How to Collect A Judgment

Your first step should always involve contacting the person. You can do this either in person, by phone or by sending them a letter and simply requesting payment. Make sure to remind them that you have a Judgment against them and that if they do not pay voluntarily you will simply have to collect your Judgment through the Court

If that fails, then you will have to collect your Judgment with the help of the Court and the Sheriff's Department. If you have their bank account or the name of their employer then your job is easier. In order to collect your judgment you will need to obtain a blank Writ from the Court. Sometimes you can get a blank writ at the Court’s website. Your next step is to fill out the Writ of Execution. Normally you will need to put in the Court’s information such as their name and address, the case number, the county where you want the writ used, the debtor’s name and address, and the amount of the judgment along with any legally permissible costs or interests. Once you have completed the Writ of Execution you will then have to file it with the Court. When filing the writ with the Court make certain that you give them a postage paid return envelope so the Court can mail you the writ back when they confirm that all the information on it is correct. There is usually a small fee to file it with the Court. Once you get the Writ of Execution back from the Court you will then need to give it to the appropriate law enforcement agency so they can take the appropriate action against the debtor. This is usually the Sheriff’s Department. You will need to give the Sheriff’s Department written instructions on what you want them to do. Many times you can do this by simply writing them a letter and tell them what you want them to do. Make certain you pay the Sheriff’s Department the appropriate fee. If you want them to take money from the person’s bank account then you will need to tell them to levy any and all bank accounts at the debtor’s bank. Give them the address of the bank and the account number if you have it. If you wish the Sheriff to garnish the debtor’s wages then you will need to instruct the Sheriff’s Department to garnish the persons wages and tell them the name and address of the employer. You will also have to also give them the name and address of the debtor. Sometimes the Sheriff’s Department may have a certain set forms that they want you to use and to fill out instead of writing them a letter to give them instructions. You can call them on the phone to find this out.

If you do not have the person’s bank account or the name and address of their employer then you will need to find this out to help you collect your judgment. You can do this by pulling the person into Court to examine the debtor and find out this information. This usually involves going down to the Courthouse and getting the proper form to pull them into court. The Court will normally not fill this form out for you but they will give you the proper form to use. Many Courts have these forms online. Sometimes if you have a small claims court judgment the Court will fill this form out for you. The Form that you need to use is usually an Order that the Judge or a Court Clerk will have to sign after you fill it out. It will order the person to appear at Court on a specific date and time. You will usually have to call the Court and get a date, time and courtroom from the Clerk. You can do this simply by calling the court and telling the Clerk that you want to set up a Judgment Debtor Examination with someone that you have a judgment against. The Order that you have to fill out is normally self explanatory so just take your time and fill it out completely. Once it is filled out you will need to take it to Court and file it in the Clerk’s Office. There is usually a small fee to do this. Bring a postage paid envelope with you so the Court can mail you the Order once it is filed and signed by the Court. Once you get the Order back from the Court you will need to have the appropriate law enforcement agency serve the debtor with it. Usually it is the Sheriff’s Department who will serve your Order on the debtor. You will need to give the Sheriff’s Department a letter of instructions telling them to serve the Order and give them the Debtor’s name, address and possibly even a description of the person. The more information that you give them the better. Normally the Order will have to be served on the debtor in person and cannot be left with anyone else. Ask the Court Clerk if it must be served personally. The Plaintiff can never serve this Order. It is best to use someone like the Sheriff’s Department to serve the Order. Once the debtor is served with the Order To Appear you will need to file the Proof of Service with the Court so the Court knows that the Order has been served.

Once the debtor is served with an Order To Appear the debtor will be required to show up at Court and then you can examine him by asking all the questions that you need to know in order to collect your Judgment. Often times the Court will have a Questionnaire for you to use to examine the debtor, but make certain you bring your own questions in case they do not have one. Many times now that you have the person face to face you can arrange a payment plan with the debtor. It is important that even if you do make a payment arrangement that you still have the debtor fill out your questionnaire. The reason for this is that people do not always keep their word about payment plans so you need to know the information that will help you collect your judgment such as where the debtor works, what kind of work the person does, how much they earn, do they have any other jobs, do they have any other sources of income, does their wife work, if so how much does she make, where do they bank, what kind of accounts do they have, what are their bank account numbers, what is the address of their bank, do they have any credit union accounts and so on.

Ok, now go get them and collect your judgment.