The two keys to success in a collection case are patience and persistence. You need to send a clear and unambiguous message to the debtor that you will not go away until you are paid in full. You want the debtor to think of you before he goes to bed at night and when he wakes up in the morning. Once you have broken the debtor’s will to fight, you know that you will be successful. Many times when the firm encounters a battle-tested debtor, we target a weak link in the fence such as the debtor’s wife, friend, business associate or other person who is privy to his financial information.
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he two most common methods used to actually gain possession of the debtor’s money or property are the wage and non earnings garnishment. With a wage garnishment, we serve the debtor’s employer with a writ of earnings garnishment. The garnishee is required to file an answer stating whether the debtor works for the garnishee. If the garnishee indicates in the answer that the debtor is owed compensation, we can apply for an order of continuing lien which will require the employer to remit 25% of the debtor’s net earnings to the firm.
With a non-earnings garnishment, we serve a bank or other financial institution with a writ ordering the garnishee to withhold money or property in the possession of the garnishee belonging to the debtor. If the garnishee’s answer indicates that it has money or property of debtor, we will then apply for a judgment against the garnishee who then pays the judgment. Other strategies employed by the firm include but are not limited to setting a debtor exam, securing an order for the sheriff to sell real or personal property owned by the debtor, and setting up a receivership to take over a debtor’s business.