Actually it was Ray Combs that hosted FF and committed sucide.
If you accept checks, you’re extending credit. A check is nothing more than a fancy IOU.
IANAL, but I’m pretty sure a court judgement allows you to write off the loss on your taxes. Then you can notify the IRS and they may consider the monies as income to the deadbeat, thereby making him/her responsible for paying taxes on the amount of the judgement. This would only be practical on significant amounts of money.
Much harder to collect than to win in the first place.
I used to know a guy who made a living by connecting judgments owed to people who had just gotten a bunch of money somehow. I don’t remember how it worked exactly. He would compare judgments to something else, and then contact the person who was supposed to be paid the judgment, say that the deadbeat just came into some money, and take a fee for collecting the judgment on behalf of the person it was owed to. He considered it easy money.
This does not sound like easy money to me but, as I said, I don’t quite understand the process.
Meanwhile, Charles Nelson Reilley lies a mould’rin’ in the grave. There is no justice.
And now I have “Charles Nelson Reilley lies a mould’rin’ in the grave” running through my head to the tune of “John Brown’s Body.” And now, so do you!
So how does the justice system work, if this is the case? Someone screws you over - let’s say a landlord keeps a security deposit for no good reason. Tenant spends money, hires a lawyer, sues, wins back the money, but can’t collect. Plus now he owes lawyer fees as well.
Why does anyone even sue to begin with?
Because not everyone is a total douchebag intent on ripping off their fellow human being and are more interested in doing the just thing.
That or they have insurance that pays the judgment.
No it isn’t. You go to prison for writing bad checks. You don’t go to prison for writing bad IOUs.
As Otto said, insurance can be forced into the equation and be made to pay out. For people who own property, a lien can be placed on the property and depending on the circumstances, put the property into foreclosure. Anyone running a business also risks having a lawsuit on their credit report and it will have to be reported to the auditors (the bigger the business, the more likely auditors are involved). Public companies have to disclose all lawsuits which does not sit well with investors. Also, a favorable decision can sometimes be sold to a collection agency. I just saw a commercial this morning promising a pay out to the lawsuit winner even if they fail to collect (or they also collect for a fee, which comes out of the award). Lastly, suing people is easy because many, many firms out there will work on a contingency fee basis. If if the plaintiff managed to find the biggest hack on the block, getting something is much better than nothing.
Just an anecdote: A judge ruled against me and awarded the plaintiff a $2000 compensation for *lost property. I haven’t paid it, and don’t intend to. The plaintiff died about a year later, and I never received a claim from the estate, so if they want it, they’ll have to come and get it.
*Yes, I honestly lost the property (10 family photographs), and offered to replace them with copies I had made, but the plaintiff wanted the originals. Period.
That’s great, and all, but whoever accepted the check is still out the money.
Isn’t writing IOUs without the intention to pay them fraud? That’s a crime that can send you to jail, too. I understand that checks have some additional specific legal protections, but they’re still effectively IOUs, and I wouldn’t take one from anyone I wouldn’t take an IOU from.
Can’t you sell the debt?
My sister and I are still waiting after 2 years for $45,000 from my dad’s estate. Of course, part of the problem is that the judge appointed as the executrix the ex-wife who forged the will giving her everything.
People don’t typically hire lawyers to fight over small amounts unless (1) there is some way to get the loser to pay the winner’s attorney fees; (2) the lawyer will take the case on a contingency fee basis; or (3) someone with money pays the lawyer for the client (e.g., insurance).
Most smaller cases, like security deposits, are brought in small claims court without lawyers.
Fabulous…your family must be so proud… :rolleyes:
Enforcing a judgment is a giant pain in the ass. You can put a lien on any real estate the deadbeat owns but you have to do in each county where the property is. In Va, garnishments are good for three months and you have to keep filing them. You can garnish bank accounts as well but that takes time. You can get the sheriff to go and levy on their property but if you have a large judgment that isn’t going to do much.
With attorney’s fees in VA, you need a contractual provision that allows them and then you better have an affidavit showing how they were calculated. You may get them if they are authorized by statute or by common law but in my experience, courts tend to be hesitant to give them and the judge will look for a reason not to grant them.
In the UK the award is entered into the List of County Court Judgments until its paid. An unpaid CCJ is a bad credit record, which can really screw you if you want to get a credit card, or a mortgage or anything like that. Someone can have years of credit problems if they don’t pay up.
At least in Personal Injury cases, you can get the insurance to pay. Problem is, that the Defendant gets counsel paid for by the insurance. I had a client who sued over a contractual dispute. The opposing side counterclaimed and and among other things included a minor negligence count worth maybe $1,000.00. This triggered the insurance company’s involvement and the insurance company retained one of their attorneys to handle the counterclaim.
I think for a lot of people there is an element of getting your pound of flesh and getting the court to say that you were right.
Ray Cohn hosted Family Feud in the late 1980s. Gene Reyburn hosted Match Game. Richard Dawson was one of the permanent members on the Match Game celebrity panel until he ditched the Match Game gig in favor of Family Feud.
If you are a small business owner, and a customer owes you money for parts/services rendered, but won’t pay, how can you go about getting a mark on his credit report that they won’t pay an outstanding debt?
I would think that affecting their credit rating would get their attention more than a judgement they can avoid paying.