How to Sell a Car With a Personal Judgment

A personal judgment enables your court adversary with the right to place a lien on your car that prevents you from selling the car without paying the judgment. Liens give the holder a financial interest in your property and court lienholders are no different from the lienholder you acquire when you finance a vehicle. If the judgment owner does not place a lien on your automobile, sell the car without repercussion. If the judgment holder requests a garnishment of your bank account and you deposit the money in that account, the owner of the judgment can get the proceeds from the sale.

Instructions

1

Look at your court papers to determine how much you must pay to remove the lien. The judgment may require you to pay the amount of the lawsuit, interest and recovery costs incurred by the person who sued you.

2

Pay the lien before you sell the car. If you are able, paying the lien before you sell the car can prevent any issues when you transfer the title to the car buyer.

3

Use an escrow service to facilitate the transaction. These services accept the money from the buyer, the title from the seller and work with the lienholder to complete the purchase. After the escrow service pays the judgment, it works with the lienholder to release the title to the buyer (see Resources).

4

Sign the title authorizing the transfer and collect any money remaining from the sale after paying the lien.