Your company in Atlanta is suffering because of delinquent accounts receivables. To get back your losses, you start requesting your customers to pay for the money that they owe. Sadly, they do not pay and worse, they do not even reply to your messages or answer your calls. Perhaps you have found a good debt collection firm and he or she tells you to pursue litigation against your problem customers. Fortunately for you, your lawyer is good and you win the lawsuit. You may think it is time to celebrate, but there are still some things that you have to learn about. One of them is collecting the money from the judgment.
With the help of a judgement attorney in Atlanta, you will eventually receive the money you have been awarded after winning the lawsuit. Once the court decides that your customers have to pay for the amount they owe you, you are usually on your own. However, this will not be the case if you have a lawyer to guide you.
Collecting the money that should be yours is not really a problem almost all the time. This is because solvent businesses or individuals will generally pay up as soon as they receive the court judgment. If they do not, you can consult with a judgement lawyer in Atlanta and find the most appropriate legal way to force the debtor to pay you.
There are times though when a person or a business is broke and when your debtor is, this means they are judgment-proof. It is either difficult or impossible to collect your money. Before you sue that individual or company, make sure that you talk with your debt collection lawyer first to understand and choose the best action to take.
There are some cases in which the property of the debtor is protected, but there are exemptions. Your lawyer can explain to you what these exemptions are and what kind of action to take to collect the money that is rightfully yours. Another piece of information to check is whether or not a certain person will file for bankruptcy. Chapter 7 bankruptcy can be problematic particularly if you have been listed as a creditor. This is because there is a huge chance that the debt will be wiped out.
On the other hand, if the debtor receives regular wages, you can garnish them. This is one of the easiest ways that will allow you to get the money owed. There are some rules though and among them is the fact that the debtor should have a decent wage. Additionally, the federal government has the right to limit the amount that you can take from that person. There are also certain types of income that you cannot touch such as Social Security.
Nevertheless, you can also check for bank accounts, bonds, and stocks that the debtor may own. These are all common sources for collection. Once again, there are limitations and you can talk about how you can collect the judgment from a deposit account with your debt collection attorney. Meanwhile, if the judgment debtor is a company, it is possible to get the amount owed right from the cash register of the business. It is also possible to force the sale of a piece of equipment in the company that is valuable enough to match your judgment money.
When you contact a debt collection law firm, be sure that it can provide you with a competent lawyer. Enforcing the judgment on a person or a business can be tough at times especially if they can provide proof that they are bankrupt. As a last resort, you can summon the debtor to court and your lawyer can help you as well with that.