Judgment Collection On Your Own
Your
local Small Claims Court provides a great service
to your community. At a very low cost the county
court will help you resolve your dispute, and
even declare a dollar amount owed. No attorneys
are allowed. You have your say in front of the
judge, and then a judgment is rendered.
But
then you have the task of collecting the judgment.
Your debtor probably won't want to pay. And the
court can't make him or her pay. You are not a
debt collector, so what can you do? How can you
figure out how to collect on your judgment? Here
are some choices:
1. You can contact
a collection agency to collect your civil judgment
for you.
There
may or may not be an up front cost. And the collection
agency will probably keep 25%-40% of what they
collect. That may seem like a lot to you, but
the collection of civil judgments is not easy.
If you don't have
the time to collect your own judgment, then consider
using a collection agency. But make sure they
do more than write nasty letters and make phone
calls to the debtor. You want a collection agency
that is highly active. Call 5 or 6 different ones
in your county and try to get a feel for which
one is most responsive to you.
2. You can get help
from a Judgment Recovery Specialist.
These
are people specifically trained in collecting
judgments. They don't deal with credit card debt
or the myriad of other types of debt that a debt
collection company handles. A good judgment recovery
professional is much more active than a regular
debt collection service. They know the ins and
outs of small claims courts and civil courts,
and all the tricks of the trade.
The
percentage that a judgment recovery specialist
receives is probably more than a collection agency.
That's because they do more, in our view. They
also handle all additional court costs and sheriff
costs. It is not unusual for a judgment recovery
person to receive 50% of the judgment money. But
50% of something is better than 100% of nothing.
Call
5 or 6 judgment recovery people in your area.
See who is the most competent and experienced.
Then sit back and let the person handle your court
judgment for you. One in particular who we found
helpful is Peter Gilboy from Judgment
Trackers who can be reached at Gilboy@Judgment-Trackers.com.
3. You can collect your
judgment yourself.
If
your debtor is hiding or simply resistant, then
this may take some doing, but it certainly is
doable in most cases. The reason 80% of judgments
are never collected is because people either don't
have the time or they don't know how. It may be
that you already know a lot about your debtor.
Maybe you have an old check, a place of business,
a residence, and auto information. Then you are
on your way.
But
you still may not be familiar with court procedures
and collection methods. However, if you do want
to collect it yourself, we recommend a very comprehensive
guide that will cover just about all the situations
you will run into called The
Citizen's Guide to Collecting Your Own Judgment
written by Peter Gilboy mentioned above. It's
cheap and effective and worth taking a look at.
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