Domain Name Levies
What can you do the judgment debtor seems to conceal their assets and income, although they own a nice domain name with a cool website? Can you get the levy the debtor's internet domain name to repay your judgment? Theoretically it works, although in the real world it may not be possible. This article is my opinion and is not, legal advice. I'm a judgment broker, and not an attorney. When you want legal advice or a strategy to use, please retain a lawyer.
In recent years, I've read in many places that one may garnish your debtor's domain name, however I've never seen it done in the real world. A few years ago, I attended some training session where the instructor was a lawyer explaining to judgment recovery experts and lawyers how to levy internet domain names, where he gave out sample court motions to do this. The only snag is, over the years, I have talked to several enforcers and attorneys who told me they followed that advice and motion template; and then judges denied their motion. A guess is, perhaps website and/or domain name levies may become a standard legal procedure, with a checkbox on writs of execution one day. .
These days, it's no longer the internet domain name, it's what you accomplish with your name. As an example, if you are searching on the web, you do not usually go to www.search.com. Even though that is a good search site, instead you most likely visit Google, Yahoo, or Bing - to search for anything, as these businesses worked to add value to their domain names.
My opinion is the reason internet domain names alone can't get levied in the real world is because domain names are rented, not really owned by their "registered owners". That becomes more clear when you do not pay for the yearly domain registration and lose your internet domain. Instead of attempting to garnish your debtor's domain name itself, try to find the way that website for that internet domain makes their income, and the way to attach or levy the money. Here's some theory on how to levy just a domain name:
In California, the EJL (Enforcement of Judgments Laws) do not provide any method for the judgment owner to "reach" the property of the debtor's domain name. The current hypothesis seems to be that a noticed motion for a turnover order may result in a judge ruling the judgment debtor to surrender all title, rights, and interest for an internet domain name; and then do everything necessary to do this.
That kind of motion might be captioned something like: "Order Transferring Rights To An Internet Domain Name". The motion with a proposed order will be on pleading paper, ordering your debtor to contact their internet domain vendor to transfer the debtor's ownership interest in the domain by completing any needed forms to cause that surrender. Such a motion with a proposed order would specify that the debtor will take an affirmative action and surrender such rights, title and interests (a bundle of rights) for their internet domain name. As with all other judgment debtor property levy, the asset will have to be sold by a levying officer.
Including a proposed restraining order in such motions may be a good idea, with clauses which start at the time of the issuance of the turnover order. The restraining order might say that the judgment debtor cannot engage in any action whose effect is to transfer, alienate, hypothecate or otherwise hinder any title, right and interests in the domain name of (e.g.) example.info, in favor of another entity or person except the Sheriff of County, in order to get sold by auction; and it's further adjudged, ordered, and decreed: that such actions violating the restraining order will be punishable as a contempt of this court and its orders, upon proof of any occurrence of same by the debtor.
Certain judges don't like to sign proposed orders which include contempt clauses for when the judgment debtor does not obey the court's order, and that does not make sense to me.
Mark D. Shapiro of: http://www.JudgmentBuy.com - The fastest and easiest free method of finding the best expert to buy or recover your judgment.
