Winning a civil judgment against another party does not settle the matter entirely. If there are monetary awards involved, collection is up to the winning party, otherwise known as the judgment creditor. Far too few judgment creditors avail themselves of the services of a judgment collection agency.
Judgment collection agencies are collection agencies that do not handle general debts. Instead, they focus all their time and attention on outstanding judgments. Salt Lake City’s Judgment Collectors is a good example. Judgments are all they do in Utah, Idaho, California, and several other states.
Judgment Collectors in Salt Lake City, UT is quick to point out that not all collection agencies work the same way. They say there are some important things to know about agencies before choosing to sign up with one.
Some Buy Judgments Outright
Some judgment collection agencies actually buy judgments from their clients outright. They buy them just like they were buying any other asset. This sort of arrangement is good if a judgment creditor simply wants to wash its hands of the debt and move on. But it is not so good for creditors who want to maximize their returns.
The problem is that collection agencies offer pennies on the dollar when they buy judgments. They have no other choice. They need to be able to cover their costs when they do eventually collect. They are also taking a risk that they may never get a penny.
Some Agencies Work on Consignment
Those judgment collection agencies that do not purchase judgments work on consignment instead. Consignment is the model Judgment Collectors follows. When they take a case, they do all the work and cover their own expenses. The client only pays if and when the agency collects.
Though there are no guarantees, judgment creditors tend to spend less by going with a consignment agreement. They also tend to get more money in the end, primarily because it is in the best interests of the agency to collect as much as possible.
Agency Staff Have Unique Skills
Collecting unpaid judgments is quite different from collecting general debt. Those who do it have to possess a certain type of knowledge along with some unique skills. You will find both among the staff at a specialized judgment collection agency. You might not find either with a general collection agency.
It takes a certain amount of knowledge and skill to track down debtors who are purposely trying to hide. Likewise, it is not easy to find assets debtors are trying to keep secret. But a specialist judgment collection agency can get it done.
Agencies Have Unique Resources
Judgment collection agencies take advantage of common resources like public records and social media. But they also have access to unique resources unavailable to others. Those resources often make the difference between success and failure.
You might also be interested to know that judgment collection agencies tend to be very good at skip tracing. What is skip tracing? It is the process of using every available resource to locate hard-to-find debtors who have managed to skip town in order to avoid paying.
They Offer the Best Chances of Success
Last but not least, specialist judgment collection agencies offer the best chances of success when trying to collect from uncooperative debtors. Unfortunately, such is the case more often than not.
If you are in the midst of a civil lawsuit you expect to win, give serious consideration to bringing in a judgment collection agency to handle enforcement. The sooner an agency gets involved, the greater the chances of successful collection. As a creditor, that is exactly what you want.