Also known as: liens of judgment · judgment lien · judgment liens
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A statutory lien that attaches to a judgment debtor's real property upon docketing or recording of the judgment. The lien permits the creditor to levy on the property to satisfy the judgment, with priority ordinarily determined by the order of docketing.
Lola Langley conveyed a parcel she did not yet own to Landmark Realty by warranty deed. After she acquired title, a creditor docketed a money judgment against her. The judgment lien attached to the parcel the moment title vested in Lola, preventing her from conveying clear title to the buyer.
Landon Long paid off a senior mortgage on property owned by Lattice Systems after a judgment lien had already attached. Because the payment occurred under circumstances that equity protects, subrogation allowed Landon to step into the senior mortgage position ahead of the judgment lien.
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Levi Lowe obtained a large judgment against Lone Peak Energy in one state and docketed it in another where the company owned real estate. The recorded lien prevented the energy company from selling the land without satisfying the judgment or posting security.
Logan Lane and his wife held their residence as tenants by the entirety. A creditor obtained a judgment solely against Logan and attempted to record a lien on the home. The lien could not attach because the property was immune from the separate debts of one spouse.
Lucy Liu and her co-tenant each owned an undivided half interest in a commercial lot as joint tenants. After a creditor docketed a judgment against Lucy alone, the lien attached to her interest and permitted a forced sale of that share, though the surviving joint tenant retained the remaining interest.
A judgment lien attaches upon docketing or recording in the county where the property is located. It reaches both property the debtor already owns and any after-acquired real property the debtor later obtains while the lien remains in force.
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A judgment creditor may reach any interest the debtor has the power to transfer at the time the lien attaches. A present defeasible fee is reachable, but a future interest held by someone else is not.
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A vendor's purchase-money mortgage has priority over a preexisting judgment lien against the purchaser even when the vendor knows of the judgment. The rule protects the vendor who parts with title in reliance on the mortgage.
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The foreclosure sale extinguishes junior liens in the order of their priority. Any surplus after the senior mortgage is paid is applied first to junior liens, including judgment liens, before any remainder reaches the mortgagor.
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…tenancy into a joint tenancy or tenancy in common. In holding that the spouses could jointly convey the property, free of any judgment liens against the husband, the court said: “To hold the judgment to be a lien at all against this property, and the right of execution suspended during the life of the wife, and to be enforced…