One of the most powerful tools that judgment creditors have to collect on a judgment against you or your company is called a “citation to discover assets.” Let’s say that you owe someone (a creditor) $25,000.00. If that creditor has obtained a judgment against you for that amount, the creditor can serve you with a citation to discover assets. As soon as the citation is served on you, it puts a lien on virtually all of your assets (e.g., bank accounts, your condominium, your car, art work, jewelry, your luxury car, your seat on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and yes, even that pure breed cat of yours that is worth $2,000.00). Needless to say, that citation lien can have a devastating impact on your finances because the creditor can ask a judge to order you to turn over the asset to the creditor to satisfy the debt.
There are many potential defenses to a citation to discover assets and you should strongly consider hiring an attorney if you are served with one. In one recent case, our client owed over $900,000 to a creditor and our law firm was able to defeat the citation to discover assets and make it void because the creditor never properly served the citation on our client. In that case, the creditor tried to serve the citation on a person that was not affiliated with our client’s company (e.g., a receptionist that was contracted by the company, but was not authorized to accept service). The judge agreed with our client and wiped out the citation after hearing the evidence at a mini-trial. We thereafter negotiated a major discount for our client to satisfy the debt.
Facing a citation to discover assets or other tactics used by creditors in DuPage County or Cook County? Call our law firm to speak with one of our experienced collection attorneys. (630) 560-1123. www.dd-lawfirm.com.
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