Florida Debt Collection Laws

What Are Florida Debt Collection Laws?

Florida’s debt collection laws work alongside the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). They protect consumers by prohibiting harassment, false statements, and unfair practices by debt collectors. Florida statutes also require creditors to provide valid documentation when filing a lawsuit and protect certain assets—such as homestead properties and retirement accounts—from collection.

Once a court enters a final judgment against a debtor, the creditor can use Florida’s legal tools to collect the money awarded. However, a judgment itself does not transfer money or property automatically. Instead, if the debtor does not voluntarily pay, the creditor must take additional legal steps to seize non-exempt assets.

How Judgment Collection Works in Florida

If you owe money, a creditor may sue you to recover the debt. If they win, the court issues a final judgment stating that you owe the amount. To collect on this judgment, the creditor can use several legal tools, including:

• Garnishing bank accounts and wages
• Placing liens on non-homestead property
• Requesting asset disclosures

Florida law does not impose criminal penalties for failing to pay a civil judgment. This means you cannot be arrested solely for not paying your debt.

Effective asset protection planning requires understanding the tools judgment creditors may use to discover and take non-exempt assets.

What Happens If You Have a Judgment Against You in Florida?

Once a judgment is entered, creditors have multiple options for collection:

• Your wages or funds in a bank account may be frozen.
• You may be required to reveal all assets through a deposition or document request.
• Creditors can place liens on non-exempt property.

Despite these actions, many creditors may choose not to pursue aggressive collection if they believe you lack the financial means to pay, or if aggressive efforts might push you into bankruptcy—which could result in the debt being discharged.

Common Methods for Collecting a Judgment

Florida law provides several tools to help creditors collect on a judgment. Here are the six main methods:

1. Judgment Liens

A judgment lien is a lien on the debtor’s personal or real property (except homestead property) created by filing a judgment lien certificate with the Florida Secretary of State. It prevents the debtor from transferring property without satisfying the judgment.

2. Execution and Levy

Execution and levy is a legal process that allows the sheriff to seize and sell the debtor’s tangible property, including real estate, automobiles, stocks, and valuable possessions. The property is auctioned, and the proceeds (after expenses and existing liens) are used to pay the judgment.

A creditor must identify in advance the debtor’s property subject to execution and levy. Any preexisting liens on the property must be paid before any money is available to pay the judgment creditor. The debtor can bid for their own property at the auction.

3. Vehicle Seizure

Vehicle seizure is a specialized form of execution and levy used to seize and auction a debtor’s vehicle. Creditors typically target vehicles owned free and clear. Leased vehicles are not subject to seizure.

4. Levy on Businesses Interests

A levy on a business interest means seizing shares or membership interests in a privately held business.

Creditors can use execution and levy against debtor’s shares of common stock of their own business. The sheriff will sell the stock at auction. The creditor can bid at the auction the amount of its judgment for the stock. The party that purchases the stock at auction steps into the debtor’s shoes as a stockholder. If the debtor owned one hundred percent of issued stock the successful bidder at auction gains control of the company and all company assets including, for example, company bank accounts.

A creditor may not execute and levy upon the debtor’s membership interest in a partnership or multi-member LLC. The creditor may not levy assets owned by the LLC. The creditor’s sole remedy is a charging lien on partnership or LLC profit distributions payable to the debtor. A debtor’s membership interest in a partnership or multi-member LLC with a properly drafted partnership agreement or LLC operating agreement in Florida provides asset protection.

5. Bank Account Garnishments

A bank account garnishment is a court order that directs a third party (like your bank) to freeze and turn over funds owed to you. The writ of garnishment attaches only to funds available at the time of service and does not cover future amounts—except for wages.

The creditor is not required to provide advance notice to the debtor prior to serving a writ of garnishment. Money subject to garnishment must be in the actual possession and control of the garnished third party. The money must be owed to the debtor without condition, and the amount owed must be liquidated (fixed) in amount. In most instances, a writ of garnishment pertains to current debts and obligations owed to the debtor.

6. Wage Garnishment

A wage garnishment is a continuing order that requires your employer to withhold a portion of your future wages until the judgment is paid.

A creditor cannot get a continuing writ of garnishment against payments other than wages. For example, money payable by a company to a debtor working as an independent contractor, or rents owed to a landlord, are not subject to continuing writs.

Florida debt collection law exempts some types of debts from garnishment. For example, wages payable to a head of household are exempt without limitation from continuing wage garnishments. Periodic payments due to the debtor from social security, annuities, and retirement plans also cannot be garnished in Florida. Garnishment procedures are complicated and are strictly construed and enforced in Florida courts. Some debtors defeat garnishments by finding procedural flaws in the garnishment writ and application.

Asset Discovery and Protection

Creditors have several tools to locate your assets:

• Depositions: A sworn questioning session where you must answer questions about your finances.
• Document Requests: Creditors can demand financial documents (bank statements, tax returns, etc.).
• Financial Statements & Public Records: Creditors can use public databases and even social media to learn about your assets.
• Professional Investigators: Private investigators may be hired to uncover hidden assets.

Asset protection planning is not about hiding assets—it’s about legally structuring your assets so that they are less accessible to creditors.

Proceedings Supplementary and Other Enforcement Tools

Florida law also provides for proceedings supplementary—a set of equitable remedies that allow creditors to:

• Reverse fraudulent transfers
• Pierce the corporate veil in cases of asset protection abuse
• Place charging liens against partnership or LLC interests
• Freeze assets with injunctive relief
• Appoint a receiver to manage and preserve assets

These tools help creditors enforce a judgment even when assets are held by third parties or have been transferred improperly.

The proceedings are governed by Florida Statute 56.29. Proceedings supplementary is the most comprehensive creditor remedy available under Florida law. It assists judgment creditors’ satisfaction of their judgments by using equitable remedies against various types of debtor rights and property that are not subject to garnishment, attachment, or execution and levy.

Enforcement of Out-of-State Foreign Judgments

A creditor’s judgment against a Florida resident obtained from a court in another state or another country is a foreign judgment. A creditor may enforce a foreign judgment in Florida and through Florida courts by following procedures set forth in Florida Statute § 55.501. The process is referred to as the domestication of a foreign judgment.

There are statutory procedures to domesticate a foreign judgment in Florida. The foreign creditor first records a certified copy of the foreign judgment in Florida courts. After recording, the clerk of court is required to notify the debtor. The debtor then has 30 days to contest the validity of the judgment. There are limited reasons to contest the recording of a foreign judgment (for example, lack of jurisdiction or fraud). The debtor cannot retry the foreign judgment on its legal or evidentiary merits.

A domesticated foreign judgment is enforced as a Florida judgment pursuant to Florida’s judgment collection laws and rules. The creditor can enforce the domesticated Florida judgment for up to twenty years. The twenty-year time limit runs from the date the foreign state’s court issued the judgment, not from the date of Florida domestication.

Credit Card Judgments

If a credit card company gets a judgment against you for unpaid credit card debt, you need to prepare for the creditor’s attempts to collect the judgment. Know that a credit card judgment is not a criminal matter. It is not “illegal” for you not to pay a credit card company, and the courts cannot put you in jail if you do not pay the judgment. The court’s credit card judgment also does not automatically take your money or your future earnings. It is up to the creditor to use legal tools to collect money from you to satisfy its judgment.

Often, a creditor will not make any attempt to collect a small judgment because the legal costs of collection are greater than the creditor’s probable recovery. Also, most court judgments do not reimburse the creditor for its own legal fees incurred in trying to collect the judgment.

Some people faced with a credit card judgment immediately think they will have to file bankruptcy. This is a mistake. The judgment creditor has more leverage in bankruptcy court, and bankruptcy law strips some of a debtor’s asset exemptions. Bankruptcy should be the debtor’s last resort.

FAQs About Florida Debt Collection Laws

How long does a judgment last?

• A judgment lasts for 20 years, though a judgment lien is valid for 10 years.

Can you become “judgment proof”?

• Asset protection planning may make it harder for creditors to collect, but no strategy makes you completely immune if a creditor is determined and well-resourced.

What personal property can be seized?

• Any non-exempt personal property may be seized, though exemptions do exist for certain items.

Can creditors seize your home?

• Florida law protects up to 160 acres of contiguous property in a county or up to ½ acre in a city from seizure.

What about vehicles?

• Creditors can seize vehicles, though exemptions apply (up to $1,000 or $4,000 if not claiming a homestead exemption).

Can you go to jail for debt?

• No, failing to pay a civil judgment is not a criminal offense, though ignoring court orders can lead to contempt proceedings.

What if a hospital bills you?

• Hospitals cannot put a lien on your homestead for unpaid medical bills.

When can a credit agency release your credit information?

• With your written consent or under conditions allowed by law (e.g., court orders, subpoenas, or permissible purposes under the FCRA).