My only reference is TV judges, but presume they are acting as binding arbitrators.
There’s no money handed over on the spot, and many losers look like they have zero liquid assets. On TV, of course, the show pays something, but what of regular courts?
If they don’t pay is it all up to you again, Jane Trueheart vs. Joe Flake, a civil matter,
or does the court consider the new failure to pay one of The State vs. Joe Flake and threaten him with contempt of court jail time?
(my emphasis)
You nailed it in one. It’s still on you to collect on the judgement, and it’s a big pain in the ass. The state will not throw them in jail or do anything else to them.
However, now that you have that judgement in your favor you do have some help from the force of the state in collecting. There are many ways to do it: if you know where they bank and they have the money sitting in account somewhere, you can get the Sheriff to levy that account. If you know they are employed and where they work, you can request to have their wages garnished. If it’s a business, the Sheriff can go in and do a till tap. You can also put liens on their property, if they have any. Among other methods.
But in the end, it’s still up to you to get all the relevant information, file all the paperwork, and pay the fees for these services.
Private arbitration awards can be turned into civil judgments through the courts. Then, you follow the relevant laws for enforcement of the judgment, as described above.
In Ohio, just as Rigamarole noted, the usual collection methods are wage garnishment, a bank sweep, or placing a lien on the debtor’s property. In some cases, though, the debtor has few if any assets, doesn’t work, and is simply judgment-proof. “You can’t get blood from a turnip,” as the saying goes. It can be very frustrating for creditors, but there it is.
Here, at any rate, you can instruct bailiffs, and they will collect the debt (and a good deal more besides to cover their fees. Most sensible people/businesses pay at this point).
This is small-claims court we’re talking about. Are there typically any restrictions on the forms of judgment enforcement available? Could one serve interrogatories as to the defendant’s assets, for instance?
Check your local law, but AFAIK, once entered, a judgment is a judgment is a judgment and the court entering it is not really relevant anymore. So if your state law permits interrogatories in enforcement of judgments, then that should apply to all judgments.
Back in the 80’s, I had a tenant move out still owing several months rent. I filed a claim in small claims court and won a judgment against him. Couldn’t get the money at that time, but when he tried to buy a house several years later, he could not, because the judgment was still in effect. He finally paid up.
In Ohio, yes. You can ask the court to order a debtor’s exam at which the debtor must answer questions, under oath, about her finances. You can then use that info to collect.
Michigan has a weird restriction: If you get a judmgment in small claims court, you can’t have a lawyer enforce it for you.* In re Goehring*, 184 Mich. App. 360, 457 N.W.2d 375, 1990 Mich. App. LEXIS 194 (1990) (consent to litigation in small claims court waived right to counsel for all proceedings in the small claims action, including judgment enforcement proceedings.) So while the methods available are the same, their execution will probably be different.
Somewhat similar story for me. I sued a ‘friend’, I won, he paid right away, but I didn’t know I had to fill out some paperwork with the courts to let them know. About 10 years later I get call from his wife asking me to fill out said paperwork so they can get a bank loan to get a house (which I did). It was kind of nice to know that a little $700 judgment didn’t slip through the cracks.
Now, if he hadn’t paid me, I’d have followed some of the avenues listed above, but it still good to know that his life would have been that much more difficult.
Hear of a story 30 years ago where a guy got an judgement against the phne company. they ignored the judgement. He ended putting a lein on the companies switch gear building. They paid.
I remember a Time magazine article from the early Seventies: a printer in NYC had done a big job for the Soviet pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair. They then failed to pay him and he sued and won a judgment. They ignored him, figuring they had diplomatic immunity. He finally placed a lien on a Soviet freighter which docked in New York harbor. U.S. marshals prevented the crew from leaving or the cargo from being unloaded. The Soviets then paid the guy in a hurry, with interest.