Options for Collecting a Judgement More Quickly

When you file a lawsuit against another individual or entity, you may have a significant need to collect funds that you are legally entitled to. For example, you may have sued someone for damages after a car accident, and you may need access to those funds to pay for medical bills, property repairs, lost wages and more. You may have successfully won your lawsuit, and you may have been pleased to get a sizable judgment as a result. However, the unfortunate reality is that collecting a judgement can be more difficult than you might think. Some people must wait for years for their judgement to be paid, and the majority of judgements are never paid at all. Finding an effective way to collect the funds that are owed to you is important and even a necessity in some instances.

Selling Your Judgement

There are two primary methods available for collecting a judgement when the plaintiff will not pay. One option is to sell your judgement to a third party. There are companies that will review the details of your case and ruling and that may make you a cash offer for your judgement within a few hours. Generally, this offer will for less than the full face value of the judgement. This is because the buyer does assume some risk associated with non-payment, and some work may be required to enforce payment in many cases.

Assigning Your Judgement

Another idea is to assign your judgement. When you assign your judgement to another party, the third party will work hard to generate payment on the judgement. You will receive the proceeds, but you will pay the service provider a fee for the work they do if they are successful in their efforts. A common method that is used to generate payment by the plaintiff is to work through the courts to set up a garnishment of wages or to tap into other financial resources and assets that the plaintiff has. There may be no cost to you unless the efforts are successful.

Many people who file a lawsuit against another party have a strong financial need for proceeds from the lawsuit. Winning the case in court, however, is only part of the battle. The other factor to consider relates to getting the plaintiff to pay the money you are legally entitled to. If your plaintiff is not paying money as required by court order, you can use one of these two methods to generate results.