Satisfaction of Judgment in Georgia: Releasing Liens After Payment

When the Debtor Pays, You Have a Legal Obligation

Once the judgment is fully satisfied — whether through voluntary payment, garnishment proceeds, or a sheriff's sale — Georgia law requires you to clear the public record. This is not optional. Failing to file the proper paperwork within the statutory window can expose you to liability and leave the debtor with a lien clouding their property title.

Two Filings, Two Offices

Closing out a collected judgment in Georgia requires documents filed in two places:

1. Satisfaction of Judgment — filed with the Magistrate Court that entered the original judgment. This closes the civil case docket. The Magistrate Court clerk marks the case as satisfied in their records.

2. Cancellation of Writ of Fi. Fa. — filed with the Clerk of Superior Court in every county where the Fi. Fa. was recorded on the General Execution Docket. The cancellation fee is $25 per county (O.C.G.A. §§ 9-12-60, 9-12-81). If you recorded the Fi. Fa. in three counties, you file three separate cancellations and pay $75 total.

Both filings are necessary. Filing a satisfaction with Magistrate Court but forgetting to cancel the Fi. Fa. at Superior Court leaves a lien on the debtor's property that appears in title searches and blocks real estate transactions.

The Deadline

Georgia law imposes a duty on the judgment creditor to file the cancellation of the Fi. Fa. within 60 days of receiving full satisfaction. Failure to file within that window can subject you to statutory damages and a civil claim by the debtor for clouding their title. Providing an informal receipt or accepting a check is not enough — the formal cancellation must be recorded on the GED.

What to File

The cancellation documents are straightforward:

• A signed Satisfaction of Judgment for the Magistrate Court case file
• A signed Cancellation of Fi. Fa. (or Release of Execution) for each Superior Court where the writ was recorded
• The original or a certified copy of the Fi. Fa., if required by the county clerk

The Georgia Council of Magistrate Court Judges provides standard forms at georgiamagistratecouncil.com, including the satisfaction and cancellation templates.

If the Debtor Paid During an Active Garnishment

When payment arrives while a garnishment or levy is still running, you also need to:

• File a formal Dismissal of Garnishment with the garnishment court
• Send immediate written notice to the employer, bank, or sheriff to release pending holds and stop wage deductions

Failing to stop an active garnishment after full payment means the debtor's wages or bank account continue to be frozen — which is both a legal violation and a practical headache to unwind.

Partial Payments

If the debtor makes a partial payment or you agree to settle for less than the full judgment amount, document the settlement terms and how they affect the remaining balance and any recorded Fi. Fa. before filing a satisfaction or cancellation. Keep a payment ledger showing dates and amounts.

The Georgia Small Claims Judgment Collection Guide walks through the full satisfaction workflow, including the forms for both Magistrate and Superior Court, the multi-county cancellation process, and how to document partial payments and the remaining lien status.

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