Congratulations! You Won
You have a Florida Judgment for what you are owed
Now What?
4. Turn Up The Heat
Apply more pressure if the debtor doesn’t give you his asset disclosure. Get an Order of Examination from the court. They will be brought before the court to disclose assets and income. A bench warrant for their arrest can be issued by the court if they misses their court appearance.
When they are finally in court, question them about their income, assets, lifestyle etc. You have to know where their cash and/or property are located. Which institutions or banks are they in? How are his or her accounts titled? You will need to know this because it will help you focus on what your next steps will be.
A friendly solution and negotiated settlement is always the best option. You can offer an olive branch either before or after going to Small Claims Court. If they are not paying you it is due to one of two reasons, they don’t have the money or they have it and they simply don’t want to pay you. Figuring out what their motivation for non-payment is will help you determine your next steps.
Once you know their motivation, you can give them a way out. Contact them and respectfully offer to adjust the payment perms and see if they are receptive to this offer. If there is a good faith response, they might not actually have all the money at the time and a payment plan is the best option.
As a motivation tool, let your debtor know that you can get a judgment against them in Small Claims Court. Let them know it will ruin their credit report and you don’t really want to let this happen. Also, let them know you are considering other options outlined in this article and you would much prefer to come to a friendly agreement before taking any of those actions.
If they produce some money as a down payment and the repayment plan is reasonable, don’t be harsh with them. If none of the approaches have worked so far, you will need to get even more aggresive.
To Be Continued.
We hope you enjoy this short miniseries on collecting from a Florida Judgment. Should you need legal help, Marcadis Singer, PA dedicate their practice to all things related to getting paid. We can assist you in collecting on your Florida Judgment.
The information contained in this blog series are for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice on any subject matter. … You should not act upon this information without consulting legal counsel.
