If you have a judgment against you in Idaho, it means that a court has ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a civil case and has ordered you to pay a certain amount of money or to take some other action.
Here are some things you can expect when you have a judgment against you in Idaho:
Here are some things you can expect when you have a judgment against you in Idaho:
- The court will issue a written judgment that includes the specific amount of money you are ordered to pay the plaintiff. You will also receive copies of any other orders the court has made in the case.
- The judgment creditor (the person or entity to whom you are ordered to money) may try to collect the judgment or enforce the judgment.
- There are generally three ways in Idaho to collect on a judgment.
- First is by garnishing your wages. The laws of Idaho will allow a judgment creditor to garnish up to 25% of your paycheck after taxes are deducted. The garnishment will continue each paycheck until the debt has been paid in full.
- Second is by levying against your bank accounts. A bank account levy is where the judgment creditor obtains the authorization to deduct funds from your bank account. A bank account levy can result in 100% of your bank account balance being taken. A levy generally happens once a month until the debt has been paid in full.
- Third is by seizing your assets. The judgment creditor can take the civil judgment and file it with the county recorder’s office. Filing a civil judgment creates a judgment lien. The judgment lien will attach the judgment to any real estate you own in that county. The judgment lien then can legally act like a mortgage on your real estate and foreclose on the property. Idaho judgment liens are typically filed and enforced with the judgment creditor knows you have real estate. If you don’t have real estate in Idaho then you will likely see a judgment collected by the first two options for collection.
- You may be able to appeal the judgment if you believe it was made in error or if there are other grounds for appeal. Appealing the judgment can stop or stay the enforcement of the judgment. This option can be very expensive so make sure you discuss the grounds for appeal with an experienced Idaho attorney to make sure your appeal will be successful.
- If you are unable to pay the judgment, you may be able to negotiate a payment plan or settlement with the judgment creditor. If the judgment creditor does not know where you work or where you bank you may have the option of contacting them and negotiating a settlement. The judgment creditor will likely not want to settle after having successfully accomplished all the legal work of obtaining a judgment against you. You may need to look for other options to address the judgment and obligation to pay.
- You may be required to appear at a Debtor’s Exam. If the judgment creditor is not able to find where you work or where you bank, they are able to obtain a court order that will require you to appear in court to answer financial questions and to provide financial documents. Because this is a court order to appear you want to make sure you do not miss the court date. Missing a debtor’s exam will result in a bench warrant for your arrest because you did not comply with a court order to appear.
- Filing bankruptcy may be a last resort option to address and Idaho judgment. Once a bankruptcy is filed the Idaho lawsuit must stop. If there is already a judgment entered, the bankruptcy will stop the judgment creditor from collecting or enforcing the judgment. If a garnishment has already started, the bankruptcy will stop the garnishment from continuing. If a bank levy has already happened, filing a bankruptcy will prevent it from happening in the future.
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