Won a default judgement in my favor. Now what?

Question

So, a tenant caused extension damage to my property. I sued them in small claims court, and now the judge has issued a default judgement in my favor. Can someone tell me what the next steps are to get the money from the defendant?

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Getting a judgment is easy; collecting is not.

You can garner their wages or a bank account, but only if you can track them down. And if you manage to collect something from them, they will immediately disappear and you'll have to start again. It's really difficult.

Some attorneys will help with collections, but their results aren't great and you have to pay them for their time, whether they collect something or not.

My suggestion is to turn this over to a collection agency. There's no charge upfront. They keep a percentage of anything they collect, typically around 30%. The good thing about a collection agency is that it can report the judgment to all three credit reporting agencies. This will hurt the tenant's credit score, it will warn future landlords when they run a credit check, and it will prevent the tenant from qualifying for a personal loan, home loan, etc. If you get lucky, they will eventually care about fixing their credit and they will pay what the owe.

Philip Traynor · Answer

Do you have any reason to believe that they have the money to pay the judgment? If so, you can contact an attorney and have a receiver appointed, who can seize bank accounts. IF the defendant has money, it can be very effective. You will pay the attorney an hourly rate, and the receiver will take a percentage of the judgment. The good news is that both of these costs can be collected in addition to the underlying judgment. If the tenant has assets that you believe can be easily seized, this is a good route.

In most cases, however, tenants do not have any assets to seize. Not too many people renting are sitting on tens of thousands of dollars in the bank. Some are, most aren't. If you do not think the tenant has cash on hand to cover the judgment, you are likely better off turning it over to a collections agency. It will probably not be quick, and they will take a percentage of what they collect, but you won't be throwing good money after bad.

Tim Baldwin · Answer

Your state laws will dictate next steps. The judgment is just an order stating they owe the money. Now you have to collect. I recommend that you talk to a licensed debt collection company or a law firm on collection action. Best wishes.

Chris Seveney · Answer

@Vaibhav Bakre

Depending on the state you can try and garnish wages . If they paid you by check you have their bank and account number that you can have your attorney try and garnish.

Getting the judgment is typically the easy part - collecting on it is always the problem

Won a default judgement in my favor. Now what?

Won a default judgement in my favor. Now what?

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