Judgment creditors have access to plenty of tools for enforcing the judgments they have won against other parties. One such tool is a process known as asset and mapping. Although asset mapping is a fairly broad principle with nearly unlimited applications, it means something very specific within the money judgment space.
The Money Judgment Defined
Before getting into the meat of this post, it is necessary to define a money judgment. A money judgment is a civil court order awarding a monetary amount to one party in a lawsuit. It could be an award for personal injury or an amount to cover an unpaid bill.
The designation is important because not all civil cases lead to monetary awards. Not all judgments require a financial payment. This post is specifically referring to money judgments and using asset mapping as a tool for enforcing them. And by the way, enforcement amounts to collecting what is owed.
Asset Mapping in a Broad Sense
Asset mapping is the process of identifying, analyzing, and documenting the resources of an individual or organization. It can be employed for a variety of reasons. It is often utilized in communities prior to launching social programs. But in the judgment collection arena, asset mapping it’s all about figuring out what a debtor has in terms of income streams and property.
Income and assets are important to judgment creditors because they provide leverage. For example, consider a case from the files of Salt Lake City, Utah’s Judgment Collectors.
Judgment Collectors was working on an unpaid money judgment awarded against an individual who was resistant to pay. The agency’s research turned up a piece of real estate the debtor did not disclose. As soon as Judgment Collectors moved against that property by filing for writ of execution, the debtor agreed to refinance the property and pay his debt.
How the Process Works
As set mapping is pretty formulaic for collection agencies like Judgment Collectors. But it can differ in the details from one case to the next. Here’s a basic framework for how asset mapping is carried out:
- Identification – The agency will use a variety of tools to identify things like bank accounts, real estate holdings, vehicles, investments, personal property, and even business assets. They leave no stone unturned in the search.
- Ownership Determination – Next, the agency will attempt to understand who owns or controls assets they plan to target. Agencies need to consider spouses, business partners, etc.
- Third-Party Asset Investigation – Attempting to determine asset ownership can reveal connections to third-party assets. Those assets will be investigated to determine if they have any value as collection tools.
- Asset Prioritization – Finally, all the assets the agency chooses to pursue are prioritized. One agency might choose to pursue the most valuable assets first, while another chooses to start by going after low hanging fruit.
It turns out that agencies can spend a lot more time on asset mapping than actual collection. The previously cited example illustrates the point.
Judgment Collectors put a considerable amount of time into mapping the debtor’s assets. But once they determined to go after the property in question, they were able to effectuate payment fairly quickly. It did not take long for the debtor to refinance the property and pay his bill.
If you’re now thinking that asset mapping is critical to successful judgment collection, you are right. Agencies like Judgment Collectors put a lot of effort into understanding debtor income streams and assets because they know that what they find pretty much determines how much leverage they have in getting debtors to pay up.
