Collecting a Connecticut Judgment Against a Business or LLC

Business Debtors Play by Different Rules

Collecting a Connecticut small claims judgment from a business entity — an LLC, corporation, or partnership — follows a different enforcement track than collecting from an individual. The most important difference works in your favor: business entities don't get the consumer exemptions that protect individual debtors' wages, bank accounts, and personal property.

No $1,000 bank account floor. No $7,000 vehicle exemption. No wage garnishment formula protecting minimum earnings. When you levy on a business entity's bank account, the entire balance is subject to seizure.

Bank Execution With Form JD-CV-24N

For business debtors, you use Form JD-CV-24N — "Financial Institution Execution Proceedings — Judgment Debtor Who is NOT a Natural Person." This is the business-entity counterpart to JD-CV-24 (which covers individuals).

The process:

1. File JD-CV-24N with the court clerk and pay the $105 statutory application fee; the fee may be recoverable as a taxable cost
2. Hand the issued execution to a State Marshal
3. The marshal serves it on the bank's main branch or designated agent
4. The bank freezes the entire account balance up to the execution amount plus marshal fees
5. No federal benefit lookback, no $1,000 floor, no exemption claim window for the entity
6. Non-exempt funds are turned over to the marshal, who deducts the 15% commission under CGS § 52-261 and forwards the balance to you

The turnaround can be faster than individual bank levies because there's no consumer exemption claim period or federal benefit review for the entity. The bank holds and remits eligible funds under the statutory process.

What If the Business Has No Bank Account You Can Find?

Use post-judgment interrogatories under CGS § 52-351b and Form JD-CV-23. They may be served on the business and, where appropriate, third parties who may hold information or assets; a principal is not personally liable on this judgment unless that person is also named as a debtor. The interrogatories seek disclosure of bank accounts, accounts receivable, equipment, inventory, and real property under oath, with a 30-day response period.

If a prior execution is returned unsatisfied or the debtor does not answer served interrogatories within 30 days, Form JD-CV-54 is the application used to seek an examination of the judgment debtor under oath. For an entity debtor, follow the court's instructions about who must appear.

Property Execution Against Business Assets

Businesses often own physical assets that individuals don't — commercial equipment, inventory, vehicles, fixtures. Form JD-CV-5 reaches these assets through a State Marshal levy.

The key advantage: business personal property isn't protected by the individual exemptions in CGS § 52-352b. A business's delivery truck, office equipment, or warehouse inventory can be seized, auctioned, and the proceeds applied to your judgment.

The practical limit is that seized assets often sell at auction for far less than their fair market value. A $10,000 piece of equipment might fetch $2,000 at a marshal's sale.

LLC Membership Interests: The Charging Order

When a debtor is an individual who owns an interest in an LLC — as opposed to the LLC itself being the debtor — you can't directly seize the LLC's assets. The entity is separate from the individual owner.

Under CGS § 34-249a, your remedy is a charging order — a court order directing the LLC to pay all future profit distributions to you instead of the debtor-member, until your judgment is satisfied. You apply for this through the Superior Court.

A charging order works well when the LLC regularly distributes profits. It's less effective when the LLC retains all earnings or when the debtor-member controls the distribution decisions and simply stops paying themselves.

Judgment Liens on Business-Owned Real Property

If the business entity owns real property — a commercial building, rental units, vacant land — record a judgment lien certificate under CGS § 52-380a in the town clerk's land records where the property sits. The $250,000 homestead exemption only applies to an individual's primary residence, so business-owned real estate has no homestead shield.

For the full enforcement playbook covering individual and business debtors in Connecticut, the Collecting a Small Claims Judgment in Connecticut guide maps every tool, form, and decision point.

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