Wouldn’t it be great if every civil lawsuit ending with a monetary award was settled quickly? Absolutely. If things always went the way judgment creditors wanted them to, debtors would pay up on first contact.
Have you won a money judgment and now find yourself struggling to collect? If so, we are guessing you would have preferred to get paid as soon as the court entered the judgment into the official record. But that is a distant memory at this point. Now you are wondering if you will ever get paid at all.
The Easy Way
We’ve all seen movies containing lines that say something like, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” It is a classic line befitting of an Old West marshal trying to take in a wanted criminal. Well, a similar principle applies in judgment collection. There is an easy way to do things and a hard way.
The easy way is for the judgment debtor to simply pay what they owe. Within that choice there are a couple of options:
- Lump Sum – The first option is the lump sum payment. The payment amount could be the total amount owed or, if the creditor agrees, a lesser amount. A lump sum payment settles the dispute once and for all.
- Regular Payments – The second option is some sort of payment plan. The debtor agrees to regular payments – be they weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. – until the debt is paid off.
Choosing the easy way makes life more comfortable for both parties. The creditor can set aside collection efforts and just wait for payments to come in. Meanwhile, the debtor can pay their bill over time without having to worry about dealing with debt collectors.
Of course, every easy way has its hard way counterparts. And in judgment collection, the hard way just makes life more difficult for everyone.
The Hard Way
Doing things the hard way is necessary when judgment debtors fail to cooperate. Perhaps a debtor doesn’t provide accurate address and employment information. Maybe they try to hide certain assets. Or perhaps the debtor packs up and leaves town. There are lots of ways an uncooperative debtor can make collection more difficult.
It has been our experience that doing things the hard way gives the debtor an edge. Why? Because the longer a debtor can delay payment, the easier it is for them to continue avoiding paying anything at all. But that’s where agencies like Judgment Collectors come in.
Some judgment debtors delay and fail to cooperate with the understanding that time is on their side. They string a creditor out with the understanding that the creditor may not have the time and resources to pursue collection as aggressively as they would like.
On the other hand, a debt collection agency like ours has the time, resources, and skill to pursue collection for as long as it takes. We are not frustrated by delays and runaround. We understand that successful collection often depends on playing the long game. We are perfectly willing to do just that.
Collection Is Rarely Easy
As a judgment creditor yourself, it would be great for you to get paid on first contact. But collection is rarely that easy. The truth of the matter is that collecting a money judgment is usually more difficult than creditors had originally planned for.
If you find yourself in such a position, Judgment Collectors might be able to help. We are more than willing to look at your case to see what we can do. Why not give us a call?