How to Find a Judgment Debtor's Assets in Colorado

You can't garnish wages if you don't know the employer. You can't levy a bank account if you don't know which bank. The gap between winning a Colorado judgment and actually collecting it is almost always an information gap — and the court won't fill it for you.

Formal Discovery: Interrogatories

Colorado's post-judgment interrogatory forms are your primary tool for forcing asset disclosure. For small claims, file the JDF 252A/B motion with the County Court Clerk; the court sends it to the debtor. For County Court pattern interrogatories, file with the clerk and either have the court mail them or arrange personal service:

• JDF 252A/252B (Short or Long Form) — designed for small claims cases
• JDF 105 SC (individuals) or JDF 108 SC (businesses) — County Court pattern interrogatories under C.R.C.P. 369(g)

The pattern forms are thorough. They ask the debtor to list employer name and address, all bank and financial institution accounts, vehicles with VINs and loan balances, real property owned, business interests, and other income sources.

The debtor has 14 days to respond under oath. If they refuse, you can escalate to a contempt citation — the court orders them to appear and answer, and willful noncompliance carries enforcement consequences.

Public Records You Can Check Yourself

Before or alongside formal interrogatories, several public sources reveal debtor assets without any court involvement:

County property records. County Clerk and Recorder offices maintain searchable databases of real property ownership. If the debtor owns a house, land, or commercial property, the record shows the legal description, purchase price, and recorded liens. Many Colorado counties offer online search portals.

Colorado Secretary of State. Search the business database for LLCs, corporations, or trade names registered to the debtor. A debtor who claims to be unemployed but owns an active business may have garnishable business income or assets.

Department of Revenue / DMV. Vehicle title records show registered owners and existing liens. This matters for determining whether a sheriff's execution on a vehicle would produce equity above the $15,000 exemption cap ($25,000 if the debtor or a dependent is elderly or disabled).

Court records (other cases). The debtor may have other lawsuits, prior judgments, or bankruptcy filings that reveal financial information. Colorado's court case search (through the judicial branch website) shows active and closed cases.

Specific Scenarios

Landlord collecting from a tenant. If your judgment stems from unpaid rent or property damage, you may already know the debtor's employer from the rental application. Check whether that employment is still current. If the tenant moved, a forwarding address you have may give you a starting point for locating new employment or banking.

Contractor collecting from a client. Unpaid invoices typically involve a client with known real property (the project address). Check whether the debtor owns the property — if they do, recording a Transcript of Judgment ($25) creates a lien that prevents sale or refinancing until your judgment is paid. For commercial clients, the business entity filing with the Secretary of State may reveal officers and registered agents who can be served with interrogatories.

What the Answers Tell You

Once you have the debtor's asset information, match each asset type to the right enforcement tool:

You can run multiple tools simultaneously. Garnish wages while holding a property lien while levying a bank account — each operates independently.

If the interrogatory answers reveal nothing collectible, the debtor may be judgment-proof for now. Your judgment stays enforceable for 6 years (renewable for another 6), so you can re-serve interrogatories later when circumstances change.

The Colorado Judgment Collection Guide covers the full asset discovery workflow, including the decision framework for which enforcement tools to deploy based on what you find.

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