I took my ex to small claims court and won judgement seventeen hundred I waited 30 days no payment was received I sent a pay and demand letter but I'm!afraid my letter fell upon deaf ears. The seventeen hundred I payed to get his truck out of pawn. Can I take a sherriff and go get the truck?
You won your small claims court case.
Well, hold the celebrations, collecting that judgment is often IMPOSSIBLE.
The judge says the defendant owes you money.
However, just because you won doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get paid.
If you're lucky, the defendant will voluntarily pay you the amount listed in the judgment.
Yeah, and you'll see a unicorn tomorrow, too
You sued a loser, deadbeat, welcher, liar, scammer.
Deadbeats rarely cough it up, and when you try to enforce the judgment, you'll discover the deadbeat has many legal protections.
Often, these sleazy defendants try to avoid paying all or part of the judgment.
You have some options when this happens, however, such as:
Getting a writ of execution - rarely as easy as it seems
Garnishing the defendant's wages - if the deadbeat has a real job
Placing a lien against the defendant's real property, yeah like a hen with teeth
Having the defendant's driver's license suspended often hurts the bum, but doesn't stop them from driving anyway. Having the DL suspended only applies if he/she was an uninsured driver who damaged your automobile or property, or injured you physically.
If no one appeals the judge's decision, and the defendant doesn't pay the judgment within 30 days after the judgment's entered in the court records, or not within the time set by the court in the payment plan, you file an application to have the judgment transferred to the district court's civil docket.
Small claims lacks the power to actually enforce the judgment you received. Off to district court, the right district court you must go.
The district court clerk can get you the form that you need, and you pay a $20 filing fee. Once the judgment has been transferred, you can then take other steps to collect on the judgment:
A Writ of Execution
This is also known as "executing the judgment," this is when you take (or "levy") some of the debtor's property or assets to pay what he owes.
You need to ask the judge for this writ by motion and you have to be able to specify what you want levied and where it's located.
That means you have to do some legal snooping.
Once you've been granted a writ:
You have it delivered to (or "served on") the debtor, which usually is done by a deputy sheriff who serves the area where the debtor lives or where the property is located.
The deputy may take the items listed in the writ once it's been served on the debtor.
Beware, a crafty, clever, conniving debtor will file a "claim of exemption" (meaning that the asset is protected by law and can't be taken).
With a writ of execution, you can usually get to the debtor's:
Money in bank accounts
Personal property, like jewelry or art LOL most of these bums have nothing of value, except a cheap Elvis print.
Motor vehicles
Exempt property or money that can't be reached through the writ include the debtor's homestead real estate (his home) and money he receives from public assistance programs, such as worker's compensation, unemployment, and Social Security benefits.
There are forms you need to file to get this writ, and there are fees for filing it and for having it served. Your district court clerk can give the forms and other details.
A Wage Levy/Garnishment
You try to arrange for money to be taken directly out of the debtor's paycheck and paid to you. To do this, you have to know there the debtor works, and you have to file an application for the writ. Once you're granted the writ, you need to make sure that it's served on the debtor's employer. It tells the employer to withhold some of the debtor's wages, which usually can't be more than 25% per weekly pay, and to pay it to you.
Again, you need to see the district court clerk for the forms you need to get this writ and for details on the fees for filing the application and for having it served on the debtor and his employer.
It's your responsibility to get information about where the debtor works and where his property and bank accounts are located. Without it you can't ask the court for an order of seizure or garnishment. If you don't know this information, you can ask the district court clerk about how to go about finding this information, or you can hire an attorney or a collection agency to help you.
IF the debtor EVER pays the judgment, you have to file a "Satisfaction of Judgment" with the district court clerk. By doing so, you agree that the debtor has paid you and that he no longer owes you anything. You can the form from the clerk.
If all of this sounds difficult, time-consuming, and a bit expensive, that's because it is. Collecting on the judgment very well may be the hardest thing about your small claims case. That's why many successful small claims litigants retain an experienced attorney for help in getting a judgment debtor to pay.
Of course, everyone is always concerned about attorney fees to collect the judgment. Fortunately, Washington law (RCW 12.40.105) provides that if a party fails to pay a small claims judgment within thirty days (or within the period otherwise ordered by the court), the prevailing party is entitled to their costs incurred to enforce the judgment, including their attorney fees! With this law in place, why let a small claims judgment remain uncollected?
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Collecting a Small Claims Court Judgment | The Law Office of Patrick C. Burpee, LLC | Seattle Washington
