Civil Judgement Collection

[Tracy Wilson]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

Just yesterday I won a judgment against a contractor I sued. He did not show up. The judgment is for $8000.00. As I wait for the official documents to come in the mail...I was wondering is there anything I should be doing until then.

What are the options for me as it pertains to collection the money? Since he said he was licensed, bonded and insured...can I collect against the insurance company? If so, how can I find out who insured him? I did list his company name in the court case.

 

[latigo]

If the contractor didn’t show up, most likely he is belly up and you can frame your $8K judgment.

Insurance? The only insurance he might have had and in which you could assert any claim would be either a surety performance bond or liability insurance.

But you mention neither that the subject of the lawsuit entailed the contractor furnishing a surety bond nor that the judgment was issued as compensation for injury to person or property resulting from the contractor’s negligence (or that of his workmen) that might be covered by liability insurance.

And even if so, an exposed carrier, given notice of the lawsuit against its insured, would have attempted to settle the claim, formerly denied it, or defended it in court. If the carrier was not given timely notice by the insured, they were let off of the hook.

Another issue here is what is meant by, “I did list his company name in the court case”. Whom did you sue? Who was served? Who is going to be named in the judgment as the judgment debtor(s)? The individual or his company or both?

And if this company was a named defendant in the lawsuit, what sort of company is it . . . an assumed business name, a partnership, a limited partnership, a Limited Liability Company, a corporation . . .?

Options? Most likely the only way you are going to satisfy the judgment is to locate non- exempt assets upon which the sheriff can levy execution on your judgment. But you and you alone will need to know which assets to look for and under what name(s).

In the long run you might be ahead by selling or assigning the judgment to a collector.