My husband and I hired a contractor to build our 13x50 deck. We gave him $10,000. He started the deck and never came back. We took him to court and we got a judgement against him for $7,800 with $1.72 interest daily. We followed Brunswick County Court laws of waiting 20 days to see if he appealed the decision, which he did not. Then we paid the court $30.00 for Notice of Rights and waited another 20 days after he was served and then paid the court $55.00 for Writ of Execution. To date NOTHING. Now I want to put a lein on his house. How do I get the proper paperwork?
If the judgment is against him personally, and he is the only owner of his real estate, and the real estate is in Brunswick County, the judgment becomes lien against real estate owned by contractor in the county in which judgment is rendered after the appeal period expires. It is hard to tell whether the contractor is a company or a person. If a person and he’s married, unless your judgment is also against his spouse, you will not have any right to a lien against his and his wife’s real estate. If against the company only, and his home is in his personal name, unfortunately that will prevent the lien from attaching. There are additional actions one can take in an attempt to collect on a valid judgment, but there aren’t truly “steps” to take to have the judgment become a lien against real estate owned by the judgment debtor.
Regards,
Julia Kirkpatrick