“Ask the Legal Professional”
Pittsburgh Business Times – April 17, 2015
Q: What does “discovering assets” mean?
A: So you just won a court case against your debtor and obtained a money judgment, which is a court determination that the debtor owes you a specific amount of money as damages. Translating the legal piece of paper that says “judgment” into actual dollars can be the hardest part of all! You may need to discover assets of the debtor from which your judgment can be paid.
There are many places to conduct research, such as the County Tax Assessor’s Office (to see if the judgment debtor owns real estate), the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (to see if the judgment debtor owns motor vehicles), and the County Prothonotary’s Office (to see if your debtor has money judgments against others, which can then be garnished).
Locating the debtor’s asrsets can be complex. There are many places to look for assets, and several methods to be used. We suggest hiring a creditors’ rights law firm to help increase the odds of getting back what is legally owed to you.