As a judgment collection agency operating in Kentucky, we have worked with all sorts of good people trying to collect bad debts in the Bluegrass State. We’ve learned a thing or two about how the system works in Kentucky, including the fact that the state has a longer-than-average statute of limitations. That does not mean Kentucky creditors should push it to the limit.
The statute of limitations on a civil judgment is essentially the amount of time creditors have to collect before the judgment itself expires. Remember that a judgment is a court order recognizing the legitimacy of a debt. As with all court orders, it doesn’t last forever. Kentucky’s statute of limitations on civil judgments is 15 years.
On the one hand, 15 years isn’t a bad deal when you consider that the nationwide average is 7-10 years. On the other hand, 15 years is not always a lot of time when you are dealing with judgment debtors trying every trick in the book to avoid paying.
Time Creeps Up on You
As experienced judgment collectors, we sometimes take on new judgments within weeks or months after first being entered. But we also take a good share of cases that are years old. Regardless of how old a judgment might be at the time a client first approaches us one thing is always true: time tends to creep up on creditors.
Are you a Kentucky judgment creditor? If so, what is the average age of the judgments you are still working on collecting? If you stop and think about how much time and effort you have already put into collection, you might be surprised to realize just how long you have been at it.
It is easy to leave court after having a judgment entered in your favor and assume 15 years is a long time. Maybe it’s a long time to be in the same job. Perhaps it’s a long time to drive the same car. But when it comes to collecting judgments, 15 years isn’t much time at all.
Every Day You Wait Makes Things Harder
If there’s one thing that we wished all Kentucky judgment creditors understood, it would be that every day they wait makes things harder. When it comes to judgment collection, time is the creditor’s enemy. By the same token, it’s the debtor’s best friend.
Debt collection is often a cat-and-mouse game. However, it is not a game with a level playing field. Laws designed to protect debtors against harassment often give them the advantage. Those laws are necessary to guarantee consumer protection. Yet they make collection efforts harder. And the longer collection takes, the harder it gets.
You Need an Expert on Your Side
If you are a judgment creditor in Kentucky, understand that the debtor has the law on his side. You need an expert on your side. You need a judgment collection agency that knows how to play the game – and can play it well. That is where we come in.
Judgment Collectors is a Utah judgment collection agency operating in 11 states, including Kentucky. We are different from other types of collection agencies in that we specialize only in civil judgments. We know how they work. We know how to leverage a variety of resources to find debtors and their assets and encourage them to pay.
We work on consignment, meaning you do not pay a dime if we fail to collect. We also cover all our own costs during collection efforts. Don’t push Kentucky’s 15-year statute of limitations to the edge. Instead, let Judgment Collectors get to work on your behalf.