My husband and I went to small claims against someone who really messed up part of our roof. An order was given in our favor in the amount of $3000 plus court costs.

Now to the question here...

What is a good time frame for us to give them before we go to file a writ of execution? We were told that is our next step. They say they don't have the money right now, they don't think they can come up with it within 3 months. Were we being feasible to ask for it in the 3 months (this was a suggestion from someone at the courthouse)?

Any advise as to what we should do now would be helpful. The case is against husband, wife and their business jointly owned.

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Originally Posted by rpg219

My husband and I went to small claims against someone who really messed up part of our roof. An order was given in our favor in the amount of $3000 plus court costs.

Now to the question here........

What is a good time frame for us to give them before we go to file a writ of execution? We were told that is our next step. They say they don't have the money right now, they don't think they can come up with it within 3 months. Were we being feasible to ask for it in the 3 months (this was a suggestion from someone at the courthouse)?

Any advise as to what we should do now would be helpful. The case is against husband, wife and their business jointly owned.

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The Court knows the "climate" in your area - I would go with them.

Thanks so much Judy. Do you think we should have this Judgement recorded with the Probate Court as well? Someone else suggested this to us, saying that if they tried to file bankruptcy or have their property taken out of their name... our Judgement would show and they would have to pay us before they did anything. Is this true?

Again, thanks for the help. We have never been through anything like this and the clerks tell us they are not supposed to tell us what to do next. I just don't want to make any bad decisions here :)

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Originally Posted by rpg219

Thanks so much Judy. Do you think we should have this Judgement recorded with the Probate Court as well? Someone else suggested this to us, saying that if they tried to file bankruptcy or have their property taken out of their name....our Judgement would show and they would have to pay us before they did anything. Is this true?

Again, thanks for the help. We have never been through anything like this and the clerks tell us they are not supposed to tell us what to do next. I just don't want to make any bad decisions here :)

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And Clerks don't know the Law - they (in most cases, with no disrespect to Clerks) sort of file and rubber stamp and don't need to know anything beyond that.

I don't understand your Court system. Where I am Probate Court is purely for estate matters.

What does Probate Court do in your area?

Hello r:

Will all due respect to my friend Judy, I think you should use ALL necessary means to get your money. I would NOT play nice guy. You would be surprised how quickly they might come up with your money once their bank accounts have been seized.

I would continue to go after them like a pit bull.

excon

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello r:

Will all due respect to my friend Judy, I think you should use ALL necessary means to get your money. I would NOT play nice guy. You would be surprised how quickly they might come up with your money once their bank accounts have been seized.

I would continue to go after them like a pit bull.

excon

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No, no - I didn't mean don't pursue him. In my area Probate Court cannot and will not accept papers for this type of matter. I was questioning what Probate Court does in that area.

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Originally Posted by rpg219

Do you think we should have this Judgement recorded with the Probate Court as well? Someone else suggested this to us, saying that if they tried to file bankruptcy or have their property taken out of their name....our Judgement would show and they would have to pay us before they did anything. Is this true?

Again, thanks for the help. We have never been through anything like this and the clerks tell us they are not supposed to tell us what to do next. I just don't want to make any bad decisions here :)

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I don't know about "probate court". In my area the process is to get an "abstract of judgement" (get it from the small claims court) and then go file it with the county clerk. Then that judgement shows up when they try to do transaction like what you're talking about.

For someone like this, I'd go for payment arrangements. It's much easier to come up with a lower, weekly amount than it is to save up to that big amount to pay all at once. Especially some in the construction industry like that... As they get paid on jobs, they should be making payments to you.

Unfortunately, it's much easier to get a judgement than it is to collect on it. I'd take what I could get, when I could get it.

And no, I don't think 3 months is an unreasonable time to give them. But I also don't disagree with excon about just not giving them a grace period. They've already done you wrong once...

You may want to file a Writ of Execution right away since this could prevent or impede the debtor from divesting themselves of certain assets (ie. Real estate).

In addition, many debtor businesses, even when they are struggling, do have money they just prioritize it (ie. Their rent, advertising, employees and suppliers first). You may want to make yourself a priority creditor.

The downside is that a Writ of Execution could also prevent or impede the debtor from obtaining additional credit to pay you although in many cases the existence of a judgment (which you already have) will already have such an effect.

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello r:
Will all due respect to my friend Judy, I think you should use ALL necessary means to get your money. I would NOT play nice guy. You would be surprised how quickly they might come up with your money once their bank accounts have been seized.
I would continue to go after them like a pit bull.
excon

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You know, our brains are on the same track here, LOL

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Originally Posted by rockinmommy

I don't know about "probate court". In my area the process is to get an "abstract of judgement" (get it from the small claims court) and then go file it with the county clerk. Then that judgement shows up when they try to do transaction like what you're talking about.

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I think this is what I meant :) The chick works for a bankruptcy lawyer, she told me if I filed the judgement with the "probate court" then it would show up if they tried to file on personal or business bankruptcy.


They have now asked us for a payment plan, and suggested they could pay $100/month for 31 months. LMAO Not no but... well just no was my answer, lol. Then they offered us a vehicle they own. We are considering... the value of it is 2700 so they wouldn't owe us much after that.
What to do... what to do?? :)

I believe the only requirement is that you wait 30 days to give them time to file an appeal.

After that 30 day period, I would start trying to collect the judgment by any means possible.

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Originally Posted by progunr

I believe the only requirement is that you wait 30 days to give them time to file an appeal.
After that 30 day period, I would start trying to collect the judgment by any means possible.

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Here it was 14 days from the order... which that 14 days passed about a week ago. They did not appeal.


Thanks so much for all of ya'lls advice!

The issue here is that a large percent of many judgements ever get paid, so often it will be hard to ever get your money, If you wait 4 months, you will still be waiting.

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Originally Posted by rpg219

They have now asked us for a payment plan, and suggested they could pay $100/month for 31 months. LMAO Not no but ....well just no was my answer, lol. Then they offered us a vehicle they own. We are considering...the value of it is 2700 so they wouldn't owe us much after that.
What to do...what to do??? :)

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I would ask for the vehicle and $100 a month for 6 months.

If they're willing to start paying you $100 a month I wouldn't turn it down. It may be harder to collect the whole thing than you think...

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Originally Posted by rpg219

I think this is what I meant :) The chick works for a bankruptcy lawyer, she told me if I filed the judgement with the "probate court" then it would show up if they tried to file on personal or business bankruptcy.

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Would you ask the chick what Probate Court has to do with this and why Probate Court would accept such a filing?

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

Would you ask the chick what Probate Court has to do with this and why Probate Court would accept such a filing?

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Will do :)