Getting Into The Judgment Recovery Business

Most people make money
enforcing judgments only after
studying, working, and learning
for years. (Ignore any web sites
telling you this is a way to get
rich quick or easily.)
If you work hard and study, you
can earn a good living in the
Judgment recovery business.
Like any business, success
depends mostly on you, but
partly on the economy, your
location, and ever-changing
laws.
There are two ways to make
money on judgments, the first
way is to find (preferably
enforceable) judgments leads.
There are many ways to find
and get leads, see my other
articles about judgment leads.
The second way to make money
is the next step, which is to
follow up on leads and
successfully enforce the
judgments you find. That is
what this article is about.
The first part of getting and
staying in this business is to get
and keep getting education and
training. Check online to find
and get training, see my other
articles about judgment training
courses.
The second part it to have
realistic exceptions, it takes a
long time (especially in this
economy) to make money
enforcing judgments. Plan to
start with lots of savings, or
another job while you are
learning and starting your
judgment recovery business.
Over time, you will get out of
this business what you put into
it.
The details and specific methods
available to enforce judgments
depend on the State and County
the debtor's assets are in. The
basic method is always the
same, you start by buying (take
assignment) of the judgment
from the Original Judgment
Creditor (OJC).
You can buy judgments
outright, or buy them on the
(far more common) future
payment basis, where you pay
(an average of 50% of what you
recover) to the OJCs after you
recover money from the debtor.
Then you find the assets of the
debtor, and then either
persuade them, annoy them, or
shock and awe them to get or
take their assets. After enough
assets are received or taken to
satisfy the judgment, you file a
Satisfaction of Judgment with
the court. Then (if you did not
buy the judgment outright) you
pay (e.g. 50%) to the OJC.
If you are not a lawyer or a
collection agency, the only way
you can enforce someone else's
judgment is if you legally full
take ownership (assignment) of
the judgment, by having the
original judgment creditor
assign (having their signature
notarized) the judgment to you,
the Judgment Enforcer. This
means you own it and in court
or in any other legal context
concerning the judgment, you
can step "into the shoes" of the
OJC.
One mistake nearly all judgment
enforcers make is to take almost
every judgment that comes
their way. Over time all
judgment enforcers learn to
screen judgments carefully, and
not take any where the debtor
has no assets, or the debtor is
too far away. Experienced
judgment enforcers refer
enforceable judgments to other
enforcers or judgment
companies.
The first step is to verify the
debtor has assets. Then make
sure you have the right to seize
those assets, you can start to do
the things that can lead to
recover money. Your job to find
and take debtor's assets. Some
of the things you can do is look
at the debtor's credit reports,
conduct investigations, bringing
the debtor and people that owe
your debtor money, back into
court for extensive repeated
examinations, seizing property,
putting liens on homes,
garnishing wages, etc.
Compared to other businesses,
judgment recovery is not an
expensive business to start or
keep running. You need a
computer, a web site, email, a
good judgment recovery course,
a separate phone line. It can be
from your home but you need a
separate, secure work space to
qualify for the database
providers, with a locking file
cabinet and a shredder. You
need a fax machine or an
internet fax solution.
The judgment recovery business
is easy to start, and if you study,
work, and repeat, you can make
money. There are many training
courses and resources on the
web, some are free or very
cheap.