I'm not an attorney, I am a judgment referral expert. This article is my opinion, and not legal advice, based on my experiences in California. If you ever need legal advice or a strategy to use, you should contact an attorney. Usually, judgment debtors disregard a judge's order to repay you. When the judgment owner them about repayment, most judgment debtors tell lies to avoid paying judgments. If one bases any judgment recovery actions and decisions solely on listening and believing your debtor, your judgment will not be recovered. Being poor, or hiding assets and being sneaky, are the most common ways to not pay a judgment. Very often, your judgment debtor will have a certain amount of financial assets, sufficient to settle, or perhaps pay at least some of the judgment, at least with some payment plan, if not with a lump sum. One way of attempting to learn the truth concerning your debtor and/or their assets, is to serve the legal procedure known as an "Interrogatory". If used as a post-judgment recovery action, the interrogatory is a list of questions served on a debtor, which they are (at least in theory) required to answer truthfully and completely. The judgment debtor will be subject to a firm time limit, in which they need to answer your inquiries, and return the interrogatories answered completely. With interrogatories, almost everything depends on what court and state. In certain states, post judgment interrogatories aren't used; and are often replaced with (e.g.) debtor examinations. If interrogatories aren't allowed or popular in your court or state, then the rest of this article may not apply in your case. Interrogatories can be used to discover facts concerning a judgment debtor and their finances, which they wish you would never be able to find out. You could ask questions concerning their employment and income, bank accounts, real estate, stocks and bonds, and just about anything else about their potential financials which one might want to know. Each state and court may have varying numbers of questions which can be included, and has varying rules on the way interrogatories must be served on the debtor or 3rd parties associated to the debtor. The time limits for the parties served to respond, may vary by jurisdiction. If the party served isn't forthcoming in their responses to interrogatories, or does not obey with the court rules, or if they lie when responding to your questions, the judge might punish them. They could get charged with contempt of court. Interrogatories can be an effective method of gaining the upper hand, over a judgment debtor that is unwilling to disclose the truth concerning their ability to satisfy the civil money judgment. When the law allows, and the court backs you up, it is good to know that the debtor can't really afford to ignore full compliance and truthful responses. Of course, you may hire a lawyer to create and have interrogatories served. If you are recovering your own judgment, you can do this yourself, when you know how. Begin by studying the court's policies, to find out how interrogatories are handled in their court. You can find interrogatory samples either on the web, at the court, or at a law library. Any example you find should be modified for the situation of the debtor and your court. The wording of the questions are more important than the quantity allowed at your court. http://www.JudgmentBuy.com - Judgment Enforcement. Nationwide judgment referrals. The easiest, fastest, and best way to get the most money for your judgment. Mark D. Shapiro, the free judgment matchmaker. JudgmentBuy offers the best no obligation free judgment referral leads for judgment buyers, enforcers, collection agencies, and contingency collection attorneys.
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Interrogatories, judgment debtor, Post-Judgment Discovery, judgment enforcement process, collect your judgment, enforce my judgment,
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