Denver County Court

After Your Court Hearing/Trial

APPEAL

If either party in a case believes that the judgment of the Court is in error; that party may appeal to the Denver District Court. If you wish to appeal, you must file your appeal within 14 days of the judgment. The appeal process is very complicated. For detailed information on filing an appeal, refer to the Appeal Section of this site.

COLLECTING YOUR JUDGMENT

The Court must enter an Order for Judgment before collection can begin. There are two kinds of judgments

Monetary Judgments
Possession Judgments

Steps to collecting your judgment are as follows

Monetary Judgment

A money judgment is good for six years. The Court CANNOT collect your money judgment for you.

Ask the judgment debtor to pay, preferably in writing.

If the judgment debtor refuses to pay and you do not know where the judgment debtor works, banks, or owns property, Pattern Interrogatories – Individual   or Business   may be served to the judgment debtor by Standing Order of the Presiding Judge Pursuant to Rule 369  . Judgment debtors are to file their Answers with only the judgment creditor and not the court.  The answers provided in the interrogatories can be helpful in collecting your judgment, such as employer’s name and pay dates, locations of bank accounts and/or other assets.

Serve the Court Ordered interrogatories on the judgment debtor.

    • Select either the Sheriff’s Department, a private process server, or someone who is 18 years or older and not a party to the action and who knows the rules of service to serve the judgment debtor. The process server must follow the Service of Process requirements stated in Rule 304.
    • Be sure to return the Affidavit of Service to the Court as soon as possible after service has been completed.

Wait for the return of the interrogatories. The answers must be filed with the Court within fourteen (14) days after the judgment debtor received them.

Upon receipt of the interrogatories, you will be ready to file a Writ of Garnishment or request a lien be placed against real estate owned by the judgment debtor. If the judgment debtor fails to comply with the order by not answering the interrogatories, you may file a Motion for Contempt Citation.

Obtaining a Writ of Garnishment

Following are the Writ of Garnishment options available and detailed information on the garnishment process.

Writ of Continuing Garnishment “Writ of continuing garnishment” means the procedure for withholding the earnings of a judgment debtor for successive pay periods for payment of a judgment debt.

Writ of Garnishment With Notice of Exemption & Pending Levy “Writ of garnishment with notice of exemption and pending levy” means the procedure for the withholding of an individual’s personal property, other than earnings, for payment of a judgment debt.

Writ of Garnishment – Judgment Debtor Other Than Natural Person “Writ of garnishment – judgment debtor other than natural person” means the procedure for the withholding of personal property of a judgment debtor other than a natural person for payment of a judgment debt. (“Other than a natural person” means a corporation, limited partnership, etc.)

Requesting a Lien Against Property

    • Complete the Transcript of Judgment   form.
    • File the form with the Court. The clerk will issue the Transcript upon your payment of the filing fee.
    • Take the Transcript of Judgment to the County Clerk and Recorder where the judgment debtor owns the property. The lien continues for 6 years.

Possession Judgment

If the defendant(s) have not vacated the property within 48 hours from the date of judgment complete the Writ of Restitution   or Writ of Restitution Mobile Home   and submit to the Court for approval.

Once The Writ is issued, it is the plaintiff’s obligation to contact the Sheriff’s Office for the execution of the Writ.

REVIVING A JUDGMENT

A County Court Judgment expires and is unenforceable six years from the date of judgment. A judgment may be revived against any one or more judgment debtors whether they are jointly or separately liable under the judgment.

AFTER YOU COLLECT YOUR JUDGMENT

  • Complete a Satisfaction of Judgment   and file with the Court.
  • Mail a copy of the Satisfaction of Judgment to the Judgment Debtor.
  • If you placed a lien on property owned by the judgment debtor, notify the Clerk and Recorder to release the lien.

For additional information, please review Colorado Rules of County Court Civil Procedure – Rule 369 and Rule 403.

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