Your California judgment follows the debtor anywhere in the United States. The Constitution's Full Faith & Credit Clause requires every state to recognize and enforce valid judgments from other states. Here's how to domesticate your judgment and collect assets nationwide.
Article IV, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution provides: "Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State."
This means every state must recognize your valid California judgment. The debtor can't escape by moving to Nevada, Texas, or Florida. Your judgment follows them.
Don't think of it as "chasing the debtor" - think of it as "chasing the assets." If the debtor has a bank account in Arizona, real estate in Nevada, or wages in Texas, you can enforce your California judgment against those assets by domesticating your judgment in each state where assets are located.
Most states (49 of 50, plus D.C.) have adopted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (UEFJA), which creates a simple registration process for out-of-state judgments.
California does not use UEFJA for incoming judgments (we use the Sister State Money-Judgments Act). But nearly all other states use UEFJA, making it easy to enforce your California judgment elsewhere.
If you have a judgment from another state and need to enforce it in California, use the Sister State Money-Judgments Act under CCP 1710.10. File an application with the Superior Court, and the judgment becomes enforceable in California.
Contact the California court clerk where your judgment was entered. Request a certified copy with court seal. Some states require "exemplified" or "triple-certified" copies (authenticated by clerk, judge, and Secretary of State). Check the target state's requirements.
Each state has slightly different procedures:
File your California judgment with the appropriate court in the target state (usually the county where the debtor lives or has assets). Pay the filing fee and submit required forms.
Most states require you to mail notice to the debtor informing them the judgment has been registered. This triggers a waiting period during which the debtor can object.
The debtor typically has 20-30 days to challenge the registration. Valid challenges are extremely limited - they can't re-argue the case. They can only challenge jurisdiction of the original court or claim the judgment was already paid.
After the waiting period, your California judgment is now a judgment of the new state. You can use all that state's enforcement tools: bank levies, wage garnishments, real property liens, debtor examinations, etc.
Your California judgment must still be valid and enforceable in California when you register it elsewhere. If your California judgment expires (10 years without renewal), you can't enforce it in other states either. Renew your California judgment first if needed.
If the debtor owns real estate in another state, you can create a lien against it:
Real property liens only affect property in the county where recorded. If the debtor owns property in multiple counties (or multiple states), you need to record in each one. Do your asset search first to identify all properties.
If the debtor has bank accounts outside California, you can levy them after domesticating your judgment.
For banks with branches in multiple states, you generally serve the branch where the account is held. Some states allow service on any branch. Check local rules.
If the debtor's bank has a California branch, you may be able to levy California accounts even if the debtor lives elsewhere. The bank account is an asset, and if any portion of it is in California, you may reach it through California enforcement.
Generally, the enforcement state's exemptions apply. If you're enforcing in Texas, Texas exemptions protect the debtor's property. This can be significant - some states (like Texas and Florida) have very generous homestead exemptions. Research the exemption laws before deciding where to enforce.
Full Faith & Credit only applies within the United States. Foreign countries are not required to enforce U.S. judgments. Some countries may recognize U.S. judgments under treaty or comity; others won't. International enforcement is much more complex and may require filing a new lawsuit abroad. Focus on U.S. assets if possible.
Potentially. I'm licensed in California. For simple registrations under UEFJA, I can often handle the paperwork from California. But for contested matters, levies, or proceedings that require court appearances, you may need local counsel. I work with a network of attorneys in other states for these situations.
Valid challenges are very limited. The debtor can only argue: (1) the California court lacked jurisdiction, (2) the judgment was obtained by fraud, (3) the judgment has been paid, or (4) the judgment is not final. They cannot re-argue the merits of the case. Most challenges fail, but delays enforcement.
Yes. There's no limit. If the debtor has assets in five states, register your judgment in all five. You can pursue enforcement in parallel across multiple states. Just track your collections carefully to avoid over-collecting.
I help judgment creditors domesticate California judgments in other states and coordinate multi-state enforcement efforts to maximize recovery.