After obtaining a judgment against a party, the next step for the judgment creditor is to enforce the judgment against the judgment debtor. If the judgment debtor owns real estate in California, a creditor can record a judgment lien against the judgment debtor’s real property. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 697.340. A judgment lien gives the creditor priority over unsecured creditors , and secures the right to be paid from the proceeds of a sale of the debtor’s real property or from the debtor’s monetary award in another lawsuit assuming there is equity in the property.