On any given day, there are judgment creditors all over the country trying to work with debtors to collect payment. Some are more successful than others. All of them face challenges of one type or another. The fact is that collecting a judgment is rarely as simple as extending one’s hand to accept a check written immediately following a court case.
The many challenges of judgment collection are what encourage so many clients to turn to us for help. Here at Judgment Collectors, judgments are all we work on. We help clients in 11 states use every tool available to them to get paid. Perhaps we can help you.
Debtors Don’t Always Cooperate
All the challenges associated with judgment collection couldn’t be adequately addressed in a single post. So let’s talk about the most common among them. At the top of the list is the reality that debtors don’t always cooperate. In fact, we could make the case that a lack of cooperation is the rule rather than the exception.
How do debtors fail to cooperate? There are so many ways, including:
- Not being forthcoming about income and employment.
- Not revealing assets, or purposely trying to hide them.
- Failing to respond to interrogatories in a timely manner.
- Moving and not providing a forwarding address.
There are ways to overcome all the challenges posed by uncooperative debtors. But doing so effectively requires a certain amount of knowledge and skill. If you don’t know how to work around a lack of cooperation, chances are you will not succeed at collecting.
Collecting Takes Time
Another big challenge to judgment collection is the time commitment involved. Rarely are judgments paid in full within weeks, or even months, of being entered by the court. Collection often takes years. So a judgment creditor looking to collect in-house needs to be committed to a plan for the long term.
Along those same lines, state laws do not allow judgment creditors to continue pursuing collection efforts indefinitely. There are statutes of limitation in play. On average, states allow 7-10 years to collect. That is not a lot of time when you are dealing with a debtor who knows how to stall.
The Works Can Always Be Gummed Up
Are you familiar with the idiom about gumming up the works? It applies to judgment collection. A lot of things can get in the way. A lot of things can hinder your efforts to collect. One particularly visible example is bankruptcy.
In some states, certain types of money judgments are dischargeable through bankruptcy proceedings. You will need to check the rules in your state to know if bankruptcy applies to your situation. But if it does, a debtor bankruptcy could immediately bring an end to all your collection efforts.
Some Debtors Are Judgment Proof
Finally, the reality is that some debtors are legitimately judgment proof. They do not have sufficient income to make payments. They also have no assets of any value. But just remember this one unavoidable truth: nothing lasts forever. Circumstances almost always change over time.
Your debtor could be judgment proof today. But what about a year from now? How about five years down the road? Even a slight change in the debtor’s circumstances could open up a door for you to collect.
Judgment collection has its challenges. There is no doubt about that. Here at Judgment Collectors, we help clients overcome the challenges by doing the hard work for them. Consider turning your judgment over to us. If we can help, we would be more than happy to do so. Contact us today to learn more about how we can handle your debt collection.