Should You Ever Make
Contact With The Judgment Debtor?
One of the aspects of judgment
recovery that makes it so appealing is that you don't need to
contact the judgment debtor to enforce the judgment. Once you've located
assets, in most states you simply instruct the
levying officer to attach them. If all goes well,
you'll soon receive payment(s) to satisfy your judgment.
Sometimes, though it does make
sense to communicate with the debtor. Here's why. At my
company one of our preferred judgment recovery enforcement
tools are wage garnishments. Once you've located your
debtor's place of employment you simply have the levying
officer serve the debtor's employer with a writ of
attachment. (see
wage garnishments
for more information)
However, after the garnishment
begins, the debtor may want to satisfy the judgment.
Obviously no one likes having their wages garnished. It's a
huge embarrassment. Plus it's additional work for the
employer.
If the debtor wants to payoff
the judgment or make a settlement, in order to have you
release the garnishment it's a-okay to take his offer as
long he adheres to the following stipulations:
-
He must first agree to the
dollar amount you specify necessary to release the
garnishment.
-
The funds must be in the form of
a cashier's check only.
-
The funds must reach you by the
date you specify.
- The wage garnishment will not be released
until the funds have been received in full.
You should send the debtor a
contract with these stipulations included. Once you receive
payment in full you should immediately release the
garnishment and file a notice of satisfaction with the
court.
All the best,
Lance Shapiro
Legal Revenue Service
Legal Revenue Service,