Help me make him pay

December 29, 2007 2:05 PM

Has anyone used a collections agency to collect on a judgment from small claims court?

I took my landlord to small claims court and won a judgment of $979. I sent him a demand letter. His only reply was that he was pursuing action based on my committing perjury in the case. Now I am smart enough to know that his threat is meaningless (b/c perjury is a criminal offense and I didn't commit it). But, his comment still indicates an extreme unwillingness to pay the judgment owed.

To complicate the matter, the case was in Arizona (Tucson), but he lives in California. It has already been more than 6 months and I am tired of the whole process.

I believe my options are that I could do a debtor's exam, garnish his property (he is retired so no job), or turn the debt over to a collections agency. The problem with the debtor's exam and the garnishment are that with both of them I have to incur lots of extra costs. I have to have him served in another state, I have to get things notarized, etc.

At this point, I would be willing to sacrifice some of the money to have someone else deal with it. Plus, I like the idea of his credit taking a hit, after how much he has acted like a jerk. So, can anyone recommend a collections agency (or a lawyer who specializes in collections)? Also, how does the process work? What is a fair amount for them to take? Do I only get paid if they collect?

I have read some prior threads on this, including this and this. However, in neither thread do people really explain the process of finding and using a collections agency. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

posted by bove to law & government (5 comments total)

This Google seems to provide some good starting points as well as warnings. Tweak the search as needed and good luck! You get bonus points for having a car of his sold in order for you to get your $1000. ;)
posted by rhizome at 2:24 PM on December 29, 2007

A friend had a small claims judgment against him- it was pretty stupid, the judge said that he didn't really find either claimant at fault, but gave the other guy around $300. The friend never paid and eventually began getting letters from a credit agency. Long story short, he ignored it successfully for four years and might have kept doing so if he didn't get engaged and his fiancee wanted him to have a good credit record, so he paid it.

So, you can most assuredly find a credit agency to take the debt, and they'll likely give you a small up front check in return for you signing over as much as they can get out of your former landlord. And he may never pay it, if they don't really care about their credit record.

Good luck, regardless!
posted by arnicae at 2:38 PM on December 29, 2007

Contact the court that gave you the judgment and find out how to record it as a public record if it has not already been recorded. Once it is a public record it will at some point show up on his credit report. Unfortunately as you are finding out, getting the judgment doesn't necessarily mean you'll get the money. This happened to my brother when he won a judgment and he contacted the Sheriffs office. If it is out of state I am not sure what the procedure would be but the court that awarded you the judgment might have some useful tips for you.
posted by 45moore45 at 3:34 PM on December 29, 2007

i just realized ... landlord? put a lien on his building. As liens go, they are not too bad, and you'll get your money once he sells. in addition, he will hate it, because a property with a lien on it makes things harder for him. you should be able to retain an attorney for this process, and then also lien him for the attorney's fees ... at least that's how it works here in illinois.
posted by lester at 5:30 PM on December 29, 2007

Yeah, you need to contact the court where the judgement was awarded and find out what your options are. What worked for me was informing the guy of what my options were and what I would be doing if I didn't receive a check for the full amount by such-and-such day. I got the check by my deadline. Send the guy a registered letter that says you will have no choice but to follow through on garnishing his wages, in addition to putting a lein on his property. What I told my guy is that one of my options was to send a sheriff in to his place of business who would collect any payments received at that business until the debt was settled. That sheriff would then also give him a bill for the time it cost for him to sit there. That was indeed an option in California.

Since this guy had a storefront business, I knew that this was about the least tasteful option for him. He was smart to pay up.

Anyway, it wouldn't hurt to try to go that way. Your goal here is to get paid and move on with your life. And if he doesn't pay the judgement, then follow through with the credit agency or one of your other options. Good luck!
posted by amanda at 10:12 PM on December 29, 2007