Every judgment is a situation, where anything can happen. Some proposed judgments are settled in court and do not become final. In such cases, even though the creditor had to settle, they did far better than most judgment creditors do; because they actually got paid something. Most judgment owners do not get paid at all, or only get partially paid over time.

This article is my opinion, and not legal advice. I am a judgment broker, and am not a lawyer. If you ever need any legal advice or a strategy to use, please contact a lawyer.

For judgments to have any value, they must pass this checklist of six tests:

1) The judgment was not settled or satisfied.

2) Was not dismissed or vacated.

3) The debtor did not get bankruptcy protection.

4) The judgment did not expire.

5) When the debtor is an individual, they did not die or move overseas. Or, if you sued a company that has dissolved or is now out-of-business, the judgment usually becomes worthless.

6) The debtor continues to have available assets. and, when debtors are old, it usually becomes much more difficult to recover judgments against them.

While a judgment continues to pass these six checklist items, there is a chance to either sell it for a big discount, or attempt to recover it yourself, or find a judgment recovery solution. A judgment broker saves creditors a lot of time, if they can accept reality.

If a judgment is not purchased, settled, or recovered quickly; there is a big chance nothing will ever be recovered from it. Over time, most creditors go through these four stages:

1) Dreamland: Even though most judgments are worth only a small fraction of the debtor’s available assets on a cash upfront sale; many creditors contact everyone they can find, to try to sell their judgment for cash upfront and get paid as much as they can. Most will never get paid, and will find a lot of liars and flakes on the web.

2) Very hopeful: Where things still look promising; as creditors try to recover the judgment, or find a buyer for some amount of cash upfront, or find a recovery expert.

3) Somewhat hopeful: Even though the judgment cannot be sold for cash or recovered right away; there is a chance that money might be recovered in the future.

4) Hopeless for now: Looks bleak. In this economy, most judgments are now hopeless. Many creditors have trouble accepting this conclusion.