bankruptcy judgment debt owing before bankruptcy is eliminated by your bankruptcy discharge and the Discharge Injunction prohibits your judgment creditor from attempting to collect the judgment debt.   

If there was fraud or similar misconduct involved, then your creditor has a set period of time in which it can file an Adversary Complaint (a lawsuit in Bankruptcy Court) objecting to the discharge of the Judgment.

If you filed bankruptcy before entry of judgment, again assuming there was no fraud or other similar misconduct, then the debt owed to your creditor who sued you will be eliminated and your creditor can no longer attempt to sue you and obtain a judgment.

An experienced bankruptcy attorney can advise you as to whether or not a Judgment obtained against you by your creditor will be discharged (eliminated) in bankruptcy.