In civil courts around the country, judges routinely render judgments that include monetary awards. The winners of those awards are known as judgment creditors. Far too many of them take payment for granted. They do not realize that the clock immediately starts ticking on recovery.
Collecting a monetary award is known by other terms, including ‘recovery’ and ‘enforcement’. Regardless, judgment creditors do not have a limited amount of time to get paid. That is because civil judgments are subject to statutes of limitation. If a judgment remains unresolved when the statutes dug line arrives, it must either be revived or allowed to expire.
When the Clock Starts Ticking
Judgment creditors should be aware of when the clock starts taking. The details vary by state, but the general rule is that a statute of limitations doesn’t kick in until the judgment has been officially recorded by the court clerk.
In one case, a judgment might be recorded immediately following the conclusion of the court case. The clock would begin ticking that very same day. In another case, recording might not take place for a few days. The clock does not start ticking until recording has been completed.
On average, statutes of limitation run for 7-10 years. A small number of states offer as little as 5 years, while an equally small number goes as high as twenty. It is up to the judgment creditor to find out the statute of limitations in his state.
Not as Long as You Might Think
From the outside looking in, 7-10 years might seem like plenty of time to collect an outstanding judgment. But you know better if you have ever been in the position of judgment creditor. Time can pass pretty quickly when you’re dealing with a debtor who isn’t trying too hard to pay up.
Unfortunately, delays seem to be built into the system. The first delay is realized on the very day the court case is decided. How so? Most states do not allow judgment creditors to immediately begin collection efforts. They must wait a certain amount of time – usually 30 days – to allow the debtor to appeal. Right off the top, the creditor loses a month.
Once collection efforts do begin in earnest, the creditor must gather income and asset information from the debtor. If a creditor chooses to rely on interrogatories or a deposition, a further delay is incurred by way of scheduling. Another 30-60 days could be lost in the effort.
This sort of thing continues throughout the entire process. Unless a debtor is willing to either pay in full or enter a voluntary payment plan, years can pass before a creditor makes meaningful progress.
It’s Why Collection Agencies Exist
The irony of it all is that judgment creditors could make things easier by turning their judgments over to a specialized collection agency like Salt Lake City’s Judgment Collectors. The Utah agency is a judgment collection specialist working with clients in nearly a dozen states.
Collection agencies specializing in money judgments are familiar with the system. They have the ability to manage multiple tasks while waiting for deadlines. They are more efficient at conducting property searches and skip tracing. They can put everything together faster and more efficiently than inexperienced judgment creditor trying to handle things in-house.
Recovering money judgments is the very reason these collection agencies exist. If I were a judgment creditor just beginning the recovery process, I wouldn’t think twice about hiring a collection specialist. I would be fully aware that the clock is ticking, and I would want to get paid before time ran out.
