What is Judgment Recovery and Enforcement?

Enforcement of judgment (also called recovery of judgment) : The processes by which the orders of a court may be enforced. Orders for the payment of money may be enforced by a variety of methods, including a writ of fieri facias (in the county court, a warrant of execution), garnishee proceedings, charging orders, the appointment of a receiver, a writ of sequestration, seizure and liquidation of assets, and (rarely) an order of committal.

Client Debt Management Tips for Your Business

Do you have a deadbeat client? You don’t have to lose sleep or money.

Here are some tips for client debt management reduction so you can collect what’s rightfully yours.

You need a client debt management reduction plan to deal with those instances when a customer keeps giving excuses or refuses to pay you.

When you’re not sure if your client doesn’t intend to pay you, try the first following ideas. Perhaps there is a misunderstanding or your debtor may be going through rough times and you could loose a potential good client. As your invoices become more past due, you can use more pressure. Here are some helpful procedures to follow:

• You should call the customer directly, instead of sending him/her e-mails, invoices, etc. and create a sense of urgency.

• Be precise with your client. You must give him/her a definite deadline for payment in full.

• You may want to offer your client a payment option: cash or check.

• Also, you could use a third party as an excuse. Tell your client that you need the money to pay one of your suppliers or service providers.

In case these tips to collect your client debt don’t work, then go to the next level:

• Become a nuisance to your client. Send frequent e-mails, letters, faxes, calls, etc., and let him/her know you’re not going to give up easily. This annoyance may be incentive enough to pay you.

Client Debt Management Reduction Services

• After you have exhausted all these resources, you can hire a collection agency (they charge between 35-50% of the amount owed to you but that’s better than nothing) or file a claim in court to get a court judgment against them. At that point you can hire a judgment recovery firm (they do not charge you anything but work on a 50% basis, meaning they will earn 50% of what's recovered, which is also better than nothing and judgments have many more options and are more likely to be recovered than collections).

• Remind your client that the BBB tracks late payments through collection agencies, and this will affect his/her credit.

• When the dollar amount is not too large, small claims court is a great option. You need to file a small claims action for a small fee and the court will set a date to hear your case. Sometimes just filing the case will urge payment. Remember when you file a claim, all legal fees can be recovered - you just add it to the overall total of monies owed.

Now that we’ve covered some ideas to collect client debt, here are some other ones to prevent this from happening:

• Your first step is to do a credit check on your prospective client by calling the accounting office and ask for a list of his/her regular vendors. When this is not possible, ask your client to complete a credit application form.

• Then, you may request a 50% deposit in advance and the balance due upon delivery.

• You can use a check guarantee service. Telecredit charges a small percentage for each check and although they have a monthly minimum, you don’t have to process all your checks through their service.

• You may include a delinquent interest on overdue accounts as part of your payment agreement. This is legal if you include it in your written agreement or credit application.

• When you have doubts about a prospective client, request full payment in advance.

• If you have a client in-take or new client form, ask clients to provide their SSN # (or EIN # if a business), current physical address if different than their mailing address, and a copy of their driver's license or business license. These items will come in handy should you need to proceed with collection or judgment efforts.



Hopefully you won’t have to use any of these methods to collect money from negligent clients. Remember, your best protection is prevention. However when the client can’t or won’t pay, you deserve to collect what is rightfully yours.

http://www.DedicatedSolutionsGroup.com

How Judgment Enforcement Services Work

For plaintiffs in a court case who’ve been awarded damages or have received a settlement, there is nothing more frustrating than finding themselves unable to collect on their claim. Deadbeat defendants can find a number of ways to avoid paying what they owe. Often they’ll hide their assets in secret bank accounts or real-estate holdings that the court is not aware of and claim bankruptcy when it comes time to pay. When someone is faced with an uncooperative defendant, often their only option is to turn to a judgment recovery specialist.

These men and women in the judgment recovery business are able to help those with little legal recourse to claim the money they are owed. There are a number of ways to claim the money owed through a civil judgment. In many ways, judgment enforcement agents are like private detectives. They will search through a business or individual’s assets to discover any hidden caches of wealth that should have been disclosed and paid after the trial.

Judgment enforcement services work through a national database and are all properly certified for their jobs. By being a part of these agencies, they have access to special databases that provide pertinent information that can be used to help render services for their client. By using these tools in addition to a little legwork, some of the best judgment enforcement services are able to quickly and efficiently recover unpaid civil judgments.

Sometimes, a client might need their money immediately. The circumstances that required the civil suit in the first place have taken a toll on their finances and they are in desperate need of relief. In instances such as these, many judgment enforcement services will offer to purchase the sum of the settlement for a price that is slightly less than original payment. However, clients will have this money immediately to do with what they wish and never have to worry about the slow trickle of garnished wages or wait for necessary legal action to take place.

Be aware that judgment enforcement services often have their hands tied by a statute of limitations. These vary from state to state, but all have a length of several years. Plaintiffs who have been waiting an unreasonable amount of time should immediately contact a judgment enforcement service so that they don’t miss out on the opportunity to ever collect on their judgment.

Once a plaintiff is in contact with a judgment recovery service, payment will depend on the particular company they do business with. Some may take a percentage of the total amount of the judgment recovered while others might charge a flat fee. Whatever option the client chooses, they’ll be sure to find themselves significantly richer themselves due to the hard working individuals at the judgment enforcement agency.

Article Source: Al-Rakeesh Alexander from EzineArticles.com

Collection Law Firm Victorious Against State in Supreme Court Case

The Georgia Supreme Court recently upheld a lower court ruling that the state’s attorney general’s office, acting on behalf of the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs, overstepped constitutional bounds in demanding documents from a law firm practicing debt collection in the state.

Georgia’s Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) was investigating Frederick J. Hanna & Associates (FJH), based in Marietta, Ga., following consumer complaints about the firm’s debt collection practices. OCA requested files from FJH in their investigation, which FJH refused to hand over. OCA then had the state attorney general file a lawsuit against the company to compel them to cooperate.

Fred Hanna, CEO of the company, said that his firm had offered to turn over all files for cases in which there was a consumer complaint, but the OCA had requested all files, which would include thousands of cases.

“They were taking the shield law used to protect consumers and turning it into a sword to attack me,” Hanna said. “There are already enough laws to protect debtors.”

A lower court agreed and denied the state’s request for the files, stating that because FJH’s day-to-day operation directly involves the practice of law, and because the investigative demand directly impacts their practice of law, that demand is an attempt by the OCA to regulate the practice of law and constitutes an impermissible interference by the executive branch into the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court in violation of the separation of powers doctrine.

On June 7, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the ruling. The seven-justice panel was split on the decision 4-3.

Even with the success his firm had against the state, Hanna expects lawsuits against collection firms to continue to multiply as plaintiff attorneys look for cases that are difficult to fight. Many law firms that pursue collections do so throughout the country, Hanna explained.

He noted that it is very costly to fight a case filed in a different jurisdiction, like Hawaii. These cases would dry up quickly if laws were changed to require filing of cases wherever the collection firm is domiciled, Hanna said.

Hanna doesn’t expect a further appeal of the case because he doesn’t see any federal implications. Yet he says that other debt collection law firms in other states, if they have similar laws to Georgia, might be able to cite this case if they face similar circumstances.

“Every lawyer in state of Georgia should be thanking Fred Hanna for taking on the state government on behalf of law-abiding lawyers,” said John H. Bedard, Jr., managing partner of Bedard Law Group PC, Duluth, Ga. “He did not yield to the tremendous pressure that a state can put on a defendant.”

It’s very easy to sensationalize the behavior of “a few bad actors” in the industry, Bedard added. “Fred is not one of them. The state court has vindicated Fred. Every lawyer in the state owes him a debt of gratitude.”

Even though Hanna won the case in the state’s highest court, Bedard expects state officials to continue aggressively pursuing cases against collection firms, because such cases make good political press.

“There is no need for more regulation of law-abiding collection firms, but unfortunately, politicians get a lot of mileage out of reporting to their constituencies that they’ve taken on a wrong-doer and collection agencies are erroneously targeted. It makes a lot of headlines.”

The coverage tends to be one-sided, according to Bedard. “The articles paint us all with the same sort of brush. No one reports about the good collection firms do for consumers. Law-abiding firms help consumers dig out of their financial problems. They help consumers save their homes, save their automobiles protect their credit and get their financial affairs in order. The public needs to know all of the good that the industry does – helping keep children in school, clothes on their backs and food in their mouths. The industry delivers an estimated $39 billion back to the economy. That benefits everyone in the country.”

Georgia Judgment Court Cost Rise with HB 1055 Passing

As if having to pay money to get a court judgment against your debtor, so you can then legally collect on your judgment wasn’t enough – now court cost have almost doubled with the new House Bill 1055 passing.

The cost of getting the money that is owed to you just went up.

A new fee increase at the courthouse will hit some people for an extra $125 when they try to file a suit starting today. The increase, enacted at the state level, will affect courts across Georgia. House Bill 1055, signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue last week, is effective immediately.

The biggest increase will be an additional $125 for anyone filing a civil case in Superior and State courts. Right now, the cost is $87.50. The increase will raise it to $212.50. All $125 goes to the state if the case is in Superior Court. For State Court, $50 of it will stay in the county.

Another increase will be for appeals to the Supreme Court and state appeals court. Right now, it’s $1.50 to copy a page from the record for an appeal. It’ll now be $10 per page.

Those wanting to have the sheriff’s office serve papers on someone will see the fee rise to $50 from $25. Getting an uncertified copy of something without the help of a clerk will rise to 50 cents from 25 cents per page.

More on the house bill can be found here – http://tinyurl.com/2b8nz7j


Don’t waste any more of your money trying to chase down your debtors!

If you have a court awarded judgment, we can recover and enforce it for you at NO COST to you.

Get the money you are owed. Contact us today to find out how. http://www.DedicatedSolutionsGroup.com

Helping Firms Collect Debts, Recover Judgments, and Locate Assets

Collection and judgment questions come into my office on a daily basis, and while there may or may not be any right answer; I can offer my insights on these topics because we handle collections and judgment recovery for various law firms throughout the US.

When asked when the right time is to hand off your AR to a third party, the first question is how many times did you attempt to contact the debtor? I suggest sending at least two letters to them requesting payment and informing them you will proceed with legal means if necessary to be paid for services rendered. Each case is different but sometimes that’s enough to get them to pay you while sparing you any further time or money and keeping your professional relationship intact. If they don’t pay you or at least make payment arrangements within a week of the second notification, it’s time to consider a possible third party. At this point this debtor is now taking time away from you and your staff chasing down payments when you need that time to dedicate to your normal business practice.

On the flip side of this, your client (now debtor) came to you because something was going on in their life personally or professionally and needed your services. Statistics show that the sooner you attempt collections, the sooner you get paid out. While the lure of letting debt sit and collect interest may be appealing, the longer you wait the less chance you have of getting paid. I cannot begin to list out all the times a good hearted attorney waited and waited to be paid, hoping that time would allow their client to get back on their feet and pay them what was owed…only to receive a bankruptcy notification or have a client who, for whatever reason, now has no physical or tangible assets or employment to pay with. Another hurdle can also be if your debtor lives in a “debtor friendly” state. It can take years to get paid on debts if you don’t aggressively pursue AR payments.

Aside from feeling bad over having to chase down payments, a majority of the firms I work with come to us because of their concern over liability, the potential of somehow getting sued by the debtor going after them or their firm, or having the debtor/debtor business negatively impact them or their firm. I’m not a lawyer so I cannot speak to any liabilities, but there are benefits to using a third party. A third party will always use their business as the “face” trying to collect the debt. All communications have the third party information on it and any funds collected are paid to the third party and then back to the end client or creditor. I have never had a debtor go back and be angry at the end client (creditor/attorney). They have choice things to say to us, but that’s part of the service – providing that shield so that debtors can get upset with us and not tarnish your name or business. We always tell the debtor upfront that we own the debt and they are not to contact the original creditor. Since we buy the debt, we take on the ownership of it and they then direct everything towards us.

That said, I would suggest an aggressive third party firm who is licensed, insured and is FCRA and GLB compliant. They should not charge you any fees at all. No set-up fees, monthly or recurring fees. Any agency worth their salt will collect on the debt on a “we only get paid if you get paid” basis. You shouldn’t have to spend any money recovering your debts. Especially if you have a really financially poor debtor, to pay an agency to collect on this debtor would be throwing good money after bad. Some unethical firms will keep billing you and not inform you that your debtor has no assets to pay with.

We have a cutting-edge technology program that allows our clients to log into our real-time secure system and see the status of their debt, view any payments made, notes about debtor’s ability to pay, and any payment plans agreed to. Transparency is key to a legitimate, and trustworthily firm. You should always have 24/7 access to your debt cases and not have to wait for anyone to return your call or simply tell you, “It’s being worked on”.

With respect to judgments, you should always use your legal ability to sue the debtor yourself unless you feel it would impact future business with the debtor or debtor business. Typically the thought of being sued by an attorney who worked for them is enough to encourage them to pay up or work out payment terms before a court date. Even if it never goes to court you can still recover the filing costs, so what is there to lose? I doubt anyone in the judicial field would fault you for trying to get paid.

80% of all judgments go uncollected.

Collectability is an interesting topic and one in which my business is built on.
Once you have a judgment there are so many more legal methods to get paid than with a normal AR debt. Plus you start earning a larger interest rate on a judgment versus collections debt. Sure a FiFa or a garnishment can be good but nationwide there are new indicators showing that only 20% of the time these tactics are successful. People are not selling real property so the FiFa is almost a last ditch effort to force payment – if they don’t quitclaim. Garnishments are being contested under every imaginable excuse and due to the economy more and more judges are siding with the debtor and ordering alternative payment plans that will not interfere with their ability to work. 9 times out of 10 the debtor will default on these alternative payment plans and you’re back at step 1.

Without going into “trade secrets” on a public forum, there are legally aggressive methods to recover and enforce judgments in a short timeframe while being FRCA and GLB compliant. If the debtor is a business, the timeframe is even shorter. It’s all about being able to discover not only the surface level assets, but the hard-to-find and hidden assets as well. When recovering a judgment you need to look nation-wide not just in the debtor’s backyard. For example, you may find a car that’s paid off at his house but it’s expensive and time consuming to seize a car just to sell it for pennies on the dollar on the courthouse steps where you’re not likely to recover the full amount of your judgment. What you want is the seven-figure CD sitting at the little known brokerage in another state that the debtor has under an alias. Businesses offer even more recovery options.

Judgments also allow for all court-related costs to be added to the judgment principle and recovered. Minus some time and paperwork, you truly have nothing to lose by escalating a collection to a judgment.

Another plus to judgments is that they are typically good for 5-12 years depending on which state your debtor lives in. Unlike AR debt, the statue of limitations is unlikely to run out so long as the judgment is renewed. In cases where your debtor is truly without assets to pay, this affords enough time to wait until they get on their feet. While you wait you earn interest.

Enforcing judgments through a licensed and insured third party also extends the same benefits as enforcing AR debts. The judgment recovery firm does all the enforcement and investigative work, handles all communications with the debtor, and works it until the satisfaction of judgment can be filed. Judgment recovery firms will also work on a no cost to you basis, so if they can’t recover the judgment they don’t get paid. You shouldn’t have to spend your firm’s time or money recovering and enforcing judgments.

For debt collection or judgment recovery services at no cost, please visit our website at http://www.dedicatedsolutionsgroup.com/

Welcome to DSG!

Dedicated Solutions Group is a company focused on Professional Investigations, Judgment Recovery, and Attorney Support Services.

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