Won a Judgement, how to collect

[jlawso21]

I recently won a $2000 judgement against a tradesman in small claims court. The problem was really shoddy work on two flat roofs. I hired the guy to fix/repair the leaks. Anyway, he charged me a lot of money for a new roof system and they leaked from the first storm after he finished.

My question: Without going to a lawyer, how would you suggest I motivate him to pay me? Anyone out there ever have this experience?

 

[Fawken]

Depends on what the tradesman's financial situation is, what his liquid assets are, and the laws in your state pertaining to what property is exempt from judgments. Last I looked, the homestead, one pick-up, tools of trade, and retirement fund are exempt in Texas. If he has no money in the bank and nothing much he could liquidate for cash a lawyer won't do much for you. When he dies whatever assets he has are liquidated to satisfy judgments.

 

[EarPlug]

how to collect a small claims judgement in alabama

 

[nap61]

In Louisiana, you can file the judgment in the mortgage and conveyance records (you may have to get it recognized by the District Court). I don't know about Alabama but talk to the Clerk of Court to see if they record judgments. If so, when he tries to sell or buy property it will cause him problems until he pays. Do not try to seize anything without talking to an attorney. It is too easy to get sued for false seizure.

Norm

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Take the judgment to your county Sheriff. If he doesn't pay, Sheriff's sale of any assets to satisfy judgment,

 

[murphy1244]

Hopefully you do better there than you can in Ohio. Here small claims court cannot enforce a judgement.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Go "public." Add in the paper, Craigs List, wherever he finds work. State only the facts of the judgement. Might not work but you'll feel better, worked for me once in a similar kinda situation. The next post will be about how this could get you sued...

 

[2458n]

Agree with the statement Murph- In Ohio you are OUT OF LUCK. No reason to have a small claims court here you get the run around twice.

 

[Ken]

Hassel the guy for payment and he goes to Chapter 7
Your Lawyer walks out. the Judge tells him he is debt free for 7 years and cannot be called, no letters or phone calls.
Banks give him a better credit rating.
He keeps the business and continues with out worries.

ken

 

[Old Junk Man]

Sell the judgement to a collection agency. they will probably only pay you 1/2 but that better than a poke in the eye. Then move on & Forget about the Guy. Don't keep giving him free rent in your head.

 

[jlawso21]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions, sounds like some of you have been through this before.

I had not thought about selling the judgement. I kinda like that idea. Nice and clean, forget about it.

This all started because the guy came back to repair the leaks, then left the work undone, even left the railings off so we could not use them. We argued back and forth then he just stopped responding to calls, texts, and finally letters. He was a re-modeler, now he builds new homes, so the idea of putting it on Craigslist has some attraction as well.

I did not get a lawyer initially for some of the reasons you all put in your responses, the cost, the hassle, and then you may not get paid anyway. Even if I collect the $2000 on the judgement it won't cover nearly the cost I incurred. Oh well, live and learn; I feel somewhat guilty that I did not see this coming and prevent it, but I did not.

 

[Teachu2]

Contact the Contractor Licensing Board in your state for guidance and assistance.

 

[Kenneth in Texas]

Forget it, rack it up to a learning experience. Even if you win the case, actually getting anything in return is rare. Fred Goldman tried for many a year to collect from OJ and never did.

 

[kenmac]

Went through this with a builder several yrs ago..
There were some things he needed to repair on my house he built.. He said he wouldn't spend a dime.. If I wanted any $$ sue me.. I said ok..
I sued him , got a judgement for 5 K. Well, this was the 1 st time I ever sued anyone.
I thought ok,, Now I've got him !! HA,HA.. Little did I know,, it's hard to collect just because you have won !!

I hired a lawyer.. The lawyer searched for anything in his name... He had put just about everything in his wife's name.. Notice I said almost everything ?? The lawyer found some property he had in his name ( I guess he had forgotten about ) anyway, the lawyer put a lien on the property.. It took some time, but he finally needed to sell the property to settle some tax debt.. He had to settle with me to get the lien off.. With interest, I ended up with 10 K .... I think I paid the lawyer about $2500.00..
This took about 5-6 yrs ?? I can't remember exactly .. It's been about 20 yrs ago


Good luck !!!

 

[MossRoad]

As others have said, sell it to a debt collector for half and move on. If you try to retaliate on crags list, and say just one word incorrectly, you might get sued for much worse. If you value your time, don't waste it on that. You'll be out $1000 in sweat and anger real quick.

 

[EddieWalker]

I don't think you can force him to pay you, instead all you can do is put a lien on his property and charge the maximum interest possible until he pays. Usually this is done by the heirs after his death and they want to settle the estate. Title Officers deal with this all the time and a lot of the time get the lien holder to drop it because the guy who caused all the trouble is dead and the family didn't do anything wrong. Once the lien is in place, they can't do anyting with the property until the lien is lifted, so no refinancing, borrowing or selling it.

If he doesn't have any property, then you probably wont be able to get him to pay you and everything you do is just a waste of time.

Eddie

 

[EarPlug]

If you know where he has his bank account you can place a lien against the account. If you have ever paid him by check you can get his bank info from your cancelled check. If you are friendly with your banker they may be willing to tell you how to get this done the easiest way.