I am the collector in a family court issued Judgement. The debtor refuses to pay. The Judgement has been filed with a NY Sheriff. Recently I found out that the Sheriff can seize and auction a car. The Debtor has a car it is in excellent shape and about 4 years old. So here are my quesitons:

1.) The Sheriff requires an abstract based on the MV-15 form. In the MV-15 I am required to put the Plate numbers and VIN - but I only have the plate number. Will they still provide the information on the car. Does anyone know?

2.) If the debtor has a partial lien on the car, will the sheriff still seize the car for auction with the plan to sell and satisfy the lien and use the remaining proceeds for the judgement or does the car's title have to be clear?

The answer is no. They aren't going to take the car if it already has a lien against it. Why do you want to take his car away ? Why aren't you getting it taken out of a paycheck ?

It is a she. She works in another state and the sherrif will not cross state lines. I need a new order in that state which has significant costs.

Funny that you assumed it was a 'he'

Also - from my understanding if there is a lien but it is partial the Sheriff's will still confiscate and auction - satisfying the lien and then using the remaining proceeds to cover the judgement.

You don't need an order in that state to get a deduction of child support by order of the court. Still why would you want to take the car if its their transportation to work ? Your cutting off your nose to spite your face if you do that. Without knowing the value of the car vs the lien its risky business. What if its an equal trade or more owing on the car.. did the sheriff say they would pay the difference ?

Try wage garnishment first if you know where she works.

It is not a child support order - it is a judgement for legal fees.

I can not garnish her wages - she works in a different state.

It is not a child support order - it is a judgement for legal fees.

I can not garnish her wages - she works in a different state.


You can get a Court Order for garnishment in another State. Who told you you cannot?

That's true - assuming that the two states are members of the Uniform Judgment collection Agreement. In this case they are. However, It requires additional legal fees as in this case the other state requires a new judgement be filed in their court. I have evaluated this and received estimates of effort and time and it is the more expensive option. The Car is a cheaper and quicker option and if successful costs nothing more than $10. Additionally the sheriff indicated that rarely does a car go to auction as the debtor quickly comes up with the money.

Yikes - seems I'm the one answering all the questions here - none of my original questions have really been answered.

That's true - assuming that the two states are members of the Uniform Judgment collection Agreement. In this case they are. However, It requires additional legal fees as in this case the other state requires a new judgement be filed in their court. I have evaluated this and received estimates of effort and time and it is the more expensive option. The Car is a cheaper and quicker option and if succesful costs nothing more than $10. Additionally the sheriff indicated that rarely does a car go to auction as the debtor quickly comes up with the money.

Yikes - seems I'm the one answering all the questions here - none of my original questions have really been answered.



The Sheriff is the person to ask - we can "guess" what is done in your County, what your particular County Sheriff is willing to do - but that's all it is, a "guess." I am also in NY, by the way.

Or retain an Attorney and let him/her take care of it. I notice this is posted in the Family Law section so I "assume" this is a support issue.

Generally the balance owed on a car is higher than the car is worth. Especially for a 4 yr old car. It is highly unlikely that an auction would recover enough to pay both the lien and the judgement.

As noted, if you do repo the car, you inhibit the owenr's ability to earn a living, making it harder to collect. If you file the judgement in the other state, you can include the costs of filing.

No It is not a support issue, but it is related to legal fees in a family court case.

My original questions are asking for someone who has had experience with this process. Not so much a guess about what the sheriff would or would not do. Additionally one is more related to the process of getting information from the DMV for a judgment satisfcation.

Anyway - thanks very much for your attention

Generally the balance owed on a car is higher than the car is worth. Especially for a 4 yr old car. It is highly unlikely that an auction would recover enough to pay both the lien and the judgement.

As noted, if you do repo the car, you inhibit the owenr's ability to earn a living, making it harder to collect. If you file the judgement in the other state, you can include the costs of filing.

Thanks Scott - actuall the car is likely largely paid off - it is owned by a wealthy attorney (my ex) who makes well over 200K a year. She never liked to keep loans on cars. And likely had a 3 year loan. The car's book value is about 25K and the judgement is about 10K.

Additionally the sheriff told me that in cases like this - they rarely auction the car - typically the owner just pays the judgement. Additionally, her ability to earn is not likely to be compromised since she can work from home and has other alternative methods of transportation. Funny argument though - cause the same argument goes for why do they have all kinds of crazy punishments for dads who can not pay child support - throw them in jail, take their license, etc. all destrying their ability to pay.

Anyway - thanks for the info

Ahh so the truth comes out. You are the plaintiff in the case. Using the term collector was misleading.

If you believe that the threat of auction will spur payment, then go ahead with it. If you believe there will be enough to cover both the loan balance and the judgement from an auction than go for it.

As for the VIN, that's another issue. You may have to subpeona the auto dealer's records.

No I was not the plaintif in the case. I was actually the respondent (which is more like the defendant) - she was the petitioner (which is more like the plaintif). NY no longer uses the term Plaintif and Defendant in Family court cases. Addiitonally, it is a bit more complicated then that since it involved an appeal - but thanks for the answers.

By the way Scott Gem - I grew up on LI - Garden City. Great place.

Ahh so the truth comes out. You are the plaintiff in the case. Using the term collector was misleading.


I also thought we were dealing with a professional collection agency and couldn't figure out why a "collector" didn't have the means to obtain this info.