Reaching Across State Lines In Judgment Enforcement Collection

This article originally appeared on ABA.com

Certain states are more creditor-friendly than others. Whether a judgment creditor will be able to reach the property of a judgment debtor that is located out of the state in order to satisfy a judgment will depend upon the jurisdiction in which the judgment is sought to be enforced. The laws of some states, such as New York, allow courts to order judgment debtors to turn over out-of-state property, as long as the court has personal jurisdiction over the judgment debtor (commonly called "turnover orders"). While beneficial to judgment creditors in New York and other states with similar laws, expanding judgment enforcement power to reach across state lines creates the potential for priority disputes to arise between in-state and out-of-state judgment creditors.