If I were forced to choose just one quality I would want in a judgment collection agency, it would be the ability to find assets. Assets are the whole ball game when it comes to judgment collection. If a creditor doesn’t know how to find them, he is going to have a tough time collecting.
Good luck if you are a judgment creditor and finding assets is not your forte. You might get paid eventually, but the chances are greater that you will not. A lack of knowledge about the debtor’s assets puts you at a distinct disadvantage. What is to stop the debtor from hiding all his assets from you?
3 Typical Collection Strategies
Salt Lake City-based Judgment Collectors explains that judgment creditors have access to multiple collection strategies. Those strategies vary by state. The three most common are:
- Garnishment – Garnishment allows a creditor to seize a certain portion of a debtor’s disposable income and/or cash assets for payment of the judgment.
- Judgment Liens – Judgment liens are legal documents representing a financial interest in debtor property. A property attached with a lien cannot be sold, transferred, or otherwise disposed of without settling the debt behind it.
- Writs of Execution – Writs of execution are court orders authorizing the local sheriff to seize the debtor’s nonexempt property and sell it at auction. Proceeds go toward paying the debt.
It should be apparent from these three collection strategies that creditors have to have accurate information about debtor assets before deciding how to proceed. Otherwise, how can a creditor choose from among his many options?
Gathering Information Through Interrogatories
States typically give judgment creditors an opportunity to learn about debtor assets and income through a legal procedure known as interrogatories. Interrogatories are written questions a judgment debtor is compelled to answer truthfully and completely.
Questions are normally prepared by the creditor’s attorney and submitted to the debtor’s attorney. The debtor and his attorney work together to answer the questions. Answers are then sent back to the creditor’s attorney for review.
With interrogatories in play, why would a judgment creditor still have to know how to look for assets? Because the answers debtors provide are not always complete and/or truthful. Debtors have sufficient motivation to not come clean with interrogatories.
There Are Ways Around Them
Inaccurate or incomplete information could be enough to derail a creditor in his attempt to collect. But there are ways around uncooperative debtors. That is where collection agencies like Judgment Collectors come in.
Judgment Collectors are experts in finding debtor assets. First of all, they know how to use public records to find valuable information. They look at property, probate, and court records capable of revealing all sorts of interesting things.
Collection agencies also tend to have access to proprietary databases put together by marketing firms, credit card companies, etc. You might be surprised by how valuable database information is for locating assets.
When all else fails, social media is a surprisingly bountiful source of information. Most people, including judgment debtors, are very careless about what they post online. A debt collector can learn a lot about assets just by scrolling through a debtor’s social media pages.
Why It Matters
All of this matters because debtors typically don’t want to jeopardize their assets. That’s why they go to great links to conceal their property. But if you know where and how to look, you can locate just about any valuable asset. Good luck collecting on that judgment if you do not know how and where to look. You have a big job ahead of you.