subject: Judgments Against Fictitious Business Names [print this page] What if your debtor is a business? It is important to do post judgment investigation, to uncover any business which your judgment debtor is involved with or owns. Hopefully, this was also done prior to suing them. This article is my opinion and is not, legal advice. I'm a judgment broker, and not a lawyer. If you ever need legal advice or a strategy to use, please contact a lawyer.
Is your judgment debtor's business a DBA (Doing Business As), or is their business incorporated? A corporate entity is treated as an entirely individual and separate entity in the eyes of the law. Legally speaking, a corporate entity has many of the same rights that an individual has.
A DBA (sometimes called a Fictitious Business Name) business is not legally separate from the person or persons that own it. With a DBA business, a civil judgment against the individual is also a judgment against their DBA business, even if the original causes of action leading up to the judgment have nothing to do with the DBA business. A judgment owner is free to pay a Sheriff to try to freeze, seize, garnish, or levy; non-exempt assets belonging to the business owner, whether they appear to be related to their business or not. The possible assets which may be garnished include some business equipment, real estate, accounts receivable, furniture, bank accounts, some inventory, some vehicles, or perhaps on any other asset which your judgment debtor owns.
If your judgment debtor owns a DBA business, it may increase the range of possibilities available to try to enforce judgments. The extra possibilities can make judgment recovery easier, particular if their DBA business is profitable or has available assets.
When the judgment debtor is a corporate entity, as an example a corporation or a LLC, you can't have the Sheriff garnish anyone's assets, unless they're specifically listed as owing money, in the body of the judgment, no matter what kind of entity-related tricks they may be doing now or in the past. Unless a court order declares otherwise, when a judgment debtor is a corporation or LLC, only that entity's assets can be used to help recover a judgment.
Corporate entities are treated as an entirely individual and separate entity in the eyes of the law, having some of the same rights that a person does. The more profitable, public, and established a business is, the easier it is to recover a judgment against them. In certain situations, a profitable business pays off judgments if they are brought to their attention. Most often, you must locate, and have the Sheriff garnish the judgment debtor entity's income streams or assets. This requires research, to discover who is paying the judgment debtor, or what assets they own.
When the judgment debtor owns shares in a company, or has part ownership in one, levying those kinds of assets to help satisfy your judgment is usually complicated, and is beyond the scope of this article.
