subject: Buying Judgment Leads [print this page] Because laws make it difficult and expensive to enforce judgments, there is a very large industry of independent Judgment Enforcers (JEs). The way judgment enforcement works is, first, judgments are assigned to JEs. Then the JE can attempt to enforce a judgment, so the Original Judgment Creditor (OJC - the plaintiff), can be paid.
Almost everything in the judgment enforcement business is done on a contingency basis, everyone get paid after results are accomplished.
No Judgment is guaranteed to be enforceable, so judgment leads are vital to JEs. The more good judgment leads a JEs has, the more money they can make.
The best Judgment leads are the hardest to find, the most valuable, and the hardest to predict with certainty.
The most important factor is the willingness of the OJC. Some inexperienced OJCs think it's very easy to enforce judgments. This can be a show-stopper - as you can show an OJC assignment paperwork, but you can't make them sign. Over time, OJCs tend to smell the coffee, and become more likely to assign their judgment to a JE.
How successful a judgment enforcement is likely to be, depends on these six (and other) factors, in no particular order:
1) The age of the debtor (the defendant) - it's harder to enforce judgments against old debtors.
2) The wealth of the debtor - it's harder to enforce judgments against poor debtors.
3) The assets showing on the debtor - it's harder to enforce a judgment against debtors with no homes, cars, etc.
4) The kind of Judgment - it's harder to enforce default (the debtor never showed up in court) judgments.
5) The stability of the debtor - it's harder to enforce judgments against debtors who are hiding, or living on all-cash.
6) The sneakiness and fraudulent activities of the debtor - it's harder to collect from professional frauds.
An ideal lead passes most or all of the 6 factors above. The OJC wants to assign their Judgment to a JE, with a young-ish debtor that owns things and has a good income. Such a lead means it will be easy to convince an OJC to assign their judgment, and easier for the JE to turn the judgment into cash for the OJC.
a good judgment lead has most of the 6 factors above. An average lead has some of the 6 factors above.
A bad lead has few or none of the 6 factors - or the OJC either does not want to assign their judgment, or has unreasonable expectations of the enforcement process.
The problem with judgment leads is, it's difficult to predict these 6 factors, and the future.
There are lead providers that sell Judgments where the debtor owns property. Even then, often the OJCs have no interest in assigning their Judgment, and/or the debtor is under water on their property loan, and poor.
Some of the best leads are found by advertising or searching through court records. This is time-consuming and is the way most JEs get their leads.
All but one judgment lead seller, only sells leads on a pay-first basis. This is a tough sell, as if the OJC does not want to assign their Judgment, nothing happens. And if the debtor is poor, nothing results.
There is one company that sells judgment leads on a contingency basis - with no upfront costs. This system works best as the OJCs want their judgments enforced so they will gladly assign their judgment. The buyer of judgment leads only pays at the end, after the judgments are enforced. I think this is the best way to sell judgment leads.
by: Mark Shapiro
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