Florida Judgment Lien Certificate: How to File on Sunbiz

At $20, the Judgment Lien Certificate is the cheapest enforcement tool available to Florida judgment creditors. It won't put money in your hand today, but it creates a statewide lien on the debtor's non-exempt personal property — and it preserves your position while you wait for the debtor's financial situation to change.

What It Does

Filing a Judgment Lien Certificate with the Florida Department of State establishes a lien on the debtor's non-exempt personal property under Florida Statutes §§ 55.202–55.209. This covers equipment, inventory, business assets, vehicles (as personal property, not the title), and other non-exempt belongings.

The lien is statewide. Unlike a real property lien, which only covers the specific county where you record it, a Sunbiz judgment lien reaches across all 67 Florida counties from a single filing.

The practical effect: the lien gives notice of your claim and establishes statutory priority, but it does not block every transfer. Some buyers take free of a judgment lien under § 55.205.

How to File

You can file online through the Florida Department of State's Sunbiz portal (dos.fl.gov/sunbiz) or mail a signed paper form with payment. Sunbiz says not to include a copy of the judgment. The certificate requires:

• The debtor's legal name and last known address
• The creditor's legal name and address, and the creditor's signature
• The court, case number, and date the written judgment was entered
• The amount due and applicable interest rate

Fees:

• Base filing fee: $20.00
• Each additional debtor listed: $5.00
• Each additional attached page: $5.00

For a standard single-debtor filing, you're looking at $20 to $25 total.

Duration and Renewal

A Judgment Lien Certificate is valid for 5 years from the date of filing. To extend it, you file a Second Judgment Lien Certificate within 6 months before or after the original expires. The renewal costs another $20 and extends the lien for a second 5-year period.

The underlying judgment itself is valid for 20 years under § 95.11(1). Your lien can only run as long as the judgment it's based on.

What It Doesn't Do

A Sunbiz judgment lien does not automatically seize anything. It doesn't put a hold on bank accounts (that's garnishment) and it doesn't place a notation on the debtor's vehicle title at the FLHSMV. To actually seize a vehicle, you still need a writ of execution and a sheriff levy.

Think of the lien as a passive claim that blocks clean asset transfers and establishes your priority over later creditors. It's enforcement infrastructure, not enforcement itself.

Judgment Lien vs. Real Property Lien

These are separate filings under different statutes:

If the debtor owns real estate, you'll want to record a certified copy of the judgment in that county's Official Records — that's a separate step from the Sunbiz filing, and it creates a real property lien with a longer duration.

When to File

File as early as possible after your judgment becomes executable. The lien's priority date is the filing date, not the judgment date. If another creditor files their lien first, they're ahead of you in line.

For many small claims creditors, the $20 Sunbiz lien is the first enforcement action they take — even before garnishment or execution — because it's cheap, fast, and preserves your position while you investigate the debtor's assets through Form 1.977 or public records.

The Full Lien Strategy

Our Florida Small Claims Judgment Collection Guide covers both personal property and real property liens in detail, including exactly how to fill out the Sunbiz filing, when to renew, and how liens interact with the other enforcement tools in your collection strategy.

Get the complete guide and protect your judgment from day one.

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