Under California law, a judgment creditor may assign a judgment to a third person. Cal. Civ.Code 954. “In doing so, the judgment creditor assigns the debt upon which the judgment is based … Through such an assignment, the assignee ordinarily acquires all the rights and remedies possessed by the assignor for the enforcement of the debt, subject, however, to the defenses that the judgment debtor had against the assignor.” Great W. Bank v. Kong, 90 Cal. App.4th 28, 108 Cal.Rptr.2d 266, 268 (2001) (internal citations omitted). An assignment carries the legal title to the judgment; “the transfer of the title does not depend upon the fact of there being a valuable consideration.” Curtin v. Kowalsky, 145 Cal. 431, 78 P. 962, 963 (1904)”
The person assigning the judgment (the seller) to you (the buyer) must sign the form in the presence of a notary. The form must be signed and stamped by the notary. Once this is done, the form becomes the original that the court needs. Make one copy of it if you are bringing it to the court, and two copies if you are mailing to the court (in case the original gets lost in the mail).
Under CCP § 673(b), “an acknowledgment of assignment of judgment shall contain all of the following:
- The title of the court where the judgment is entered and the cause and number of the action.
- The date of entry of the judgment and of any renewals of the judgment and where entered in the records of the court.
- The name and address of the judgment creditor and name and last known address of the judgment debtor.
- A statement describing the right represented by the judgment that is assigned to the assignee.
- The name and address of the assignee.”
Be sure to serve a copy of the Acknowledgement to the Judgment debtor.
For more information on commercial collections and Judgment enforcement, contact the The Law Offices of Ronald P. Slates today.