I sued a former mechanic in smallclaims court and won. How do I go about collecting the debt now?

It depends on the State - the info should be in the handbook you got when you filed but if you post the State I will look it up for you.

California.

This is a big issue, since to be honest, it is easy to win, but very hard to get your money, A large majority of small claims judgements ( or many judgements in general) are never collected.

If you find out where their bank account is you can attempt to garnish it.

I won a smll court claim againts sears in the state of nj,how I can collect my money or my defective merchandise?