How does a creditor go about getting a judgment lien in Illinois? To attach a lien, if the debtor's property is located in the same county where the judgment was entered, the creditor files the judgment with the county recorder.
Creditors typically acquire property liens through your voluntary consent. On the other hand, creditors get judgment liens after winning a lawsuit against you for a debt you owe.
Illinois law governs the time limit for enforcing judgment and states “no judgment shall be enforced after the expiration of 7 years from the time the same is rendered.”1 The same statute allows the 7-year limitation period to be extended “upon the revival of the judgment by a proceeding.”
In Illinois, a judgment from an Illinois state court, or a federal court located in Illinois, becomes a lien on real property only after a transcript, certified copy, or memorandum of the judgment is recorded at the office of the county recorder in the county where the property is located.
Remove liens (if any) To remove a lien, file a certified copy of the Acknowledgment of Satisfaction of Judgment (form EJ-100) with each county recorder's office where you put the lien on their property.
Most judgments (the court order saying what you're owed) expire in 10 years. This means you can't collect on it after 10 years. To avoid this, you can ask the court to renew it. A renewal lasts 10 years.
Enforcement proceedings (also known as collection actions) to collect judgments are governed primarily by 735 ILCS 5/2-1402. This statute provides three main tools for enforcing and collecting judgments: (1) the Citation to Discover Assets; (2) wage garnishment proceedings; and (3) non-wage garnishment proceedings.
Under Illinois law, a mechanics lien should be filed in the County Recorder of Deeds where the property is located. This is crucial as the lien must be filed not only in the correct county but the correct office as well. The fees and specific document formatting vary depending on your county.
To be able to put a lien, you need to sue on the debt, get a judgment and then record the judgment in the county where the property is located. The recorded judgment is a lien on the property!