Noticing The Debtor About The Assignment

Over the years, I have read the opinions of many judgment experts; discussing the pros and cons of sending their judgment debtor(s), a notice of the court-approved assignment of the judgment to them.

Most judgment experts do not send out any notice; and would rather attempt to use the opportunity of surprise if an available debtor asset is found. The debtor will then get their notice of the levy attempt. Another situation where the judgment debtor gets noticed, is by a court's memorandum that shows costs and/or additional interest accrued. Also, if the judgment was by default; personally serving a copy of the judgment or a document related to the judgment, will (over time) on the debtor, makes it a non-default judgment in many states.

This article is my opinion and is not legal advice. I am a judgment referral expert, and not a lawyer. If you ever need a strategy to use or legal advice, please contact an attorney.

I have read most of the appropriate California civil laws, and I cannot find any assignment notices required or mentioned. Some enforcers send some kind of notice, and if an attorney is involved, they notice the attorney also.

Most recovery experts do not notice their judgment debtor when they first get the assignment; unless they are starting out by also sending it out with a settlement offer, as their first strategy choice.

Another situation where a judgment expert usually notices their judgment debtor, is to help preserve their rights against any payments that might later be made by the debtor to the original judgment creditor. Under California law, if the debtor then makes a payment to the original judgment creditor, and they did not get any notice of the assignment or any other notices, the judgment enforcer loses out; and the judgment debtor's payment is credited against the judgment.

If the judgment enforcer does serve notice of their assignment, or another kind of notice; and the debtor then makes a payment to the original judgment creditor, sometimes the judgment debtor loses out; and their payment to the original judgment owner is not credited with the court to reduce the amount owed on their judgment.

Unless the original judgment creditor or an enforcer plans a "stealth" levy action, they sometimes send out a notice of a judgment-related document with their demand for payment (usually with an offer for a reduced amount owed in exchange for quick payment). This sometimes works, even in situations where available judgment debtor assets are known. 

A substitution of attorney notice must be served on all parties on the original lawsuit; however an assignee is not generally required to send any notice of their assignment.

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