Recovering Trivial Judgments

I am not a lawyer, I am a Judgment and Collection Agency Broker. This article is my opinion, based on my experience in California. If you need legal advice, you should contact a lawyer.

Debts and judgments don't enforce themselves. For this article, when the words (judgment or judgment debtor) are used, they mean debts or judgments. Judgments are stronger than debts, and almost all civil money judgments start out as debts.

Compared to debts, there are many more tools possible to enforce judgments. However, when judgments are too tiny, many judgment recovery tools become too costly. Debt and judgment enforcement, become somewhat comparable - if the amount due is tiny.

Why recover a tiny (e.g., $400) judgment? Because there is a strong relationship between the dollar amount of a judgment and its enforceability.

The chances of half of, of a $450 judgment being enforced using only a tiny bit of effort are fairly good. The chances of half of, of a giant judgment getting enforced (with 200 times more effort) are nearly ten million times less.

If judgments are tiny, it makes sense to contact the debtor by phone and/or mail, and very nicely suggesting they pay it off. Suggest a payment program. Emphasize how you want to help the debtor to satisfy their judgment debt without any extra expenses or hassles for them.

Rather than being a bill collector, become a friendly problem fixer. The combined power of being nice, then resorting cheap recovery procedures only if needed, is a potent combination.

Of course, when the judgment can't be enforced by mailing letters or calling, you have options. You can wait and let the judgment accrue interest, record a cheap lien or enforce the judgment with inexpensive methods, or assign the judgment back to the creditor.

If debtors are poor, try to discuss a repayment plan, maybe $15-$25 per month? When you have a judgment, and when the judgment debtor has money but won't pay, even when you are patient and nice, consider a judgment debtor exam in the future.

In a nice way, let the debtor know that they can avoid extra expenses and/or spending hours in court, by setting up a convenient repayment plan with you.

Never threaten anything. Common sense is, to bring up the subject of the debtor repaying the judgment without using incurring any extra expenses for them, or more of their time.

Judgment debtor examinations cost money, and such costs can often be appended to the judgment debtor's debt. And sometimes, being personally served with a court order to show up in court, may cause a debtor to locate their checkbook.

If the judgment debtor actually pays you when you spent additional money, be sure they pay more to also cover your extra costs, for scheduling and serving the debtor exam, etc.

In conclusion, a judgment debtor voluntarily writing out a $500 check is much more likely to happen, than them writing a $40,000.00 check.

Most judgment enforcer's dream is to find a huge judgment and score a huge recovery cheaply and quickly. In this economy, this doesn't occur often enough to be counted on as a realistic primary business plan.

For attorneys, there is little doubt that "heart attack letters" from attorneys make an impression on some debtors. If you are a lawyer, you can make money with a polite, yet stern template. By mailing demand letters, you may get many payments for the price of postage stamps.

It is time to look at small judgments, and move towards the goal of using the powerful tools of selling the advantage of satisfying a judgment more often and being nice; and use expensive enforcement techniques less often.


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Mark Shapiro - the judgment expert, with the best quality free leads for enforcers, collection agencies and contingency collection attorneys.