Debtor Examination as Judgment Collection Procedure in California

by Michael Papuc

Attorney at Law

44 Montgomery Street

Suite 2405

San Francisco, California 94104

415-773-1755

Fax: 415-723-9703

email: Michael.Papuc@gmail.com

San Francisco Attorney Michael Papuc represents clients in collection matters.

An examination of a judgment debtor or third party is the postjudgment equivalent of a deposition. An examination can be used to identify property in the possession or control of the judgment debtor or a third person (e.g., a nondebtor spouse), to learn about property the debtor may obtain in the future, and to require the debtor or third person to turn over property to the levying officer. (See Imperial Bank v. Pim Electric, Inc. (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 540, 546–547,; Lee v. Swansboro Country Property Owners Ass'n (2008) 151 Cal.App.4th 575, 581.)

Service of an examination order on the judgment debtor generally creates a one-year lien on all of the debtor's nonexempt personal property whether or not it is in the debtor's possession and control. (Code Civ. Proc. § 708.110(d); In re Burns (9th Cir. BAP 2003) 291 BR 846, 851.)

An examination order served on a third person creates a one-year lien on the debtor's interest in property in the third person's possession or control, provided the property is adequately described in the creditor's application for the examination order. (Code Civ. Proc. § 708.120(c).)

At the conclusion of the exam, the creditor may obtain a "turnover order" requiring the debtor or third person to deliver the identified assets to the levying officer or, in some cases, the creditor or a receiver. Such orders are enforceable by contempt, and may be far more effective than levying on property under writ of execution. (See In re Burns, supra, 291 BR at 855; Imperial Bank v. Pim Electric, Inc., supra, 33 Cal.App.4th at 549–550; Jogani v. Jogani (2006) 141 Cal.App.4th 158, 174.)