§3202 Enforcement of judgments

Summary

A court may use any of the remedies in this subchapter to enforce a judgment and can issue other writs under 28 U.S.C. 1651, subject to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 81(b). When the United States starts an action to use a remedy, the U.S. lawyer must prepare a written notice and the court clerk must send it. The notice must say the case number, the amount owed, and why the property is being taken, and must summarize the main exemption choices under section 3014. The notice must be served on the judgment debtor and on anyone the United States, after diligent inquiry, thinks has an interest in the property. If the debtor wants a hearing, they must ask the court in writing within 20 days of getting the notice and also send a copy to the Government. The court must hold the hearing as soon as possible, or within 5 days if the debtor asks for that speed. At the hearing the issues are limited to whether the debtor likely has a valid exemption, whether legal steps were followed to give the remedy, and, for default judgments only and as allowed by the Constitution or other federal law, whether the debt is likely valid and whether there is good cause to set aside the judgment. The debtor may also ask within 20 days to transfer the proceeding to the federal district where they live. Property may be sold by judicial sale under sections 2001, 2002, and 2004 or by execution sale under section 3203(g), but property covered by a timely hearing request cannot be sold before that hearing.