Q: I have an Unlawful Detainer judgment – Can you enforce that?

A: Yes – once the judgment is final (the debtor has left the property) and you have a judgment (for unpaid rent, damages, etc.) – then a judgment enforcer can help.

Unlawful Detainer judgments (housing enforcement judgments) often take longer to enforce than most other judgments. This is because when the debtor stopped paying you or was evicted – chances are they were broke at that time. It sometimes takes a few years for the debtors to have assets – then the judgment enforcer can grab them.

Of course, judgment enforcers do not assume your debtor is poor – they always check – and keep checking – until they find and seize their available assets. Of course, these days, a lot of broke debtors stay broke.