Collect on a judgment the other side is ignoring

This step produces the certified copy of the final judgment — the document every filing in this playbook cites, because sheriffs, banks, and county recorders accept nothing else. The trap: the certified copy is not the clerk's docket printout, and the amount printed on it does not include interest accrued since the judgment was entered.

• Call the clerk's office of the court that entered the judgment, or use its online portal, and request a certified copy of the final money judgment.
• Pay the copy fee — state courts typically charge $2–$15 per document, federal courts $11 — and keep the receipt.
• Extract from the certified copy: case number; court and division; date entered; judgment amount; the post-judgment interest rate (printed on the judgment, or set by your state's statute); and every judgment debtor's legal name, exactly as written.
• If the interest rate is not printed, ask the clerk to confirm it in writing, or read your state's post-judgment interest statute.