You are leaving civil court with a smile on your face and await having been lifted from your shoulders. You won. Not only that, but you have also been awarded a significant amount of money that includes your court costs and attorney’s fees. Now you need to collect that money. But who is going to actually handle the job?
Figuring out who gets the task of judgment collection is often deferred until litigation is over. In my opinion, as someone who has been covering civil litigation and judgment collection for years, that’s a mistake. It is far better to lay out a collection plan before you go to court.
As a general rule, you have four options for assigning the judgment collection task. Here they are, in order of preference:
1. A Specialized Collection Agency
A specialized collection agency that deals exclusively with judgments is your best bet. Because judgment collections are their specialty, their staff members are highly knowledgeable in this unique form of debt collection. In addition, some agencies have skip tracing experts on staff or cultivate working relationships with private detectives who utilize skip tracing as a matter of course.
JudgmentCollectors.com is a specialized agency that works to collect judgments on behalf of clients in eleven states. Judgments are all they do. They are not distracted by other types of debts or collection tasks that aren’t related to judgments.
2. A General Collection Agency
In second place is the general collection agency. What’s the difference? A general collection agency is not so highly focused on one or two types of debts. They will work on just about any case they believe they can make money on. The downside is that they may not employ specialists with the experience to give judgment collection the attention it deserves.
Another potential downside is the arrangement between agency and judgment creditor. General collection agencies have a tendency to purchase debts as assets. While this might represent an easy way out for you, you’re likely to get pennies on the dollar.
3. Your Attorney
Behind the two types of collection agencies is your attorney. Should you choose to give the task to the same firm that represented you in litigation, you would not be the first to do so. In fact, using the same attorney is pretty common. Your attorney is already familiar with the case. They have already been involved with local courts on your behalf. There are definite advantages here.
The main disadvantage is that you might not get your attorney’s full effort. It is highly likely your attorney has other cases to deal with. It’s also highly likely that collections are not his specialty. He will do the best he can with the tools and experience he has, but he will be limited in what he offers.
4. You or Your Bookkeeper
The last option is the least desirable: taking on the task yourself or assigning it to the company bookkeeper. Judgment collection is a complicated legal matter that needs to be handled in the right way if you hope to succeed. So unless you know your way around the legal environment like a pro, taking on the task yourself will put you at a decided disadvantage. Ditto for your bookkeeper.
Now that you have won that judgment, you need to collect. Do yourself a favor and let a professional handle it. You do what you do best and let a collection agency or your attorney take care of collections. You stand a far better chance of getting paid that way. And isn’t that the ultimate goal?
