How to Collect Your Judgment in Iowa

A Iowa judgment is enforceable for 20 years, and can be renewed before it expires. A money judgment is enforceable for 20 years (Iowa Code 614.1(6)); it can be kept alive indefinitely by filing a new lawsuit on the unpaid balance before it expires. NOTE: the judgment LIEN on real estate lasts only 10 years from the date of judgment (Iowa Code 624.23), separate from the 20-year right to collect.

Iowa bars or heavily restricts wage garnishment for ordinary consumer debts. Iowa caps the cumulative amount garnishable from one debtor in a single calendar year regardless of how many creditors are garnishing (642.21). Support orders and tax liens are exempt from the annual cap.

Through Debtor's Examination (Motion for Examination of Judgment Debtor) — the court orders the debtor to appear and disclose their assets under oath. File a Motion for Examination of Judgment Debtor plus a proposed order through the Iowa eFile system (no fee to register for eFile); attach a list of documents the debtor must bring (bank statements, tax returns, paystubs, vehicle titles). After the judge signs the order, mail it to the debtor and file a certificate of mailing before the exam date. A free fill-in Motion for Judgment Debtor Exam packet is available at the Self-Help Center. Governed by Iowa Code chapter 630.

AUTOMATIC in the county where judgment is entered once the clerk records it in the county judgment docket and lien index. To reach real estate in other counties, file an attested copy (transcript) of the judgment with the district court clerk in each county where the debtor owns land (a per-county filing fee applies). The lien lasts 10 years.

You pay the court and sheriff their own filing/levy fees directly (usually modest, and recoverable from the debtor). Our Judgment Collection service is a flat $299 — we prepare your Iowa-specific enforcement forms and a step-by-step filing playbook; you file them. Compared with collection firms that take 33–50% of what they recover, that's hundreds to thousands less on a typical judgment.

Some debtors are "judgment-proof" — no job, no bank account, no equity — and no tool can squeeze money that isn't there. The honest play is the debtor's exam to confirm what exists, then keep the judgment alive (it lasts 20 years and is renewable) and try again when their situation changes. We give you the tools, not a guaranteed payout.