Regular readers of the Judgment Collectors blog know that states regulate judgments differently. Everything from how judgments are enforced to how court proceedings are followed can differ drastically from one state to the next. Even statutes of limitation are different. Idaho’s statute of limitations definitely has some unique aspects to it.
For the record, Judgment Collectors works with clients in Idaho and 10 other states. When our Idaho clients turn their judgments over to us, we get to work right away. We do everything within our power to find debtors, uncover their assets, and make contact with the goal of securing payment.
Statutes of Limitation
A statute of limitation is a designated amount of time during which the law can be enforced. Statutes of limitation are common in criminal law. In civil law, they are applied in different ways depending on the type of case you’re dealing with. Most states apply a statute of limitations to judgment collection.
The statute of limitations in Idaho is 5 years for domestic judgments. Here’s what that means practically: judgment creditors have 5 years from the date a judgment is entered to enforce collection. That might seem like a long time, but it passes fairly quickly when you’re dealing with an uncooperative debtor.
Other states have statutes of limitations ranging from 7-10 years. So by comparison, Idaho’s statute of limitations is rather short. The good news is that an unpaid judgment can be renewed in 5-year increments up to a total of 20 years.
Time Is Too Precious
With just 5 years to collect, time is too precious to waste. It is one of the reasons we encourage judgment creditors in Idaho to turn their judgments over to professional debt collectors right from the very start. Attempting to collect in-house, only to fail and have to turn to a collection agency, wastes valuable time the agency could have already put into the job.
The thing about judgment collection is that it can be an awfully slow process. Information needs to be exchanged. Oftentimes there is documentation involved. And of course, judgment creditors are forced to rely on the good will of their debtors to move things along as quickly as possible. But it doesn’t always work out that way.
Debtors have a tendency to slow-walk things. They tend to be less than thorough about furnishing information. It can seem like you are fighting against a debtor at every turn. Sometimes that is exactly what’s happening.
Quick Action Is Better
It has been our experience that taking quick action is better. By staying on top of things, a judgment creditor controls the situation. That’s exactly what creditors need to keep the advantage. They need to force debtors to play by their rules.
Obviously, there are no guarantees in the judgment collection game. But the chances of getting paid go up when experienced professionals get involved. The sooner an Idaho judgment is turned over to an experienced collection agency, the sooner that agency can get to work. Why wait? It doesn’t make sense.
Is your company or organization struggling to collect outstanding judgments in Idaho? If so, bear in mind the rather short 5-year statute of limitations you are up against. It is easy to run out of time if you don’t stay abreast of a situation.
We can help by taking on those outstanding judgments for you. Turn them over to us and we will start working on them right away. We work on consignment, so you have nothing to lose but the hassles of trying to collect on your own.