Collection
Eight signs that a collection claim will not pay
Winning a collection case and collecting the money are two different things. These eight signs are reviewed before filing, because a process that cannot be enforced is an expense, not a victory.
- 01
The debtor has no locatable assets
If there are no visible accounts, wages or property, the judgment becomes a title with no destination.
- 02
Other attachments already exist
A debtor with prior enforcement may have committed assets before their turn arrives.
- 03
The security cannot be enforced
A badly registered mortgage or a badly drafted trust protects no one: that is discovered the day it is needed.
- 04
The instrument has defects
Signature, protest, chain of endorsements or limitation. A defective instrument falls at the first objection.
- 05
The amount does not cover the cost
Fees, time and measures against what can reasonably be recovered. If the process consumes the debt, there is no case.
- 06
The debtor is insolvent
Where insolvency proceedings exist, individual collection changes scenario and expectation.
- 07
Negotiation is possible
An agreement with security and a term can recover more, sooner, than a judgment.
- 08
There is no enforcement plan
Before filing, know what will be attached and in what order. Without a plan, time is given to the debtor.
If collection is already under way, solvency and measures can still be reviewed before spending on enforcement. That review changes the outcome more often than it seems.