Sometimes you may think it isn’t worth the time of day to file a claim against someone in a California small claims court. After all, they didn’t have the money to pay you for rent or something else they owed. They may have their own business but it isn’t fairing so well.
Many people get discouraged because they find the small claims court doesn’t go after the judgment. You have to do that on your own and you should do so.
Don’t give up just because of the circumstances that someone has right now. That will change in the future and then you can get the money that you are entitled to according to that California small claims court judgment. Even if you don’t get it for several years you will still get that money. Even if you get it in very small payments you will still end up with the money owed to you.
Some individuals do have severe financial hardship at the time of the judgment so they are deemed judgment proof at that time. However, this isn’t a status that they can always hide under. They will have to show that their situation hasn’t changed in the future. It is unreasonable to assume that they will continue to have no assets years later. Of course this is the case with a small percentage of individuals.
There are some actions you can take if you need to in order to push someone to pay what they owe you. Check out the tips at http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/smallclaims/collectmoreways.htm so you can find out if someone is claiming to be judgment proof when they aren’t. Even if they aren’t working you may be able to collect money by garnishing their spouse’s paycheck.
You do need to pay close attention and find out all you can about the accounts of that party. Sometimes they will be hiding money or assets by having them in the name of someone else.
If you have a California Small Claims Court judgment and don’t have the time or patience to enforce it, get in touch with PLS today. We may be able to turn your uncollected money judgment into cash.
