Judgment Enforcement For Free - No Way!

Judgment Enforcement For Free - No Way!

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A typical rule on judgment enforcement is that judgments are usually expensive and difficult to recover, and everything depends on the judgment debtor's situation. In this article, I will cover other reasons judgments may never get collected.

Because I am a judgment broker, I match judgment owners with judgment buyers, recovery specialists, and contingency collection lawyers. Each day I see show stoppers for instance when a judgment debtor cannot be found, has successfully filed for bankruptcy protection, or the judgment has expired.

Each day I also witness the other reasons a judgment may never be enforced - the attitude or beliefs of the judgment owner. Below are the top creditor-based reasons that some judgments might never get enforced:

1) "My judgment is gold and worth the face value and the interest accrued, not a dollar less". The problem with this belief is that judgments are only worth what available assets the judgment debtor has to pay the judgment.

2) "The fair charge to collect a judgment is ten percent, anyone that charges more than that is attempting to rip me off". This is just not correct. Judgment recovery is usually difficult and costly. The typical recovery rate averages 50%. When the judgment is large and the judgment debtor is wealthy, the rate may go way down. If the judgment debtor was Bill Gates, Warrant Buffet, or Larry Ellison, then maybe ten percent is a fair charge to recover a judgment.

3) "I was burned once, I do not want to be ripped off again, I am worried a judgment enforcer or attorney will run away with my money". The funny thing is, I hear this concern with judgments less than $5,000. (I cannot imagine someone tossing away their business, their reputation, and risking jail or a lawsuit, for a chance of stealing half of $5,000.)

Everything that is done to recover judgment money is done under the supervision of a sheriff, after the creditor gets permission from the court. Any money recovered is recorded at the court. This means no money can be hidden from you.

While anything could happen in this world, getting defrauded by a recovery professional, especially one referred by a judgment broker, is very remote. You are more likely to be struck by lightening. Even if something unfortunate happens to a judgment collection professional, that does not mean your judgment is lost.

4) "My judgment debtor has to pay me, the law says so. I will just keep renewing my judgment and the debtor will one day have to pay me". In a good economy where everyone was planning to purchase a bigger and better home, this idea may have worked. It now takes active recovery actions to recover a judgment. If the debtor was going to pay you voluntarily, you would not have to had to sue them. A judgment is just a piece of paper until someone spends money and time to try to collect it.

5) "I would rather let my judgment expire than share any part of it to be recovered". This means you might as well throw your judgment away. Again, unless someone spends money and time to recover a judgment, it's just a piece of paper.

6) "Our in-house people handle this, we do not require any help recovering our judgments". The problem is the reality of the situation. While your in-house solution might be very good, the fact remains there are some judgments they have made no progress with. It is smart to send the judgments your in-house solution cannot make progress on, to a recovery professional.

7) "I do not want to give up control of my judgment. I am worried about losing my judgment". The problem is that anyone that is not a lawyer or a collection agency, must take legal ownership of judgments before they can recover them. One answer is to use a referred contingency collations lawyer, who works on your behalf, and you retain ownership of your judgment.

8) "I want a bull-dog, someone who will make my debtor miserable, and take every dime ASAP. I do not want to wait forever to get my money". The problem is if one is too aggressive, it may just push the judgment debtor to file for bankruptcy protection, which can make your judgment become worthless.

Most judgments are not easy or cheap to collect, and it does not help if the judgment owner is not realistic. May your judgment be recovered.

About the Author:
Mark D. Shapiro - Judgment Expert - good for all judgment owners, Judgment Enforcers and contingency collection lawyers:
http://www.JudgmentBuy.com - where Judgments get Purchased or Enforced!



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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