Judgment Docket & Lien Book Computer

[Judgments, Liens, Lis Pendens, Mechanics Liens, Tax Warrants]

This is the main menu screen for the Judgment Docket and Lien Book computer. This computer system is used by all the county clerks in the City of New York. The computer works the same way in each county. The only difference from county to county is what date the county clerk started to index the records on computer. All the liens listed below are indexed in the system. Only Richmond County (Staten Island) indexes Federal Tax Liens in this system. The City Register in the four other counties in New York City file Federal Tax Liens. The "book desired" field will let you choose which lien book you want to search for, or you can leave the field blank and the computer will search all the books. Do not hit the PF2 key when the main menu is in use.

Book	Lien Type
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	Judgments Hospital Liens Mechanics Liens Building Loans Lis Pendens Sidewalk Liens Federal Tax Liens Hours and Wages

The system only has information for the county you are researching.

The highlighted fields in Screen B show what information must be entered to perform an individual name search in this system. Enter "I" (inquiry) under "routine desired". Do not enter anything under dictionary. Enter "I" (individual) [or "C" (Corporate) when doing a corporate search] before the name field. Enter last name first then first name, separated by a comma. Do not use any spaces! Enter the book desired (1 - 7). If the "Book Desired" field is left blank, the computer will search all books. In the above example, this field is left blank.

Be sure not to have any information entered into the block, lot, or control number fields. If the previous user left information in one of the other fields, make these fields blank by using the right facing arrow [Tab] key left of the letter "Q" to move the cursor to the field, and press the "EOF" button on the left side of the keyboard. It is recommended that the tab key be used to move from field to field.

If any information is not entered properly, or too many fields have information in them (i.e. name search with a block & lot), the computer will highlight the fields in error and the lower left hand corner of the screen will read "HIGHLIGHTED FIELDS IN ERROR". Correct the information in these fields and then press "ENTER" to perform search. This system is not fault tolerant. For a corporate or business name, type at least the first four letters of the name. No commas are to be used. It is better to enter less of the name because if you omit a comma or a space, the system will not find the entry.

If any are found, the computer will list the judgments and liens found for the name entered, such as on Screen C. If no liens or judgments are in the computer for the name entered, the lower left corner of Screen B will read "NAME NOT ON FILE". Note the upper right hand corner of the screen "Page 0001 of 0001". Each screen is considered a page and will list five entries. If more than five entries exist for the search name, the upper right hand corner of the screen will list how many pages are on file. After the "PF8" key is pressed, the next five judgments on file will be listed.

Four judgments and or liens appear under the name "FRANK SMITH". The first entry is a judgment for $921.58 filed by the State Tax Commission. If the judgment has been satisfied, the date of satisfaction will be listed in the right hand column under the control number. The next entry is a mechanics lien (MLB) filed by Tierney Construction, but the mechanics lien was satisfied on 6/14/92. The third entry is a lis pendens (LPB) filed by Citibank, and is still open. The fourth item is a judgment.

To find out more information about entry #4, the judgment for $29,5550.00, type"4" on the "INQUIRY SELECTION" line and press "ENTER". Screen D will appear.

Screen D has all the information about the selected judgment. The debtor is the person the judgment is against and the creditor is the entity that filed the judgment. The type of judgment is a money judgment filed in New York County (Manhattan). The information in the upper left hand corner under "DOCKET DATE" is the date and time the judgment was entered. The upper right hand corner has important information. The "SOURCE DOCUMENT" discloses that it is a judgment filed in New York County and that it came from the Supreme Court. The index number is the case number of the litigation case from which the judgment arose. By pressing "PF8", you will see Screen E which lists some additional information. Screen E is important because it displays if the judgment has been satisfied. If a "Y" appears in the "REMARKS" space, press "PF8" to view the remarks page.

Block & Lot Search

The judgment computer has an interesting function that can be very helpful when doing research on a building or on a particular neighborhood. The index to liens can be accessed by the block and lot of a property. Enter an "I" in routine desired and tab down to the block and lot entry line, leaving all other fields blank. Enter a five digit block and lot of the property, using preceding zeros. For example, if the block is 569, as shown on Screen F, you must enter "00569" for the computer to execute the search. The same for the lot information. Press "ENTER" and the computer will list the judgments, liens, etc. against that particular property. By leaving the "BOOK DESIRED" field empty, the computer will search all types of liens.

Because blocks and lots are assigned by areas, one can do a search of all the properties on a street or avenue by simply determining the first block and lot, and then just changing the numbers. Maps with these numbers are readily available in the City Registers offices.

Date Search

The judgment computer can also be very helpful when doing research on a specific type of lien. The index to liens can be accessed by the date the liens were entered. You can also search a date range. Enter an "I" in routine desired and tab down to book desired. Enter a number from 1 to 7 corresponding to the type of lien you are researching. Then enter the date range you wish to search. For example, you can search all judgments filed in the month of March 1993. Press "ENTER" and the computer will list the judgments just like in a name search.

It is possible for a researcher to obtain a list of all properties put into foreclosure in the last 2 weeks using this computer. Just enter book 5 [Lis Pendens] and a date two weeks earlier in the "FROM" date range.