2 years ago a gentleman hit and totaled my truck, He had no insurance. Mine would not cover it because it was parked. I sued him and won the law suit. He has yet to pay anthing in damages and im still out thousands.Ive seen companies on TV that will buy settlesments .. Are they worth the effort?? Does anyone know anything else that can be done???? The weck happened in Kansas.
2006-07-26 09:10:55 · 25 answers · asked by King 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Other - Cars & Transportation
Ive had his wages garnished but he just quits the job... My lawyer doesnt seem to be helping... My lawyer said when he gets a new jobs i have to hear about it and tell him they cant just run a check on his Name or SSN...Ive forgiven him i just want my truck fixed. He doesnt put anything in his name, its all in his Grandmothers name or Wifes.
2006-07-26 09:22:00 · update #1
You do not have a "settlement" that someone will buy, so forget about that.
You won the case and got a judgment. Collecting on the judgment is the hard part.
First, does this party have any assets? bank accounts, job, real property? or is he "judgment proof", meaning that he doesn't have anything you can collect.
Usually, you take a judgment from the court and file it with the county clerk, so that it is then on record. If the person tries to sell real property, or get credit, it will show up.
Once you have filed the judgment with the county clerk, you can then seek to have the sheriff enforce the judgment (this is where it helps to know what property or bank accounts the person has).
There are collection agencies that will seek to collect on your judgment for a percentage of what they can collect (I've seen as high as 50%).
A judgment that is filed and on record stays there for 10 years, and can be renewed. So, even if the lowlife doesn't have any assets now, maybe later they will and you might be able to collect, with interest.
Note that the above is based upon New York law and practice. May not be the same in Kansas.
Good luck.
2006-07-26 09:24:03 · answer #1 · answered by Steve Wood 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The problem with any lawsuit is, you may win the case, but if the person is not willing to pay or have no means to pay you, you still don't get paid. That said, there are few things you can do.
If the person owns any property, you can file a lean against it. When a lean is filed, you don't get paid immediately, but the owner can't sell the property until the lean is cleared.
The "property" can be realestate or vehicles.
In some cases, you can also garnish his wage. You will have to file a petition at the court.
Good luck.
2006-07-26 16:19:32 · answer #2 · answered by tkquestion 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can try and get his wages garnished. Or will you just be throwing more money down the drain for lawyers fees. You do the math. Maybe you should sue your insurance company for not paying. That sounds odd to me that they didn't pay up.
2006-07-26 16:15:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If he is married, he probably files a State tax return. Once you have the judgment, you have several options. One is to attack his State tax refund. Even if he shows no income, his wife perhaps does. You would have to contact your State Treasury office to find out what papers you would need to file.
There are companies out there, small collection firms, which for a contingency fee, will collect your award. These are not the "settlement buyers" on TV; they only pay on Plaintiff awards of large "structured" settlements stretched out over years, even decades, for those who want a lump sum now. But the collection firms should only charge you if they collect; they work on a commission basis. You should consider if you are willing to part with up to 1/2 of your judgment amount to get something, but they do have impressive success rates.
2006-07-26 16:32:17 · answer #4 · answered by G9 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get a writ of execution from the court clerk, take it the the sheriff and seize the assets of the judgment debtor
but first u got to know where to send the sheriff, need to locate bank accounts, so schedule a judgment debtor examination. the court may have info available for doing this, u don't need a lawyer to do any of the above. If the sheriff grabs assets, then he will publicly auction them off and the proceed will go towards the judgment.
2006-07-26 16:18:03 · answer #5 · answered by jimcmillan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good ole US justice, huh?
I am sorry for your loss and happenstance.
Most of the others who posted before me is correct in stating go back to court and sue him again.
This time, you have evidence that he went against the judgement, so the courts will have the legal advantange to place him in default judgement and pursue garnishing his wages.
All of that will take time and money again, so be prepared.
2006-07-26 16:16:29 · answer #6 · answered by yadedyah_dc 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on Kansas law so you need to consult an attorney. You can't get blood from a turnip as they say. In case no one knows what that means, it means you can't get money from someone who doesn't have any. Perhaps this gentleman doesn't have any money....maybe that's why he didn't have insurance. You need to talk to an attorney though. I don't know what Kansas laws are.
2006-07-26 16:16:40 · answer #7 · answered by First Lady 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can contact your district attorney's office and have them help enforce the settlement. They will tell you what you need to do to have wages garnished, etc.
I contacted one of those 3rd party firms and they charge so much it's not worth it. Usually have to pay something even if they collect nothing.
2006-07-26 16:15:51 · answer #8 · answered by pknutson_sws 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go back to your attorney and have the firm petition the court to issue a summons to make this person pay or better yet attach yourself to that persons wages till he does pay.
2006-07-26 16:16:24 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get a judgement against him and they'll garnish his wages. Any lawyer can file the paperwork.
2006-07-26 16:12:25 · answer #10 · answered by thegirlwholovedbrains 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋