Every industry has its specialists. In the debt collection industry, there are specialized agencies that do not handle general debt. A good example is the judgment collection agency. This is an agency that specializes in collecting outstanding judgments on behalf of judgment creditors.
A judgment is not actually a debt, per se. It is a court order resulting from a civil lawsuit. Nearly all judgments include a monetary award of some sort. At bare minimum, the losing party needs to pay the winning party’s court costs and legal fees. But in many cases, additional monetary awards are ordered.
The law allows winning parties, also known as judgment creditors, to collect monetary awards on their own. Judgment creditors also have the option of hiring an attorney or bringing in a judgment collection agency. The collection agency option is usually the best bet.
Making Contact With the Debtor
Judgment Collectors is a Salt Lake City, UT collection agency that specializes in judgments. They say one of the first things a collection agency will do is make contact with the judgment debtor. The goal is to try to voluntarily work out some sort of arrangement so that no further action needs to be taken. In the event such initial efforts fail, collection agencies are forced to take other steps.
It should be noted that initial contact may be made by the judgment creditor’s attorney during what are known as interrogatories. During interrogatories, the debtor may furnish important information about employment, assets, and so forth. But cooperation during interrogatories does not necessarily mean payment is forthcoming.
Finding Hidden Assets
Collection agencies like Judgment Collectors are often called in because debtors are being less than cooperative. A collection agency will typically begin searching for hidden assets creditors might be able to leverage for payment. Agents scour public records, proprietary databases, social media, and a litany of additional sources to find any information they can.
Judgment Collectors once worked on a case involving a debtor who was doing his best to avoid payment. After digging through property records, they discover the debtor owned a valuable piece of property in another county. Armed with that knowledge, they were able to convince the man it would be better to pay his debt than loose his asset.
Locating Debtors Trying to Hide
Another important function of the judgment collection agency is to locate debtors doing their best to hide. Believe it or not, this happens more than most people know. Debtors with no intention of cooperating have no trouble moving. Whether they go across town, across the county, or to an entirely different state, collection agencies know how to find them.
Skip tracing is the main tool by which they do so. An experienced skip tracer looks at everything from arrest records to financial paper trails to locate evasive debtors. Skip tracers are even known to contact relatives and friends for help. The best of the best succeed in finding their targets more often than not.
Doing What Others Can’t Do
Judgment collection agencies succeed more often than DIY collectors and attorneys because they can do what others cannot do. They have the time, skills, knowledge, and resources to look under every rock and around every corner. That being the case, it is strange that so many judgment creditors try to handle collection themselves.
Turning an outstanding judgment over to a collection agency from day one significantly increases the chances of getting paid. A collection agency with a proven track record in judgment collection is the most qualified to find debtors, uncover their assets, and convince them to pay.
