How to Start a Judgment Recovery Business

If you have seen any of the daytime court TV shows, you already have some idea of what a judgment recovery business is all about.  Very often, when someone takes a person to court, one of the parties in the case is awarded financial damages.  But just because the court has ordered one party to pay the other doesn’t mean they will necessarily pay.  That’s where your judgment recovery business will come in.

If it sounds like learning how to start a judgment recovery business is much like starting a collection firm, you aren’t far off.  Your job will be to collect on judgments that the court has made but that the paying party has not paid.  When you accomplish this, you will receive a fee, usually a percentage (typically 50%) of the total collected.

While you can offer your judgment recovery services to anyone, commercial accounts are where many people choose to focus their efforts.  Court awards tend to be higher in business cases, and it is easier to reach business clients than individuals, for marketing purposes.

What You’ll Need to Succeed in a Judgment Recovery Business

Finding people and businesses that need your services takes some research, but it isn’t difficult.  Court judgments are part of the public record, so it is just a matter of going to the courthouse or county clerk’s office to look up recent judgments.

Businesses often have a difficult time collecting on bad debt, and this can be even more so the case with a court awarded judgment.  So your services might be in high demand in your area.  Because they are giving up half of what you collect, businesses typically try to collect through their own methods before hiring a judgment recovery business.  But if you are good at what you do, word will get around, and you might just find that many businesses will turn to you sooner, to avoid the hassle and expense of in-house collections.

If you are worried about confronting those who owe judgments or the collection methods you will need to use in your judgment recovery business, it might not be as hard as you would expect.  Most of the work you will do – if not all of your work – will take place through the court system, and you might never actually meet or speak with the person you are collecting from.  Because these are court ordered judgments, methods of collection can include seizing bank accounts, garnishing wages, and placing their property in lien.  You will need to learn how to go about doing all of this, but it is not difficult once you learn it and become comfortable with the process.

The learning process for starting a judgment recovery business can be long, but there are many online resources that can help you learn the ropes.  Mostly, you will want to get to know the folks at your local courthouse and read your local civil codes to understand exactly what you are and are not allowed to do.

The great news is that the overhead for this business is extremely low, and you can make a very good living at it, once you know how to start a judgment recovery business.

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