No one likes to be on the losing side of a lawsuit. This is particularly true if you don't have the resources to instantly offset the collection judgment. Following the court ruling, the creditor can decide to seize a portion of your wages, dispose of your personal assets or freeze your banking account through legal steps. Therefore, what's your next move after being hit with an unfavorable collection court judgment? Based on legal counsel from your lawyer, here are various ways through which you can deal with such an unfavorable court judgment.
Appeal
This involves fighting the declared court ruling. This option will depend on the statutes in your jurisdiction and specific facts related to your case. For instance, in a lot of consumer debt cases, rulings may be arrived at by default, and there are several ways through which default rulings can be overturned. Likewise, if your lawyer can prove that the jury or judge committed an error, you can have the ruling reversed on appeal.
Clear the debt
Another alternative is to propose a settlement offer to your creditor. This begs the question: why would the creditor agree to allow you a discount on the full amount they won in the courtroom? For the reason that when you propose a settlement, you are simply eliminating the expenses and hustle associated with trying to locate and levy on your personal belongings. By offering cash in a single payment, your offer might be even more appealing for the other side. After all, your creditor may prefer to easily get the cash now without the need to fight long running court battles to get it instead of getting the full amount later on following an expensive series of extra legal hurdles associated with confiscating your belongings. More crucially, it stops them from being wiped out in the event that their collection attempts drive you into insolvency.
Bankruptcy option
Plenty of judgment debts turn out to be unsecured debts. Therefore, they are likely to drive you into bankruptcy, particularly if you used a significant sum of money for legal fees. Bankruptcy may allow you to steer clear of all, or a fraction of a lot of, judgment debts, as long as you qualify for bankruptcy. Nevertheless, bankruptcy has its fair share of disadvantages, including a major red flag on your credit score rating that will last for quite a while.
In conclusion, it is important that you seek assistance from a lawyer when fighting collection efforts by your creditor. Lawyers will advise you on the alternatives available at your disposal to fight the ruling or safeguard your assets and income.
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