I was just awarded a small claims judgement, what is the next step to collect from the debtor?

Question

I would like to know if we can garnish the debtor wages and also if we can get the claim from his bank account? Can I call the debtor myself and figure out a payment plan, do i have to wait a certain amount of time to do so?

Answer 1

State specific. Get a lien recorded is the next step; some states permit garnishment of paychecks, some bank accounts; all permit a private solution payment plan.

Answer 2

The judgment of the court is, in itself, nothing but an official statement in the court's records that the defendant, now also called the judgment debtor, owes the plaintiff, the judgment creditor, a certain amount of money with interest. The judgment must be enforced out of the assets of the defendant.

To enforce the collection of the judgment, the judgment creditor may contact the general district court clerk's office for additional information on court procedures to collect the judgment, including:

Using a Summons to Answer Interrogatories for getting information about the defendant and his assets in order to use court collection procedures.
Obtaining an Abstract of Judgment to take to circuit court for recording as a lien against real estate.
Obtaining a Writ of Fieri Facias to have the judgment debtor's personal property sold at public auction to pay the judgment.
Obtaining a Garnishment Summons to secure payment from the judgment debtor's bank account or earnings.

Good Luck....

Answer 3

If you win a small claims court case.

First you need to wait for 30 days for the judgment to be valid.
Now to collect money from the judgment debtor what you need to do is find out if you have some old check of this individual or something that will help you to collect money from his bank account.
If you cant find nothing at all, then what you need to do is go to the court house where you filed your case and ask the clerk for a form called and ORAP. or and order for appearance. (form number sc-134) If I rememer their is other forms that you also will need to fill out. The court clerks will not give you advice but will give you the forms and can guide you a little.
What this form does is gets the judgment debtor to come to the court and give you information about his accents in front of a judge. This document gets seved only by a certified process server or the sherrif department. If the judgment debtor does not show up to court, and gets served then their can be a warrant for his arrest. Also you c

Answer 4

I was going to take someone to small claims court over principal and I was told that even if I won the judgement they would not garnish wages and there would just be a judgement against that person. The lady at the court house told me that if the person I was taking to court was a deadbeat (and she was) that I probably shouldn't waste my time because if they don't ever plan to have anything in life like a house or new car or land, etc that it probably would never affect them. The defendant (the girl I was best friends with in high school) borrowed money from me but her credit is shot, she has 2 kids, has a deadbeat ex husband, has a deadbeat new bf and lives with her grandmother... I don't see her getting anything anytime soon and I have taken the loss! It wasn't worth it for $200 but the lady at the courthouse said she had seen people sue for $10k and the judgement was there plus all the court costs and the amount still hadn't been paid and it had been several years!

Answer 5

small claims depends on where you live and the amount but that person should have paid at the court house if the amount was under $1500. Plus some state do not permit garnishment of wages except for child support or alimony. Your best bet is to call the court house and ask what steps you need to take to get your compensation from this person. it may take putting a lean on their home if they own it, but this is also a question for the court because some states only allow trades to lean a house to get the money they are owed for repairs or up grades.

Answer 6

Dawn,

First of all, find out from the Clerk how much time the guy has to file an appeal, and don't do anything till the appeal deadline runs out. You don't want to provoke him into filing an appeal and tying the case up for another 6 months or more.

The simplist thing to after the appeal deadline runs out is to go back to court and request a garnishment order to be sent to his employer. You will need to know who the employer is. If you don't know already one way to find out is to follow him to work or ask a friend of his.

The other option is a levy or attachment. You go to court and ask for an order to the County Sheriff to go out and seize personal property of his (a car, whatever) and sell it. Or you can attach his bank account but then you need to know where he banks and what the bank account is. (A check might help)

If you don't know either, you ask the Clerk to give you the papers for An Examination Of Assets. This means he has to attend a hearing at which you ask him what his assets, income, employment, bank accounts, etc., are. But he might refuse to come and it can be a hassle.

A fourth possibility is to send a subpoena to the IRS and subpoena his last tax filing, which will give you tons of info. Ask the Court Clerk about this, and also call the IRS to what it requires in the way of a subpoena and where it's sent. You might need the SSN.

Answer 7

To actually collect something, you have to go through the court and probably pay a fee to a marshal or a sheriffs deputy to deliver the judgement. But before then, you can call and see if you can use the court judgement as a lever.
When I took a guy to court and won, I called his lawyer that I was told to contact and the first words out of his mouth were "You don't have a chance of winning." and I said "I have already won." when he tried to argue, I said "That idiot client of yours that refused to pay me didn't tell you the court date and I won by default and if you don't pay me on this one I am going for the rest of the money and will take the computers out of that place." So he made and offer and I made a counter and we settled and I went and got a check the next day (avoiding the "it's in the mail" excuse)

Answer 8

Usual when a judgement is rendered, 30 days are given to comply. If you are not paid in the given time you can file for garneshment of paychecks and bank accounts.
Unless you know where the person works and has a bank account, this is easier said than done. If you do not get the money in 10 years (in America) you never get it.