A court typically orders the payment of money from one person to another. But the person who owes the money doesn’t always pay up. A judgment lien is one way to ensure that the judgment creditor gets paid. A judgment lien gives the creditor the right to be paid a certain amount of money from proceeds from the sale of the debtor’s property.
Unlike many other states, in Oregon, a judgment lien can be attached only to real property, such as condos or homes. Moreover, a judgment lien is created automatically on any debtor property located in the Oregon county where the judgment is entered. For debtor property in another Oregon county, the creditor must record the judgment in the County Clerk Lien Record for the county where the property is located.
A judgment lien in Oregon will remain attached to the debtor’s property for ten years.
Oregon bankruptcy filers should be concerned with judgment liens only if they own real property. If you are filing bankruptcy and intend on keeping your home beyond the pendency of your bankruptcy, it is extremely important that you confer with your bankruptcy attorney and make sure that your bankruptcy attorney understands that you do have judgment liens which you might like to have removed from your real property.
In an Oregon Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, judgment liens can be avoided by simply referencing the lien holder and the property encumbered in your Chapter 13 Plan. In an Oregon Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, the liens can only be avoided by Motion. The cost for filing a Motion to Avoid Judgment Lien is something that is rarely included in a Bankruptcy flat fee agreement so it is something that you will want to discuss with your bankruptcy attorney.
