Advising on the enforceability of a U.S. money judgment and its effect on a real estate transaction

For a client whose mortgage loan funds were being held back because of a money judgment entered against him in the United States years earlier, we reviewed the enforceability of the judgment and its legal effect on his real estate.

The key issues were whether the long-standing money judgment was still enforceable and the judgment debt still valid, and whether the judgment operated as a lien on real estate owned by the client.

How to obtain the documentation required by the lender and the additional legal risks of contacting the creditor were also reviewed.

We reviewed the history of the judgment and its enforceability, and prepared confirmation materials on the enforceable status of the judgment for submission to the lender.

We also compared the procedure for obtaining a release of the judgment by contacting the creditor with the resulting enforcement risk, and provided a legal opinion on the sale of real estate acquired after the judgment and on lien issues.

We prepared confirmation materials to submit to the lender, reviewed the risks of contacting the creditor and the need for further steps, and advised the client on how to proceed.

The client decided not to take further steps while waiting for the lender's review, and we accordingly concluded the engagement with the approach of monitoring the situation without further action for now.

Related U.S. practices: Business & Commercial Disputes