Commercial Judgment Recovery Corporation
Commercial Judgment Recovery Corporation

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How Does All This Work?
As a judgment holder, you have the right to sell or assign your interest in a judgment to a professional third party to enforce that judgment.

Once you decide to use CJR to collect your money, we prepare a Purchase Agreement and an Acknowledgement of Assignment of Judgment Document for your review. The Purchase Agreement details the specifics of our contingent purchase of the judgment. The Acknowledgement Document assigns the judgment to us, thereby making us the Judgment Owner of Record. After you approve and sign the Acknowledgement Document and it has been filed with the Court, we then have the legal right to investigate the debtor and start enforcing the judgment. At this point, we quickly evaluate the debtor’s financial profile and determine if it is economically feasible to pursue the claim.

How Do You Get My Money?
Our Recovery Specialists utilize the latest investigative tools to locate debtors and their assets. The majority of debtors are ultimately located, even if they have skipped to other states.

Using powerful judgment collection remedies, CJR garnishes wages, levies bank and brokerage accounts, seizes and liquidates real estate, cars, trucks, boats, business equipment and other assets. Our garnishments, levies and seizures occur without notification to the debtor. If there appears to be no visible assets, we utilize debtor and third party examinations to uncover hidden assets. We relentlessly pursue the debtor until they agree to settle or seek bankruptcy protection.

How Long Before I Actually See Results?
The amount of time needed to collect any given judgment is dependent on a number of factors - the amount of the judgment, the motivation and financial position of the debtor(s), and your cooperation with the enforcement process.

Some debtors are very smart about concealing their assets. Although we normally try to get results in the first 60 to 90 days, in extremely unusual cases it can take much longer, sometimes years. The more information you share about the debtor, the faster we can recover your judgment claim.

Is There Any Guarantee You Will Collect On My Judgment?
No. We cannot make any guarantees as some debtors are "judgment-proof", meaning they have no assets, minimal income, or their income is exempt from attachment. Sometimes your judgment claim will be legally discharged in a bankruptcy.

However, debtors do not always remain uncollectible. A change of circumstances, even years later, could make a major difference in the debtor�s financial profile.

If CJR is not able to collect within the first 3 months, we will electronically monitor the debtor’s financial condition. No file is closed until it is collected or we receive a discharge order from a bankruptcy court. You can rest assured that we will employ all legal means to identify sources of income and uncover hidden assets to successfully enforce your judgment.

Why Not Use a Collection Agency or Collection Attorney?
Many creditors have assigned their judgments to collection agencies � to no avail. Collection agencies utilize ineffective letters and telephone calls to harass or annoy the debtor. With a primary emphasis on volume, the average collection agency cannot invest the necessary resources or time to enforce judgments with any consistency. In contrast, CJR enjoys a very high success rate after the debtor is located.

Creditors who use collection attorneys spend thousands of dollars on retainers and hourly fees - whether their judgments are successfully enforced or not. You pay no upfront fees to CJR - We get paid only if we successfully collect your judgment!

Must I Pay For The Expenses Incurred In Enforcing My Judgment?
No. We charge no up front fees � our Contingency Fee is a percentage of the money we collect. We advance all expenses, including skip tracing, credit reports, bank and employment locates and court costs. In most cases, expenses incurred in enforcing the judgment are added to the total judgment and paid by the debtor upon petition to and approval by the court.
I Have A Judgment Awarded In One State Against A Debtor Who Resides In Another State. Can You Help?
In most cases, yes. The collectablity of the judgment is improved if your debtor answered your complaint or made an appearance at the trial or hearing. However, if the debtor didn't answer or appear, the judgment is called a "Default Judgment" and is a considerably weaker obligation. Under a Default Judgment, debtors can set aside the judgment by showing the court they were not properly served or served in the wrong capacity. This is the most common "hurdle" that must be cleared in any judgment enforcement, especially when done across state lines.

CJR specializes in unpaid California judgments. If the debtor skips to another state, we track them down and work with Judgment Recovery Specialists in those states to assist in the collection of the judgment.

How Do I Place A Claim For Recovery With CJR?
There are three easy ways to assign your judgment claim to CJR:

If you have additional questions,
please call us at 800-860-5904 or Email us.

Assign your judgment to CJR.