After a Nulla Bona return in Georgia, the judgment is still alive, the lien is still on the books, and the creditor still has every legal tool to collect — the sheriff just confirmed there was nothing worth taking that day. The return itself, once entered on the execution docket, resets the seven-year dormancy clock and keeps the judgment enforceable. For creditors, it’s a pause and a pivot to investigation. For debtors, it’s breathing room, not forgiveness.
What the Return Does to the Judgment
The most important thing a Nulla Bona return does is keep the judgment from dying. Under Georgia Code 9-12-60, a judgment goes dormant if seven years pass without certain activity on the execution docket.1Justia. Georgia Code 9-12-60 – When Judgment Becomes Dormant; How Dormancy Prevented; Docketing; Applicability When the officer makes an entry on the execution and the clerk records it on the general execution docket, that entry starts a fresh seven-year period. A properly recorded Nulla Bona return is one of those entries. The creditor walked away with nothing, but the judgment got another seven years of life.
The judgment lien recorded with the FiFa also stays in place in the county where it was filed. That lien continues to affect the debtor’s ability to sell or refinance real property in that county, whether or not the sheriff found anything to seize.
If a creditor somehow lets the judgment lapse into dormancy anyway, there’s a backstop. Georgia Code 9-12-61 allows a dormant judgment to be revived through a legal action or scire facias proceeding within three years after it becomes dormant.2Justia. Georgia Code 9-12-61 – Dormant Judgments Renewed by Action or Scire Facias; Time of Renewal Miss that three-year window and the judgment is effectively dead.
What Creditors Do Next
A Nulla Bona return shifts the creditor’s strategy from grabbing property to figuring out what the debtor really has, waiting for an opening, and hitting again when one appears. Several tools do that work.
Post-Judgment Discovery
Georgia Code 9-11-69 gives judgment creditors broad investigative power. They can depose the debtor under oath, send written interrogatories, and demand production of financial records including tax returns, bank statements, and pay stubs.3Justia. Georgia Code 9-11-69 – Execution; Discovery in Aid Thereof Discovery often turns up assets the sheriff didn’t find, income sources that can be garnished later, or transfers that look suspicious. Ignoring a discovery request or lying under oath exposes the debtor to contempt of court, which can mean fines or jail time.
Fraudulent Transfer Actions
If the debtor moved assets to a friend, family member, or shell entity to dodge collection, the creditor can file a separate action under Georgia Code 18-2-74 to void the transfer. The creditor has to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the debtor acted with intent to defraud, or that the debtor received far less than the property was worth and was already unable to pay debts as they came due.4Justia. Georgia Code 18-2-74 – Voidable Transfer; Determination of Actual Intent These cases take resources, but they are the primary weapon when a debtor has moved property out of reach.
Charging Orders Against Business Interests
If the debtor owns a membership interest in an LLC, the creditor can petition for a charging order under Georgia Code 14-11-504. The order directs any distributions that would normally flow to the debtor to go to the creditor instead.5Justia. Georgia Code 14-11-504 – Rights of Judgment Creditor The creditor gains the rights of an assignee of the interest but cannot interfere with the company’s management or force a dissolution. It is a patience play. The creditor waits for money to flow.
Reissuing the Writ and Chasing New Assets
When the debtor’s financial picture changes, the creditor can request a new FiFa and start the levy process over. There is no cap on how many times this cycle can repeat as long as the judgment stays current, and each new Nulla Bona return, properly entered on the docket, resets the dormancy clock again.1Justia. Georgia Code 9-12-60 – When Judgment Becomes Dormant; How Dormancy Prevented; Docketing; Applicability If the investigation uncovers wages or a bank account, the creditor can move to garnishment. Georgia Code 18-4-4 sets the garnishment period for financial institutions as the day of service plus the next five business days.6Justia. Georgia Code 18-4-4 – Garnishment Period Wage garnishment under Georgia Code 18-4-5 is capped at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly earnings exceed $217.50.7Justia. Georgia Code 18-4-5 – Maximum Part of Disposable Earnings Subject to Garnishment; Adverse Employment Action Prohibited
What It Means If You’re the Debtor
A Nulla Bona return can feel like a win. It isn’t. The debt doesn’t disappear, the judgment lien stays on record in the county, and the creditor can come back whenever your finances improve. The most common mistake debtors make is treating the return as the end of the story.
Expect discovery. Post-judgment interrogatories, deposition notices, and document demands under Georgia Code 9-11-69 are routine after a failed levy, and the court takes nonresponse seriously.3Justia. Georgia Code 9-11-69 – Execution; Discovery in Aid Thereof Ignoring these filings or trying to hide income during them is how debtors turn a manageable judgment into a contempt proceeding.
One piece of real relief, though, is on the credit-reporting side. Federal law technically permits credit bureaus to include civil judgments on reports for up to seven years from the date of entry, but the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) voluntarily stopped including civil judgments on consumer credit reports in July 2017 as part of the National Consumer Assistance Plan.8Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. New Retrospective on Removing Public Records Bankruptcies are now the only type of public record appearing on these reports. The judgment lien still shows up when you try to sell or refinance real property in the county where it is recorded, but it will not sit on your consumer credit file the way it used to.
Protection from abusive contact survives the judgment too. Under Regulation F (12 CFR 1006.6), debt collectors cannot contact you at times or places they know or should know are inconvenient, and once you tell a collector you cannot talk during certain hours or at work, they have to stop reaching you then.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Communications in Connection with Debt Collection – Section 1006.6 These rules apply to third-party collectors pursuing the judgment; they generally do not apply when the original creditor collects on its own behalf.
Writing Off the Debt on Taxes
If you are the creditor, a Nulla Bona return can help build the record for a bad-debt deduction. The IRS requires that you previously included the amount in income or loaned your own cash, and that you took reasonable steps to collect before claiming the deduction.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 453, Bad Debt Deduction A Nulla Bona return is strong evidence of those reasonable steps, though on its own it does not make the debt worthless for tax purposes, because you still have legal tools left.
The rules split by debt type. Business bad debts can be deducted in full or in part on Schedule C or the applicable business return, and you do not have to wait until the debt is totally worthless to take a partial deduction. Nonbusiness bad debts must be completely worthless before you can deduct them, and the deduction is reported as a short-term capital loss on Form 8949. You have to attach a statement describing the debt, the debtor, your collection efforts, and why you concluded the debt was worthless.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 453, Bad Debt Deduction
Timing matters. The deduction has to be taken in the year the debt becomes worthless, so a pattern of failed collection attempts combined with evidence of the debtor’s inability to pay is what builds the case, not a single empty-handed return.