Posted by & filed under Business organization Credit Journal, Collections.

Jul 11, 2017

Often all a creditor wishes for is to get a judgment against a debtor. But be careful what you wish for – that judgment may be worth nothing more than than the paper it is on. Ofttimes the real work does not brainstorm until after yous get your judgment, when the chase for assets begins.

Hopefully, before your chaser has even filed adjust you have discussed the possibility that the debtor is "judgment proof," significant the debtor has no money. Once the judgment is obtained, at that place are ways to locate and go after such judgments. Often a creditor will take information about where a creditor banks or works. This is what collection attorneys consider low-hanging fruit, because it is not difficult to garnish either wages or a bank account. Hopefully, the creditor saved data virtually the bank account or place of employment of the defendant. In Oregon, an chaser can sign a garnishment and accept it served. A banking company account garnishment hits whatever is in the account at the time of service. By statute, the bank can withhold funds that are exempt, such as social security or worker's compensation proceeds. Otherwise, the funds are forwarded to the issuing attorney. A banking concern account garnishment simply covers the corporeality which is in the account at the moment the garnishment is received. It will non include future moneys that are deposited into the account. A new garnishment must be served. If the creditor does not know of the location of a bank account, it is possible to do a "shotgun" garnishment at a cost of $twenty per bank. This can include the six or seven largest banks in the state where almost Oregonians have deposits. A wage garnishment sent to a debtor's employer is good for all wages paid out for a 90 day flow, and can be renewed thereafter. Creditors are entitled to 25% of a debtor's wages. However, the wage garnishment only seizes 25% of the internet amount over minimum wage.

To the extent a creditor has no employment or bank information, ORS 18.265-.268 allows for debtor exams. The trouble is that the Oregon Courts are strained, and debtor exams are at the lesser of the priority listing. Each county handles them differently. For case, Washington County just requires the accused to appear at the clerk's counter to be sworn. Clackamas County actually has a judge who calls the example. Another county has refused to set up debtor exams because of no courtroom or clerk availability. Typically only about 20% of the debtors actually show upwardly at an exam.

Beyond wage and bank garnishments, there are creative ways for a creditor to execute on a judgment. You tin can garnish more than just a banking company account or wages. This includes garnishing a family unit trust that makes periodic payments to a debtor; a debtor's prison business relationship; a debtor's attorney if there are retainer funds in trust that the attorney has non yet earned; example settlement proceeds; or even commissions. For example, a real estate agent or insurance broker who works on commissions cannot claim a 75% wage exemption because commissions are not considered wages. Therefore, a creditor is more often than not allowed to garnish 100% of a debtor'south commissions.

Through the use of a writ of execution, a creditor can enforce a judgment confronting both existent and personal property. As to real belongings, when a creditor obtains a judgment, a judgment lien is automatically placed by the court on all real property located within the canton where the judgment was obtained. If real property is discovered outside of said county, the creditor tin can file what is chosen an "abstruse lien" for very piffling in the county where the real property is located. Beware that executing a judgment confronting real belongings, specially residential real holding, can be cumbersome and subject to various exemptions, including a $twoscore,000 homestead exemption.

Execution against personal property is easy – so long as such holding tin be located and has value. My firm has seized everything, including cars, semi-automatic guns, bikes, and rare coins. Social media tin can be a great tool for finding these types of avails as well. In the example of the guns, the debtor gun manufacturer advertised to its customers that it was holding a grand opening for its new location and warehouse. My business firm took them up on their invitation and sent the county sheriff to seize debtor'southward unabridged gun inventory.

There are also tools for judgment enforcement that are specific to the type of debt. For example, in Oregon where a debt arises from an car accident with an uninsured commuter, creditor tin move the court to append the defendant'due south commuter's license. The suspension requires a specific movement, affirmation, and order to the court which can be filed lx days afterwards the judgment is taken. Such a license intermission oftentimes forces debtor to pay.

In the end, there are various options bachelor to a creditor with judgment in hand. Sometimes the chase for assets can exist the fun part of recovery if there is some sort of pot of golden at the stop of the rainbow. Regardless, creditors should have a conversation with his or her chaser both before filing suit and afterward to determine not only the viability of the case, only all-time strategies for executing on a judgment.

Past: Paul Galm, Davis Galm Law Firm

Paul graduated with a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1996 and earned his J.D. from New York Academy Schoolhouse of Law in 2000. Paul worked several years  every bit a commercial litigator at Perkins Coie LLP, a big multi-national law business firm before joining the Multnomah County District Attorney'south Office as a Deputy District Chaser. Paul joined Davis & Galm Law Business firm in 2008. The firm'south practise is focused on consumer and commercial debt collection in all of Oregon, including creditor's rights, FDCPA issues and creative solutions for tracking down and attaching debtors' assets.