what is a judgment 
judgment is a court decision spelled out in a court order that adjudicates a dispute between two parties by determining the rights and obligations of each party a judgment may require monetary compensation or transfer of property from one party to another judgments can also have non monetary requirements such as instructing one party to perform a service for the other understanding a judgmentjudgments are classified as judgments are usually monetary but can also be non monetary specific types of judgmentsthere are countless types of judgments that more specifically break a judgment between financial monetary or non financial non monetary more specific types of judgments include special considerationsmost of the time a judgment will be for a sum of money because money is the most appropriate form of compensation for the harm as of 2018 judgments are no longer reported on a debtor s credit report 5 this official policy came after a settlement between the major credit bureaus experian equifax and transunion and 30 state attorneys general since this did not come from a law it could change in the future for the winner of a lawsuit a court judgment is only the first step in getting the money they are owed actually collecting the money from the debtor can be a long arduous and not always successful process however judgments are legally enforceable so if the debtor does not voluntarily pay the judgment the creditor can take steps such as conducting a debtor s examination seizing bank accounts putting a lien on the debtor s property or hiring a debt collector 6winning a court judgment may be only the first step to collecting a debt obligation while judgments are legally binding collecting payments is an expensive and often fruitless process example of a judgmentfor example if a borrower does not repay a loan or a credit card debt the lender or creditor can obtain a judgment to force the borrower to pay as another example a landlord who evicted a tenant for not paying the rent might file a lawsuit to collect the unpaid rent and if the landlord won the lawsuit it would result in a judgment against the tenant in a regulatory context many corporate defendants seek to reach a negotiated settlement rather than risk a costly and unpredictable litigation process when wells fargo employees were discovered to have defrauded millions of customers to improve their own performance metrics the bank ultimately agreed to pay 3 billion in fines in order to resolve their civil and criminal liabilities they were also forced to enhance their compliance measures and eliminate senior managers who had been overlooked the scale of the fraud 7the scandal which first came to light in 2016 was a severe blow to the bank s floundering reputation and an even bigger blow to its share price although wells fargo stock rose with the rest of the market over the following five years the bank continued to pay out civil penalties with shares tumbling with each new enforcement action in addition to regulatory actions the bank is also facing litigation from investors who believe that they were defrauded by wells fargo s management 89while creditors can seize property in the collection of a judgment most states offer exemptions for certain types of property such as a primary home or personal vehicle 10civil judgments vs criminal judgmentscourts in the united states distinguish between two different types of actions civil and criminal civil actions represent disputes between two individuals or organizations for example a customer may seek a civil judgment against a company for a breached contract or two neighbors may seek legal remedies in a property dispute these types of judgments typically result in monetary compensation to the injured party but they may also involve additional fines or penalties in comparison a criminal judgment seeks punishment for violations of criminal law such as theft or fraud whereas civil cases are usually between private individuals criminal cases are launched by attorneys representing the government itself in addition to monetary fines and penalties criminal judgments may also entail imprisonment or loss of certain legal rights or privileges 11