Judgment liens may simply be filed and recorded by an attorney. There is no personal confrontation with the defendant and no personal property is seized. Service of the judgment lien on the judgment debtor is by certified mail if the judgment is less than $25,000.
(1) The claim of lien of a contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or laborer may at any time be vacated and discharged if a bond, with the lien claimant as obligee, is filed with the county clerk for the county in which the property covered by the lien is located and a copy is given to the obligee lien claimant.
2809. (1) Unless subsection (2) or (3) applies, a judgment lien expires 5 years after the date it is recorded. (2) Unless subsection (3) applies, if a judgment lien is rerecorded under subsection (4), the judgment lien expires 5 years after the date it is rerecorded.
Within 28 days after payment in full of the amount due on a judgment that is the basis for a judgment lien, the judgment creditor or the judgment creditor's attorney shall record a discharge of judgment lien with the office of the register of deeds where the judgment lien is recorded.
Judgments expire. If you don't collect your judgment before it expires, you lose the legal right to collect it. The clock on the expiration date is stopped while the judgment debtor is paying a judgment in installments. A judgment from a Small Claims case expires six years after it is issued.
In all cases, the recorded Claim of Lien has a one-year life span; meaning that a lawsuit to enforce or foreclose the lien must be filed within one year after the date the Claim of Lien is recorded.
Judgment liens may be filed with the court and recorded with the register of deeds by an attorney or the judgment creditor. An Order for Seizure of Property may be issued by the court clerk 21 days after entry of a judgment. It is also known as a writ of execution and is authorized pursuant to MCL 600.6004.
A judgment lien expires after 5 years from the date it is recorded but may be rerecorded once for another period of 5 years not less than 120 days before the expiration of the initial judgment. Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2809.