Yes, I know the answer to this is going to vary from state to state and judge to judge. But in a general sense…
Say Mr. Flintstone is ordered to pay $100 million. Between his apartment on Park Avenue, his house in Malibu, his collection of sports cars, etc., he’s worth ~60 million. But how broke, really, is our defendant going to be, really? Could the court make him sell all of his homes and tell him to buy a trailer in Yazoo City, MS if he wants a roof over his head? If he has $10 million in liquidity, does it all go towards his judgment? Can he keep a few hundred bucks so he can buy food? Is he forced to sell his Lamborghinis and McClaren’s and compelled to buy a Honda Civic to get to work?
The person owed money can put a lien on every bit of property, including cars, motorcycles, boats, the person has. This will prevent the person who owes the money from using the property for collateral or selling it in any financial transaction. Can’t take out a loan, HELOC, or 2nd mortgage on the house or sell it, can’t sell a car ,etc. without paying the lien holder. Banks are not allowed to deal with any property with a lien on it, first they must satisfy the lien.That makes any of your real property effectively worthless and owned by the lien holder. Sometimes the lien can be used to force a sale.The person in the OP no longer has $60 million dollors to use on anything. Very likely to cramp their style since most rich people don’t have a big pile of money in the bank, it is all tied up in property.
County tax records are very helpful finding out who owns property. In my county I can go to their website and enter anyone’s name in the county and it will show me all of the taxible property they own, address’, value, everything, you just have to know where to look. Contactors can use this with customers who are reluctant to pay their bills, usually a letter threatening a lien is enough.
That should work for a deadbeat homeowner. However, one hears that especially rich people are adept at hiding property ownership through shell companies and other perfectly legal means. So looking on a county website might not find that the penthouse on 5th Avenue is owned by three (or more) layers of corporations, only the last of which shows the names of any actual people. You’d probably have to hire someone with expertise in that area to find that line of ownership.
None of the seven houses on my street, including mine are owned by an individual. Every single one is owned by a trust. Including mine.
A mechanics lien will still work, but not any random creditor. I am not a lawyer and didn’t set up a trust to escape creditors, but to avoid probate. This street has the newer and more expensive houses in the neighborhood, but even if the other ~200 homes, at least a third are owned by corporate entities or trusts.
I beleive that professional is a Forensic Accountant - seems like a cool way to earn a living in that field.
Anyway, I wondered the question from the OP for that excreasence Alex Jones. I think his case is still tied up in the courts, but he does not have enough assets to cover the cost of his judgement, so what happens to him? As much as it would pleasure me to know he’s sleeping in a box under a freeway overpass, I am sure he’s still allowed something more than that, even with all that he owes.
Rudi Giuliani is a classic example. He owed these maligned poll workers millions. Also note because the libel was malicious, it cannot be erased by bankruptcy. The court ordered him to list his assets. he tried to unload them on the family, claiming he didn’t own them. the court then held hearings about what were his assets and whether he’d legitimately still owned them. He was also ordered to sell his condo. He had to turn over a very valuable car, and negleceted to turn over the key.
OJ Simpson, however, kept his $25M mansion in Florida, because a primary residence in Florida is immune from seizure in bankruptcy.