subject: Using A Keeper To Satisfy Your Judgment [print this page] I am not an attorney, I am a judgment and debt referral expert (Judgment and Collection Agency Broker). This article is my opinion, based on my experience in California, and laws are different in every state. If you want a strategy to use or legal advice, please contact a lawyer.
When the judgment debtor is a business, one of the ways to enforce a judgment is to hire a sheriff to be a "keeper". The definition of a keeper is when a sheriff or their agents, go to a business for at least an entire day, inventories assets, and usually intercepts cash flows from customers to the business or its cash registers.
A keeper is similar to a "till-tap", however a till-tap is usually for much less than an entire day, and only intercepts cash flow to a business. A keeper stays longer, and inventories assets of the business for possible future seizure and sale at an auction. Keepers and till-taps are at the creditor's expense, but those costs may be added to the judgment debtor's debt.
In some locations, sheriffs have time to install keepers on a timely basis. In many counties, there are not enough sheriff employees, so keepers are scheduled six to seven weeks out, often with a limit of one day in a row. After you get your one-day keeper, your request returns to the back of the line, so other judgment creditors can get their keepers. When it is your turn again, you can have another keeper.
Sheriffs can't interfere with the regular operations of the business or their employees. You can't request the sheriff to ask the employees of the business to empty their pockets, or make customers to purchase things, because the sheriff is only the levying officer. With a court order, the sheriff may later levy and sell at auction; equipment, inventory, art, and other movable business assets.
A registered process server can't be a keeper. A court-appointed receiver may arrange to install a keeper every day, or as often as is required to satisfy the judgment. Receivers are very expensive, however a daily keeper function will cause most businesses to repay what is owed, file for bankruptcy protection, or close.
When a keeper is not practical or available in your county, there are other ways to recover a judgment against a business. I have read that you may be able to levy on the building lease, if there are at least two years remaining on the lease, and if the building owner agrees.
One would have the sheriff to levy the building lease, and sell it at an auction. No additional court hearing is necessary. Like any other business property, a business lease can be sold at an execution sale (auction) to the highest bidder. Of course, if you are the successful bidder at the auction, you must (at least begin to) pay the monthly lease.
One may recover some or all of their costs by subleasing the property to someone else who would enjoy a turn-key business. Of course that is not your real goal, however you must be prepared for that possibility. What you want, and what usually happens is, once the owner realizes they might lose their business, they will often find a way to pay off the judgment.
