# I won my small claims case, now what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 25, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366 "2004-03-25T16:23:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anachronism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Anachronism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anachronism)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/1 "2004-03-25T16:23:24Z")
I had a problem with an item I purchased and had to settle in small claims court. I live in Massachusetts and the seller lives in Texas, but the person I talked to at the courthouse told me the decision would still be binding. I won the case and went to the payment review hearing but have not received any money from the defendant and he will not answer my letters or emails. The judgement is for about $500 so hiring a lawyer would probably not be worth it. I have a CAPIAS Civil Arrest Warrant but I am not sure what to do with it. > [@](#): > > **To any officer authorized to serve civil process:** > > The Court considers the above named judgement debtor to be in contempt for failure to appear in court as ordered. > > **We command you,** therefore, to arrest the above named judgement debtor and forthwith to bring him or her before this court to answer for his (or) her alledged contempt. According to Massachusetts’s law it appears I can also request to have his property seized and sold to cover the judgement. How is the property sold, at some sort of auction? Would I have a chance to bid on/ buy the seized item? I know he has several nice cars that are heavily customized. Can I sell the Debt/judgement to a collection agency? ---
**Author:** ![ReverseCowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@ReverseCowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReverseCowgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/2 "2004-03-25T16:46:39Z")
> [@Anachronism](#): > > I had a problem with an item I purchased and had to settle in small claims court. I live in Massachusetts and the seller lives in Texas, but the person I talked to at the courthouse told me the decision would still be binding. I won the case and went to the payment review hearing but have not received any money from the defendant and he will not answer my letters or emails. The judgement is for about $500 so hiring a lawyer would probably not be worth it. > > I have a CAPIAS Civil Arrest Warrant but I am not sure what to do with it. > According to Massachusetts’s law it appears I can also request to have his property seized and sold to cover the judgement. How is the property sold, at some sort of auction? Would I have a chance to bid on/ buy the seized item? I know he has several nice cars that are heavily customized. > > Can I sell the Debt/judgement to a collection agency? If the seller is in Texas, and has no assets in Massachusetts, it will be difficult to collect the judgment. Normally execution on a judgment is limited to the state in which it is issued. If you want to execute on a judgment in a different state, you must “domesticate” it. Here is the Texas statute that talks about the procedure for domesticating another state’s judgment. > [@](#): > > § 35.003. FILING AND STATUS OF FOREIGN > JUDGMENTS. (a) A copy of a foreign judgment authenticated in > accordance with an act of congress or a statute of this state may be > filed in the office of the clerk of any court of competent > jurisdiction of this state. > (b) The clerk shall treat the foreign judgment in the same > manner as a judgment of the court in which the foreign judgment is > filed. > (c) A filed foreign judgment has the same effect and is > subject to the same procedures, defenses, and proceedings for > reopening, vacating, staying, enforcing, or satisfying a judgment > as a judgment of the court in which it is filed. > > Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985. You can try to sell your judgment to a collection agency or a factor, but you will probably not get very much money for it, if they are willing to buy it at all. Sorry ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ReverseCowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@ReverseCowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReverseCowgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/3 "2004-03-25T17:54:27Z")
Oh . . . If you are lucky the judgment will get picked up by the credit bureaus and show up on his credit report. That will give you some bargaining power. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/4 "2004-03-25T21:26:22Z")
Bad news: You have to go to Texas to have a Texas court affirm the Massachusetts court finding. You cannot go after his/her assets in Texas without it. I don’t know if you can get a TX court affirmation without leaving MA. Good news: The facts of the case can not be disputed any more. To dispute the facts, he should have come to MA. Bad news: He can dispute the law. For example, he could dispute whether the MA court had any jurisdiction in the matter. More Bad news: Even if you do get a Texas court judgement, he still may not pay. You’ll need to get a sheriff to serve papers and sieze property. It could be messy for $500. The bad news out weighs the good. You might be better off just chalking it up to experience. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/5 "2004-03-25T22:53:58Z")
If your judgment is valid in Texas, see if you can legally garnishee his bank account(s) there to satisfy the unpaid judgment. I actually did this with an in-state case and got a couple hundred bucks. You would have to file separate paperwork to deal with all the banks where you think the money is, but it’s not a real big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/6 "2004-03-25T23:44:45Z")
I agree with **RC** and **bizerta**. If the defendant has no assets in your state, I’d write it off. That said, there are a few methods that sometimes work to get around this, but they’re longshots. For example, one requires that you (a) know something about where he banks and (b) get lucky and find a branch of that bank in your state. Even if you decided to go to Texas and register it, it’s unclear whether the Mass. judgment is valid. I have no knowledge of the applicable Massachusetts jurisdictional (long-arm) statute, but even if it is as broad as is allowed under U.S. Constitutional due process requirements, one sale to an in-state buyer (you) may not be enough to subject a Texas seller to Mass. jurisdiction if you contacted him there to make the purchase. (If he contacted you or advertised in Mass, you’re probably okay on the jurisdictional issue.) This is not meant to be legal advice. See my last post for full disclaimer. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/7 "2004-03-25T23:47:56Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > If your judgment is valid in Texas, see if you can legally garnishee his bank account(s) there to satisfy the unpaid judgment. No. As others have already said, you can’t enforce the judgment in Texas without registering it there. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/8 "2004-03-26T01:35:56Z")
> [@Random](#): > > No. As others have already said, you can’t enforce the judgment in Texas without registering it there. Um. Perhaps _once the judgment is confirmed in Texas_ **Anachronism** could investigate garnishing bank accounts. Might be simpler (and cheaper) than convincing an out-of-state sheriff’s department to run around serving warrants, seizing property etc. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/9 "2004-03-26T03:16:55Z")
Winner of 3 small claims cases and regular at a legal forum. From a legal standpoint, your judgement is worthless. As stated, you will have to attempt to domesticate the judgement in Texas. As soon as the plaintiff tells the just that Massachuesetts has no jurisdiction for the case and asks that the domestication be denied, the judge will have no choice but to agree. Also, you will have to travel to Texas on your dime and you cannot ask for reimbursement for these costs. And it will take at least 2 trips, one to file the motion and then for the hearing. And one last thing, even if you were to domesticate the judgement, Texas does not allow the garnishment of wages so that is one method of collection that cannot be considered. You could place a lien on property that would last for 10 years and could be renewed for another 10. Can you wait for 20 years for $500? Seizing property is also an option but you have to pay for the auction first. And you have to find the assets to sieze too. Your best option could be to turn to a Texas based judgement recovery service. I know someone in Houston that does it for a living, I could give you contact info if you are interested. It might be worth a couple hunded bucks to him. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/10 "2004-03-26T03:54:48Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Um. Perhaps _once the judgment is confirmed in Texas_ **Anachronism** could investigate garnishing bank accounts. Might be simpler (and cheaper) than convincing an out-of-state sheriff’s department to run around serving warrants, seizing property etc. Yes. After the OP flies down to Texas and files domestication proceedings, pays a filing fee, has summons issued, pays a sheriff’s service of process charge, gets a hearing date, flies down again to appear at the hearing, persuades a Texas judge that Massachusetts jurisdiction is proper and registration is appropriate, perhaps the OP could investigate doing that. Or perhaps he could listen to those several of us who have heard the term “registering a foreign judgment” before opening this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/11 "2004-03-26T04:00:43Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > If your judgment is valid in Texas, see if you can legally garnishee his bank account(s) there to satisfy the unpaid judgment. Pet peeve. The process of garnishing involves the siezure of the assets of the judgment debtor held by the garnishee at the direction of the judgment creditor. You do not **garnishee** anything. You **garnish** a bank account or a pay check or any other funds held for the judgment debtor by a third person, the garnishee. Garnishee is a person not an act. You can just as correctly say that you Spavined Geldinged somebody. But, yea, a judgment in Mass against a defendant in Texas with no assets in Mass is pretty much worthless. That is why there is diversity of citizenship jurisdiction in the federal courts. The threshold amount for diversity jurisdiction is _way_ more than $500. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/12 "2004-03-26T04:41:40Z")
> [@Random](#): > > Yes. After the OP flies down to Texas and files domestication proceedings, pays a filing fee, has summons issued, pays a sheriff’s service of process charge, gets a hearing date, flies down again to appear at the hearing, persuades a Texas judge that Massachusetts jurisdiction is proper and registration is appropriate, perhaps the OP could investigate doing that. > > Or perhaps he could listen to those several of us who have heard the term “registering a foreign judgment” before opening this thread. Damn, Forgot the disclaimer. Although IAAL, I’m not a Texas lawyer, and not the lawyer of anyone in this thread. It’s possible that Texas laws would not require all the steps I outlined above, but I guarantee that there’ll be some process where the judgment debtor can object to domestication on the ground that the other state did not have jurisdiction over him and get a court hearing, in Texas, at which the OP would have to appear. ---
**Author:** ![ReverseCowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@ReverseCowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReverseCowgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/13 "2004-03-26T13:06:00Z")
> [@Random](#): > > Damn, Forgot the disclaimer. Although IAAL, I’m not a Texas lawyer, and not the lawyer of anyone in this thread. It’s possible that Texas laws would not require all the steps I outlined above, but I guarantee that there’ll be some process where the judgment debtor can object to domestication on the ground that the other state did not have jurisdiction over him and get a court hearing, in Texas, at which the OP would have to appear. Disclaimers all around. Yes. There is a provision about three sections later than the one that I cited that talks about the debtors right to show the court grounds for a stay. And even if there wasn’t, personal jurisdiction is a matter of constitutional law. The debtor could raise it in some kind of free form motion. But for 500 bucks? a. Probably not worth the OP’s time, despite the possibility of filing the judgment and subsequent documents by mail and seeking telephonic hearings. b. By the same token, probably not worth the debtor’s attention. **Racer72** , that is an interesting bit of trivia about the lack of garnishment in Texas. I looked and did not find a statute. Now I know why. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/14 "2004-03-26T14:22:41Z")
A friend of mine is a landlord in a university town, and one of his tenants worked off a grudge by standing in the living room and driving golf balls in every direction. The landlord sued and won in small claims court. He asked the judge, “What now?” The judge said, “Well, sooner or later, this young man will need a car loan or a mortgage.” No lender will touch him with this open judgement on his record. When that happens, he’ll pay you." All the usual disclaimers, I’m not a lawyer, I’m not a judge, this coffee is hot, cape does not impart the ability to fly. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/15 "2004-03-26T16:02:59Z")
It is, in fact, legal in Texas to _garnish bank accounts_. Which is what I suggested. Just do a Google search on “garnish bank account Texas law”. As **Random** admits he is unfamiliar with Texas law, he might want to be less dismissive of others’ suggestions and slower to make “guarantees”. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/16 "2004-03-26T16:21:14Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It is, in fact, legal in Texas to _garnish bank accounts_. Which is what I suggested. Just do a Google search on “garnish bank account Texas law”. > > As **Random** admits he is unfamiliar with Texas law, he might want to be less dismissive of others’ suggestions and slower to make “guarantees”. The [Texas Constitution](http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/txconst/sections/cn001600-002800.html) says otherwise, with the exception of divorce-related garnishments. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/17 "2004-03-26T16:24:24Z")
It appears that Texas is the place to be for deadbeats . . . ---
**Author:** ![ReverseCowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@ReverseCowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReverseCowgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/18 "2004-03-26T16:51:05Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > The [Texas Constitution](http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/txconst/sections/cn001600-002800.html) says otherwise, with the exception of divorce-related garnishments. Ok. Here’s the straight dope. 1. \*\*Gfactor \*\* is correct that _wages_ are exempt from garnishment in TX. 2. **Jackmannii** is correct that bank accounts are subject to garnishment in TX. See [statute](http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/CP/content/htm/cp.003.00.000063.00.htm#63.001.00). 3. I get an E, for poor legal research in locating neither of these provision the first time around. 4. Garnishing a bank account is a tricky thing. The first thing that you need to know is which bank. To find that out, you will probably have to examine the debtor under oath. Which means you would have to go to Texas. That is, unless you know where the debtor banks. Good luck. The usual disclaimers. . . ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/19 "2004-03-26T17:00:44Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > The [Texas Constitution](http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/txconst/sections/cn001600-002800.html) says otherwise, with the exception of divorce-related garnishments. **ReverseCowgirl** has already highlighted the difference between garnishment of _wages_ and garnishment of _bank accounts_, so I will only say: Jee-zuz! Read before responding! It is not all that tricky to figure out where someone banks, especially if they are living in a modest-sized community. I struck gold (figuratively) with papers filed citing just three banks in a metro area with about 150,000 population. I strongly suggest that **Anachronism** not _trust_ any advice he’s received here, and instead consider getting the ultimate straight dope either from the Tx. Bar Association or a Texas attorney who might be willing to advise him on possible courses of action for a modest fee. To **Spavined Gelding** : Sorry for raising your hackles re “garnishee”. I had corrected my usage before your post, but for my original mistake I must plead guilty…guilty…guilty. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366/20 "2004-03-26T18:00:01Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It is, in fact, legal in Texas to _garnish bank accounts_. Which is what I suggested. Just do a Google search on “garnish bank account Texas law”. > > As **Random** admits he is unfamiliar with Texas law, he might want to be less dismissive of others’ suggestions and slower to make “guarantees”. Really, you should stick to issues that you have a clue about. Even with the (probably valid) assumption that other posters are correct about what kind of garnishments are and are not allowed in Texas (an issue I have never addressed here), you continue to be wrong and my point still stands. I’ll try again. A judgment creditor may not enforce a judgment from one state in another state without registering (domesticating) it first in that second state. Garnishing a bank account is enforcing the judgment. (You appear not to understand this.) Therefore, the OP has no power to validly institute garnishment proceedings against a Texas bank at the present time. (As I said earlier, there’s a way around this if the Texas bank has a branch in Massachusetts.) I repeat my guarantee (which is based upon Federal Constitutional law) that the Texas judgment debtor can require a Texas hearing on the jurisdictional validity of the Massachusetts judgment if the OP seeks to enforce that judgment in Texas. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-won-my-small-claims-case-now-what/236366.md?page=2)