Once a default judgment is entered against you in California, the plaintiff’s claim becomes a fully enforceable court order, interest starts running at 10 percent a year, and the creditor can begin garnishing wages, levying bank accounts, and recording liens against your property almost immediately. You still have a narrow window to ask the court to set the judgment aside, but the clock is short and the collection tools available to the other side are not. Here is what happens after a default judgment in California, and what you can do about it.
The Judgment Is Enforceable Right Away
A default judgment carries the same legal force as a judgment entered after a full trial. The court treats the plaintiff’s allegations as true because you never appeared to contest them, and your liability for the awarded amount is now fixed. Ignoring it does not make it go away.
Interest begins accruing on the unpaid balance at 10 percent per year from the date the judgment is entered.1Justia. California Code of Civil Procedure 685.010-685.110 – Interest and Costs That rate is set by statute and does not move with the market. On a $50,000 judgment, you are adding $5,000 a year just in interest, every year the balance stays unpaid.
How the Creditor Can Collect
California gives judgment creditors several enforcement tools, and they can use more than one at the same time. Most start with the court clerk issuing either an abstract of judgment or a writ of execution.
Liens on Real Property
The creditor can get an abstract of judgment from the clerk and record it with the county recorder’s office. That recording creates a judgment lien on all of your non-exempt real property in that county.2California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 697.310 The lien has to be paid off before you can sell or refinance. If you own property in more than one county, the creditor can record a separate abstract in each.
Wage Garnishment
The creditor can get an Earnings Withholding Order directing your employer to divert part of each paycheck. California’s limits are more protective than the federal floor. The maximum withheld each week is the lesser of:
- 20 percent of your disposable earnings for that week, or
- 40 percent of the amount by which your weekly disposable earnings exceed 48 times the applicable minimum hourly wage.
If your city or county has a higher minimum wage than the state, the local rate is used.3California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 706.050 California’s state minimum wage is $16.90 per hour as of January 1, 2026, which puts the weekly threshold under the second prong around $811.4California Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage If your disposable income is below that threshold, the second calculation may shield you entirely, though the 20-percent cap still applies.
Bank Levies
With a writ of execution from the clerk, the creditor can direct a sheriff or registered process server to seize funds in your bank accounts.5California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 699.510 The levy freezes the account and transfers available non-exempt funds to the creditor. Writs can be reissued until the judgment is satisfied.
Debtor Examinations
If the creditor doesn’t know where your income or assets are, they can ask the court to order you to appear and answer questions under oath about your job, accounts, real estate, vehicles, and anything else of value. The creditor can request this examination once every 120 days without needing special cause.6California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 708.110 Skipping the hearing can result in a contempt finding.
What the Creditor Cannot Take
California exempts certain property from enforcement. These exemptions generally are not applied automatically; you have to claim them.
The homestead exemption is the biggest protection. It shields at least $300,000 of equity in your primary residence. In counties where the median home sale price is higher, the exemption rises to match, capped at $600,000. The figures adjust yearly for inflation.7California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 704.730 A creditor who forces a sale of your home has to pay you the exempt equity out of the proceeds before keeping anything.
Other common exemptions include up to $7,500 of equity in motor vehicles, most retirement account funds, necessary household furnishings, tools of your trade, and the portion of wages beyond the garnishment limits above.8California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 704.010 Social Security and most public assistance are also protected.
Can You Set the Judgment Aside?
A default judgment is not necessarily permanent, but each route to challenge it has strict deadlines. Most set-aside motions run through Code of Civil Procedure Section 473.
Discretionary Relief for Mistake or Neglect
A court can vacate a default judgment if you show the default happened because of mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. The motion has to be filed within a reasonable time, and no later than six months after the judgment was entered. It must include a copy of the answer you intend to file if the judgment is set aside.9California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 473 “Excusable neglect” has real limits. Simply forgetting about the lawsuit or deciding not to respond rarely qualifies. The standard is whether a reasonably prudent person in your situation could have made the same mistake.
Mandatory Relief for Attorney Fault
If the default was your attorney’s fault rather than yours, the court must grant relief. Your attorney has to submit a sworn statement admitting that their mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect caused the default. The six-month deadline still applies.9California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 473 The court will also order the attorney to pay the other side’s reasonable fees and costs caused by the default.
Lack of Actual Notice
If you were technically served but never actually received notice of the lawsuit in time to respond, you can seek relief under Section 473.5. The deadline is the earlier of two years after the judgment was entered or 180 days after you receive written notice that the judgment exists.10California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 473.5 You also have to show the lack of notice was not caused by deliberately avoiding service or by inexcusable neglect. Section 473.5 contains a sunset clause and is currently set to be repealed on January 1, 2027, unless the legislature extends it.
Void Judgments
If the court never had jurisdiction over you (for example, because service of the summons was fatally defective), the judgment is void and can be set aside at any time. There is no six-month or two-year deadline. Section 473(d) allows the court to set aside a void judgment on its own motion or on request of the affected party.9California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 473 The defect has to go to the court’s fundamental authority to hear the case, not to minor procedural irregularities.
How Long the Judgment Hangs Over You
A California money judgment is enforceable for 10 years from the date it was entered. When that period runs out, enforcement stops and any enforcement liens are extinguished.11California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 683.020 But the creditor can renew the judgment before it expires, extending enforceability for another 10 years. There is no cap on the number of renewals, so a persistent creditor can keep a judgment alive indefinitely.12California Courts. Judgment Renewals and Interest Rates The renewal has to be filed before the current 10-year period runs out, and a judgment cannot be renewed more than once in any five-year span.
With 10 percent annual interest running the whole time, waiting is expensive. A judgment that starts at $30,000 can grow past $60,000 within a decade without a single payment, and the creditor can simply renew.
If You Move Out of State
Leaving California does not escape the judgment. Under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, other states have to honor valid California judgments, and nearly every state has adopted a version of the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act. The creditor files the California judgment in the county where you live or own property, you receive notice, and the court recognizes it. You cannot relitigate the original case; you can only raise procedural objections. Once recognized, the creditor can garnish wages, levy accounts, and lien property under that state’s laws.
The reverse works too. If a creditor obtained a judgment against you in another state, they can register it with a California court clerk, who enters it as a California judgment for the unpaid balance plus interest at the original state’s rate.13California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1710.25 From that point, it accrues interest at California’s 10 percent rate and the full set of California enforcement tools becomes available to the creditor.
If you want to challenge a default judgment, the single most important thing is the date on it. The six-month window under Section 473 closes fast, and the longer you wait, the more interest accrues and the more collection activity you will have to unwind.