When a judgment lien has attached to personal property which is removed to another state and sold, the property shall be subject to the judgment lien if brought back to this state.
§ 9-12-92.Effect of judgment lien on personalty removed to another state, sold, and returned
Chapter 12. Verdict and Judgment · Article 4. Judgment Liens · Last amended 1933 · Last verified July 17, 2026
In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 9-12-92 provides that when a judgment lien has already attached to personal property that is later removed to another state and sold there, the property remains subject to that lien if it is brought back into Georgia.
Full Text of § 9-12-92
Plain-English Summary
This section closes off a way a debtor, or a buyer, might otherwise try to shed a Georgia judgment lien: move the encumbered personal property across state lines, sell it there, and hope the lien does not follow. Under this section, it does not work. Once a judgment lien has attached to personal property, moving that property to another state and selling it there does not erase the lien — if the property later comes back into Georgia, the lien still covers it.
The rule protects the judgment creditor's interest through a round trip that might otherwise look like an easy way to launder title. A buyer who purchases such property out of state, without knowing about the Georgia lien, still faces the risk that the lien reattaches in a practical sense once that property returns within Georgia's borders.
The section is limited to personal property — items like equipment, vehicles, or goods that can physically move across state lines — rather than land, which by its nature cannot be relocated in the same way.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to a Georgia judgment lien when the encumbered personal property is taken to another state and sold?
The lien does not disappear because of the out-of-state sale; it continues to cover the property.
Does bringing the property back into Georgia revive the judgment lien's effect on it?
Yes. This section provides that the property remains subject to the judgment lien once it is brought back into this state.
What is the practical effect of this rule on someone who buys such property out of state?
That buyer takes on the risk that the property will still be treated as subject to the Georgia judgment lien if it later returns to Georgia, even though the sale itself happened elsewhere.
Does this section apply to real property or personal property?
Personal property — the section addresses property that can physically be removed to another state, not land.
Why would Georgia law want the lien to follow property back across state lines?
Without such a rule, a debtor could defeat a Georgia judgment lien by moving personal property out of state long enough to sell it, then allowing it to return once the lien might otherwise have been thought to lapse.
Amendment History
Orig. Code 1863, § 3503; Code 1868, § 3526; Code 1873, § 3584; Code 1882, § 3584; Civil Code 1895, § 5357; Civil Code 1910, § 5952; Code 1933, § 110-513.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, published by the
Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Georgia Code Revision Commission / LexisNexis. Last verified July 17, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: georgia judgment lien personal property out of statelien survives sale in another state georgiapersonal property brought back to georgia judgment lienjudgment lien follows property across state lines