What post-judgment enforcement research actually involves.
A research engagement produces one thing: a written, sourced report describing what the debtor controls and how each finding was obtained. It is not a database printout. It is not a narrative assumption. It is evidence, organized for an attorney to use at the enforcement stage.
The scope of any given report depends on the debtor profile. A sole individual with a California address is a very different problem from a corporate debtor that has restructured across three entities since the judgment was entered. We scope at intake and price flat — Tier A, B, or C — before any work begins.
Skip trace & debtor locate
Current and prior California addresses, associated phone numbers, known aliases, employer history, and confirmed identity markers — sourced from licensed investigative data aggregators under a recognized lawful purpose.
Banking & brokerage research
Active bank account identification, brokerage and securities account research, institution confirmation, account status, and balance indicators where available — accessed under GLBA permissible purpose for post-judgment enforcement of a legal obligation.
SSN-to-entity linkage
Corporate structures tied to the debtor's identifiers — LLCs, corporations, partnerships, and registered agent patterns — including entities formed after the judgment date that may indicate asset repositioning.
Real property & UCC
California county recorder research across likely counties, mortgage and deed history, UCC-1 filings, vehicle and vessel records, and identification of post-judgment transfers that may warrant UVTA analysis.
Sourcing & methodology
Every finding in the report is traceable to its source. Methodology documentation — describing the legal basis for each category of record accessed — is available on request, and is yours to produce if a finding is ever challenged in court, arbitration, or a bar complaint.
The California window is real, and it is moving.
A California money judgment is valid for ten years from the date entered and may be renewed once for an additional period under CCP §§ 683.020–683.220. That is the rule many attorneys learned in school. The economics around it have changed.
In 2023, the legislature reduced the post-judgment interest rate on qualifying judgments from 10% to 5%, and narrowed the renewal mechanics available for certain debts. In plain terms: waiting for a debtor to surface pays half of what it used to, and the window to renew no longer forgives indefinite patience.
Meanwhile, the evasion pattern hasn't changed. A debtor with reasonable sophistication will transfer the house to a family LLC, close visible deposit accounts, and open new ones at institutions your firm has never queried. The research job is to close that gap before renewal — not after it — while the post-judgment interest is still running and the fraudulent conveyance trail is still warm.
Sitting on a California judgment is no longer a patient strategy. It is a depreciating asset. The research that converts it into a collection has a shelf life, and the shelf is shorter than it was three years ago.
A written report. Sourced line by line.
The deliverable is a PDF report, typically 14–28 pages depending on scope, organized the way an attorney reads a file: debtor identity first, current asset profile next, entity structure, real property, supporting records, and a methodology appendix.
Findings are stated plainly. Each is followed by its source — the database, the public record, the filing — and the date the record was accessed. If a category returned no findings, the report says so, and says what was searched to confirm that.
There is no contingency on the data. If the research finds nothing collectible, the report still tells you that in writing, with the work product documented. Knowing there is nothing to pursue — before paying for enforcement — is itself a result.
Who this is for.
We work with California litigation attorneys on enforceable California judgments, typically above $2,500 in controversy. We are not a collections agency, a consumer debt firm, or a generalist PI shop.
- You hold a California money judgment and need to locate assets to enforce against.
- The matter is above roughly $2,500 — below that, research cost rarely pencils.
- The debtor is an individual, business, or a layered structure across multiple entities.
- You want the data delivered as a written report you can hand off to enforcement counsel or a process server.
- You need a path as well as the data — see the Research + Strategy engagement.
- You need courtroom representation — we do not appear in court.
- You need legal advice on enforcement — consult a licensed California attorney.
- The judgment was entered outside California and has not been domesticated.
- The matter is pre-judgment — litigation support and asset preservation are separate engagements.
- You are seeking collection on a consumer debt without an underlying judgment.