The Frustration Of Selling A Judgment

Every business day, people waste their time contacting me, by asking me to quickly quote them some cash upfront price to buy a judgments. Some send me their judgment without any information on their debtor, yet send their firm sale price demand; as if a judgment is like to some check in a limited kind of way.

This article is my opinion and is not, legal advice. I am a judgment broker, and not an attorney. If you ever need legal advice or a strategy to use, you should retain an attorney.

Which of these requests (as a percentage of the money judgment's face amount) for a quick cash up-front judgment buying selling price seems to be the most likely? 85%, 50%, 44%, 33%, 25%, 12%, 8%, 6%, or 3%? I've heard it all, along with those specific percentage requests. We also receive a few "I am very firm on a mandatory price for my judgment of X" demands. My answer for each of the percentage and amount requested quotes is; not one of these are correct. Any cash up-front sale price paid for a judgment is always based just on your judgment debtor's available assets.

I know the best judgment buyers across the country, and I know first hand, that the amount of a judgment means nothing. I've seen a ten million dollar judgment sold for $500.00, and a ten thousand dollar judgment sold for $2,800. The reason is, cash upfront prices are based only on your judgment debtor.

Cash upfront judgment sales are most often for very small percentages of the judgment's listed value. Most people don't want to believe this, and then spend many frustrating years attempting to prove me wrong; and then most of them do not ever get a dime for their judgment.

What helps to create wishful thinking for judgment owners are those web sites that brag (e.g.) "fifty percent Cash Up-front paid for judgments". These web sites end up being a waste of time and effort for more than 99% of judgment creditors. Anybody who offers you some sale price (more than very few pennies on the dollar) for a judgment before they can perform due-diligence on your judgment debtor, isn't able or qualified to really buy your judgment.

If a judgment debtor is rich and has not concealed their assets, you might get your judgment sold for lots of cash. If that is not the situation, it is going to sell for very few cents on the dollar; and perhaps you might consider trying to look for a contingency judgment recovery expert.

With a future payment recovery option, you pay nothing, most often remain the owner of your judgment; and get paid the majority of what may be collected over time. Future-payment is usually a judgment owner's only chance for collecting some money for their judgment.

Judgments are not the same as cash, and even a judgment against a huge profitable bank can't get used as collateral for a loan. These are the most popular 7 reasons most judgments don't sell for a lot of money upfront:

1) When your judgment debtor files for bankruptcy protection, most judgments will be worthless.

2) If your debtor is broke, in jail, old, is sick, has died, becomes homeless living on the street, and/or without any available assets; there is not any real judgment buyers who will pay more than around one percent cash upfront.

3) On a really big judgment, one more potential problem can be, even when it is a judgment against a banking chain; most judgment buyers aren't rich. As an example, around 3 months ago, some judgment I received against big profitable bank, for 10 million dollars. Most of the time, 10 million judgments against banking chains are not real, usually only cases of people having only UCC liens.

Although this one particular ten million judgment was probably the best judgment one could own; a default judgment having a motion to vacate already have been denied; and even though it might very well be worth a lot more than 10% cash upfront; very few buyers could afford to pay even one million bucks.

That "lucky" judgment owner was expecting to get payment immediately. He demanded on being paid $3.5 million cash upfront ASAP, and was shocked because I could not find a buyer to pay this amount that same day. I told him about future-payment collection; that would most likely would have gotten him paid millions in just a short time. He refused this, and he has been frantically searching trying to find a three and a half million cash up-front buyer for about three months (and counting) not collecting a penny yet.

4) It always takes money and time to collect a judgment, and not a thing can be certain in judgment recovery.

5) Sheriffs and Courts are downsizing their civil departments, and placing a reduced priority on post-judgment matters.

6) In our current economy, the majority of debtors are now poor. Because our economy is down, so do cash up-front judgment prices.

7) If the judgment was a default judgment, the judgment may be challenged and voided.

Although most judgment owners don't accept this, it is a complete waste of time and effort to demand a firm price for any judgment. Real buyers calculate their own pricing, based only on your judgment debtor's circumstance. What you demand doesn't matter, neither will who you discuss your judgment with.

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