What Are the Financial Implications of Collecting a Judgment?

What Are the Financial Implications of Collecting a Judgment?

Winning a civil lawsuit often means winning some sort of monetary award. Even if the award is only to cover your court costs and attorney’s fees, it’s something. But then it is on to collection. There are certain financial implications that come with collecting judgments, implications that could impact your collection efforts.

It would be nice if we could offer a black-and-white formula applicable to every collection case. But we cannot. As a firm that specializes in judgment collection in multiple states, we can tell you that every case is different. The financial implications of collecting are just one of many aspects that judgment creditors need to consider before moving forward.

How Much You Stand to Collect

Following a successful lawsuit decided in your favor, one of the first things to consider is how much you stand to collect. Maybe you’re looking at a multimillion-dollar award resulting from a personal injury case. It is worth putting the time and effort into collecting. But what if you are looking at an amount that is less than $1,000 plus your court costs?

It is not so much the actual dollar amount as it is how much you will spend to collect it. Spending $2,000 to collect $1,000 doesn’t make much sense. But what if your net amount is $50? You still end up in the black after all is said and done, but is $50 enough to warrant the time and effort you put into collection?

Your Time Is Worth Money

The next financial implication relates to the value of your time. Whether you own a business or are just an individual trying to collect from someone who wronged you, every minute you spend on collection is time that could be spent on other things – including earning a living.

It would be one thing if you put a total of five or six hours into collection efforts and then got paid in full. But things rarely work out that way. If those five or six hours eventually turned into 100 hours, you have now put a lot of valuable time into an effort that may not pay off as well as you had hoped.

You Can Add Your Collection Costs

If there is any good news here, it is the fact that most states allow you to add your collection costs to the total amount owed. Some states even allow judgment creditors to tack on interest. You would have to check the statutes in your own state to know for sure, but the chances are pretty good that you could collect some of what you spend on getting paid.

There Is a Better Way

All things considered, there is a better way to handle judgment collection. You don’t have to handle it yourself and incur all the costs associated with it. Instead, you can turn your outstanding judgment over to Judgment Collectors. We are a collection agency that only takes judgment cases. We are active in 11 states, including Utah, Arizona, and Washington.

If you have an outstanding judgment that you would like us to consider, get in touch with us and then send the details. We will look over the information to determine whether it is a case we can take. And if so, we will make you an offer.

Note that Judgment Collectors works on consignment. We absorb all our own costs, meaning you don’t pay another dime once we take the case. As far as paying for our service, you only pay if we collect. You have nothing to lose and quite a bit to gain.