Closing A Judgment Business
I'm not a lawyer, I am a judgment referral expert. This article is my opinion, and not legal advice. If you ever need a strategy to use or legal advice, please contact a lawyer.
Our economy (and occasionally laws in some states) have demoralized many judgment enforcers. Many have closed down and ended their judgment recovery business. Alas, too many did not ended their business properly. You should be careful when ending a judgment business, and to try to make the best of it.
Part of most decisions to end a judgment business is the amount of money and time gets used up by not making enough progress on recovering judgments, and listening to Original Judgment Creditors (OJCs) asking you how come you aren't recovering some money. As flustered as you may get, when ending a judgment business, you must return every judgment by re-assigning them back to the OJCs.
When you recover something from a judgment, pay your OJC their share at the same time that you assign it back. What do you do if you are short of money and can't afford to pay one or more OJCs their fair share of what was collected? There's no simple or easy answer for this kind of problem, however you should not flake out on this problem.
When you're short on money, maybe pay the OJC what you can, and your IOU for the rest, and pay them as you are able. I think it is best to return the judgment and owe the OJC something, than to avoid return the judgment and owe your OJC something.
What if you paid money attempting to enforce the judgment, could you request to be repaid prior to assigning back the judgment? In my opinion, you should ask your OJC politely, to be compensated for what you spent with lasting value, for example recording liens, affidavits of identity, judgment renewals, getting a debtor examination served (in states where this creates a lien), etc.
Unless the purchase agreement specifies that you'll will be repaid for the costs, I would not recommend insisting strongly on getting paid back, especially when the expenses that don't give the OJC any lasting value. Of course, every judgment, OJC, situation, and enforcer is different. If you paid money trying to recover the judgment, try asking to be reimbursed. Consider reaching a compromise if appropriate.
When you change email addresses, addresses, or phone numbers, make sure to let people know. Running away from one's business is a bad idea, it's best to work on solving your problem by assigning back the judgments.
Even if you get too many calls and emails from concerned OJCs, tell each of them all the same thing: You are closing down your business and you're going to return their judgment soon, and to please be patient.
If the OJCs respond badly, inform them you're doing the best you can, and you'll return the judgment soon, and provide them your time estimate. Your estimate should be longer than you think it will take you to get done.
Every judgment must be individually assigned back to each OJC. All assignments must be notarized, and you can't notarize your own documents.
When you mail out a returned judgment, call or email the OJC, and tell them you mailed their assignment back to them. If you are ablen, it is best to first have the assignments court stamped to prevent hassles for the OJCs, and complications for you.
Take your time, assigning back judgments requires thinking about the situation involving each judgment. One idea is to return judgments in small groups, perhaps 10 judgments at a time. After the details are considered, bring all 10 to the notary, and maybe then get the court to endorse the ten assignments of judgments.
When you write, call, or email your OJC, you can also refer them to a judgment referral company that will find an expert to recover their judgment. You may be paid a referral fee for this, making a positive side to closing your judgment business.
Assuming it is cheap to keep your web site running, even if you exit your judgment business, you might want to leave it running (perhaps taking your phone number off, or getting an internet telephone number to record messages) and send judgment leads to a judgment referral company that will pay you for the leads.
About the Author
http://www.JudgmentBuy.com - judgment enforcement. Nationwide judgment referrals. The easiest, fastest, and best way to get the most money for your judgment. Mark Shapiro, the judgment matchmaker. We pay for judgment leads, and have the best quality free judgment referral leads for enforcers, collection agencies and contingency collection attorneys.
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