I am a Judgment Broker, and am not a lawyer. My articles are my opinions, and not legal advice. If you ever need any legal advice or a strategy to use, please contact a lawyer. Usually, judgment recovery is a hassle. Some general frustrations are the laws that protect judgment debtors, the judgment debtors themselves, and our crummy economy. These are the top ten judgment recovery frustrations:

1) Your judgment debtor files for bankruptcy protection. Usually, this is “game over” for the recovery of your judgment money. Usually, there is not much you can do after a judgment debtor files for bankruptcy protection. The law is that you must immediately stop all collection activity as soon as you have knowledge of the bankruptcy filing. Once in a while, the judgment debtor loses in bankruptcy court. Usually, BK courts are bad news for most judgment creditors.

2) The judgment has expired. This is also “game over”, and this has caught some judgment creditors off guard, yet it can be prevented. In most states the life of a judgment can be extended. Learn how long your judgment will last, how to renew it, and renew it long before it expires.

3) Not ever getting repaid any money. At least 90% percent of judgment creditors are ever repaid.

4) Getting partially repaid only after hassles, expenses or costs, and many years. While “better late than never” is a positive thought, it can be frustrating to work, pay, and wait, a long time to be repaid something. Whenever you want someone else to attempt to recover your judgment on a contingency basis, where you do not pay any money; expect to give up an average of 50% of what is recovered. Half of something is better than all of nothing.

5) You cannot find yor judgment debtor. Sometimes the judgment debtor was “your friend” for years, and then ripped you off. You sued them, and later you discovered the name they gave you was not their real name, or was one of several names they used. Some people live “off the grid”, helped by cell phones, prepaid charge cards, post office boxes, and cash-based underground economies. If a judgment debtor owns a home, or pays for rent, utilities, and/or land-based telephones with their checkbook; or has a conventional job, they can usually be located.

6) You cannot find the judgment debtor’s assets. Usually this is because the judgment debtor is clever or poor. If they are rich and clever, you may have to hire a private investigation service to discover their assets. If they are poor, you might have to wait a very long time for a chance to be repaid anything.

7) Your judgment debtor files a claim of exemption in response to a Sheriff levy. This happens when the judgment debtor is poor, or when you levy an asset that is protected by laws, for example tools used in the business of the judgment debtor.

8) The judgment debtor attempts to vacate or appeal the judgment. If either of these things happen, when the judgment creditor does nothing in response, the judgment debtor always wins. To keep the judgment alive in such situations, requires costs and/or extra work for the judgment creditor.

9) The lawyer that was supposed to collect your judgment does not seem to be doing much, if anything. Usually, this happens when a contingency lawyer discovers your judgment is not easy to recover.

10) The judgment enforcer you assigned your judgment to, does not seem to be doing much, if anything. Usually, this happens when they discover the judgment is not easy to recover. You can ask the judgment enforcer to assign the judgment back to you. The poorer your judgment debtor is, the more likely a judgment enforcer will be very willing to assign the judgment back to you.