I won, but then... PA

[nagima]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania
I have won a case in small claims court thanks to your advice. The defendant owes me 960 dollars. Now he tries to bargain over the amount, claiming that it will cost us a large sum to get the money from him by force. The Magistrate mentioned the Constable and the Sheriff's office as possible debt collectors. Do you have information of their procedures, or any clue of where to get this info? The issue is if it is worth bargaining with him, or if we will get our money anyway, if we only wait.

 

[nowpastdue]

I am NOT an attorney.

You will probably not get your money if you just wait. You may not get your money even if you take immediate action.

Sit down and make a list of what possible assets this person has? Does he own his own small business? Where does he bank? Does he have a car that is paid for, does he have a house with equity?

You have a judgement, which is simply a finding of the court that he owes you the money, it is up to you to collect.

The Constable or the Sheriff will assist you in collecting the money #1 for a fee, they can give you the various amounts for different actions and #2 you have to be able to tell them where to go and what to do, like perform a "till tap" at his small business grocery store, or describe his auto to be seized and sold at public auction, or the name of his bank and account #, etc. Not all actions are possible in all states, the authorities can advise you. Some property may be exempt from seizure, attachment, etc. they should be able to direct you also.

You should have had some idea before you went to court how you would collect. Most people just think the other side will hand it right over. It is just not that way.

Even if he has no assets as of the moment, keep the judgement from becoming invalid (check with your state to find out how long your judgement is good for before you have to "renew it"), and if possible use it as a basis for putting a lien on his house, condo, etc.

 

[annefan]

Having successfully won judgment against the defendant, the next step is that the defendant has 30 days to appeal. If, after the 30 day period, the defendant does not appeal, you can file to execute the judgment (the county court will send a constable or sheriff to the defendant's residence and serve with papers to collect). This procedure usually motivates the person to pay the judgment on the spot and often times the collector has the ability to seize personal belongings in order to satisfy the judgment amount. The cost for this is quite minimal compared to the original cost of filing, and if you must execute judgment in this way, that cost would also be added to the judgment, which you would recapture at collection. If the defendant is not available after two attempts at collection from the sheriff/constable, you would then file Notice 236 to place the judgment on record at the court.

 

[nowpastdue]

I am NOT an attorney.

Is this judgement against the car dealer you spoke of in another thread? If so, is the judgement against him personally or against his company or corporation?

If it is against his company or corporation all you have to due is execute with a "till tap". The sheriff or constable just shows up at a business (sometimes even with a little table and cash box!) and sets up next to the cash register. As the business receives funds, cash or check, the officer takes the $ until the judgement plus costs is collected.

As you can imagine this is embarassing for the company and most pay up immediately.