How to Find Debtor Assets After a California Judgment

You have a California judgment in your favor. Now you need to figure out where the debtor's money actually is — because the court will not do this for you. The sheriff enforces levies on specific targets you identify. If you point them at an empty bank account or a former employer, you get nothing back except a return memo and a wasted fee deposit.

California gives you several tools to find assets. Some are automatic, some require a court filing, and some are just good research.

Start With Form SC-133

After the court enters your small claims judgment, the clerk mails the debtor a blank Form SC-133 (Judgment Debtor's Statement of Assets) along with the Notice of Entry of Judgment. Unless the debtor pays, appeals, or moves to vacate, they are legally required to fill it out and mail it directly to you within 30 days after the clerk mails the notice.

SC-133 asks for the debtor's employer name and address, bank account information, real property owned, vehicles, and other assets. When it arrives completed, it is the single best piece of intelligence you will get.

The problem: compliance is low. Many debtors ignore the form entirely. When that happens, you move to the next tool.

Order the Debtor to Appear for Examination

If SC-133 never arrives or the answers are incomplete, you can ask the court for an Order for Examination. For a small claims judgment not subject to the consumer-debt process, file Form SC-134. For a consumer-debt judgment awarded on or after January 1, 2025, use Form SC-136 to require both the SC-133 statement and an examination, or Form EJ-141 if you already received SC-133 or do not need to require it.

The process:

1. File the applicable form with the court clerk ($60 filing fee under Government Code § 70617)
2. Get the order personally served on the debtor at least 30 days before the hearing
3. Optionally, also serve a Subpoena for Personal Appearance and Production of Documents (Form SC-107) requiring the debtor to bring bank statements, pay stubs, tax returns, and vehicle titles

For a consumer-debt examination, serve the required information and blank disclosure forms with the order: EJ-140-INFO/SC-136-INFO, EJ-143, EJ-144, EJ-155, and EJ-156.

At the hearing, you question the debtor about every asset category: bank accounts (name, branch, account number), employment (employer, pay frequency, gross and net income), real property, vehicles, business interests, and money owed to them by third parties.

If the debtor does not show up after being properly served, the judge can issue a bench warrant. That gets attention.

For a detailed walkthrough of the examination itself, see our debtor examination guide.

Public Records You Can Search Yourself

Before spending money on court filings, check what is freely available:

County Recorder (real property) Search the grantor/grantee index in any county where you think the debtor owns property; online search options vary by county. You are looking for deeds, grants, and trust transfers in the debtor's name. If you find real property, you can record an Abstract of Judgment (Form EJ-001) to place a lien on it.

Secretary of State BizFile (business interests) The California Secretary of State's BizFile portal shows corporate and LLC filings. Fictitious business name statements are filed with the county where the principal place of business is located. If the debtor owns or manages a business, you know there may be business bank accounts, receivables, or equipment to levy.

DMV records DMV records are not open for unrestricted searches. You can request another person's vehicle record using Form INF 70 for a permitted purpose; personal information is restricted.

Court records Search the local Superior Court's civil case index. If the debtor is a plaintiff in other lawsuits, any settlement or judgment they receive is a potential asset.

What You Cannot Do

California draws hard lines on investigative methods:

• No pretexting — you cannot call a bank pretending to be the debtor to confirm an account exists
• No unauthorized credit reports — pulling someone's credit report without a permissible purpose under the FCRA is a federal violation
• No trespassing — you cannot enter private property to inventory assets
• No threats — you cannot threaten arrest, jail, or criminal prosecution to pressure payment

Stick to public records, the SC-133 form, and the court examination process. Those are the tools California law gives judgment creditors, and they work.

When the Debtor Is Hiding Assets

If you suspect the debtor is concealing or transferring assets to avoid payment, the debtor examination under oath is your strongest tool. Lying under oath is perjury. Transferring assets to avoid a known judgment can constitute a fraudulent transfer under California's Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (Civil Code § 3439 et seq.), which gives you the right to pursue the transferred assets.

If the debtor's business is operating but they claim personal insolvency, a keeper levy on the business or a Secretary of State judgment lien on business personal property may reach assets they have not disclosed.

Putting It All Together

The practical sequence most California judgment creditors follow:

1. Wait for SC-133 to arrive (within 30 days after the clerk mails the Notice of Entry of Judgment)
2. If it does not arrive or is incomplete, search public records yourself
3. File for a debtor examination using the form that applies to the judgment (SC-134 or the consumer-debt forms SC-136/EJ-141) and subpoena documents (SC-107)
4. Use what you learn to target specific assets — a specific bank, a specific employer, specific real property
5. Submit your levy packet to the county sheriff with the right forms

The complete enforcement workflow — from the mandatory waiting period through every collection tool — is in our California judgment collection guide.

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