How Do you Get the Judgement Money

Michael

My initial blush is your association won the battle but lost the war.

Was the owner forced to comply with something or was it a money judgement only?

How do you get your money back? Should have asked that question prior to going down that road. Curious, what was the original amount? Put yourself in their shoes. If you lost a case and the judgement was $97,000, what would you do. I know what I would do and it would not involve an HOA getting ONE DIME.

You spend the association's money without clear guidance from a shady attorney and then ask if you can foreclose. What do you think happens in foreclosure. The DEBT is WIPED OUT, PERIOD. Then you have to evict the owner, another $3000.00. Keep digging a deeper hole. If they file bankruptcy, the personal debt is wiped out, but the property may still owe the money. If you foreclose, KISS IT BYE-BYE.

Yes, I have had experience in something like this, except the figure was 2 1/2 times higher and the association lost. IMO, there should be a special place in hell for individuals who think they are god.

IMHO.

Not so fast !

There is a new company, aligned with CAI and 25 of their chapters, and integrated in a number of HOA software packages, including mine, that will now start reporting delinquent homeowners to the credit bureaus. Guess the free ride is over.

Larry,

Legally it should have shown up on the Annual Review, legally required to be distributed to the members by April 30th. That was where I found out about ours. And then the Board, the PM and the attorney flat out lied to everyone.

As laws vary by state my suggestion to the board would be to consult an attorney.

Based on what was provided speculating as to the ability to collect would be reckless and foolish.

You would first need to do an asset search on the party who lost the lawsuit. Real estate, bank accounts, business interests, salary, rental income.

There are lawyers who can do searches, private detectives and collection agencies, etc.

Whether in this case this debt is collectible is impossible to say at this point.

Here we had an owner who filed a lawsuit. We were granted a summary judgement which dismissed his complaint completely. As a result of our counterclaims, we were awarded $30,000 + including our legal costs to file counterclaims.

This over swore they would never pay a dime repeatedly. In the end their paid every dime PLUS court ordered interest.

So in fact collecting on a judgement is possible. If you decide based on opinion and speculation from uninformed, detail lacking individuals then that might lead one to believe you will never collect.

Best to find out for yourself what the facts are versus modern day wives' tales.

And so the cupboard was bare. Or was it ?

RichardP13 & others in California know about detecting deliberate judgment-proofing by a judgment debtor. A judgment creditor examination might look at assets & whether the offshore mortgage is legit, or at least find out 'how bare ?".

After a 12 % budget hit, I would want to look for how much feedback the Board can show it got from its lawyers on the way to this. Some jurisdictions might professionally expect counsel to detect/ prove warned client rather than generating more bucks out of a judgment-proof scenario . . . Wonder what audits & any estoppelling-type certificates showed during this period ?

Of Course State laws vary.

This may be true in Alabama.

It is not true in VA or, based on the info I linked to earlier, in CA (where the OP is from)

Tim,

Are you saying that if you failed to pay for your dry-cleaning that the laundry could sue you and, if you failed to pay, take your home to satisfy the debt?

I knew my comment came out wrongish... Long day... Lawsuits can obtain property to sale to pay off the debt owed. Which is not foreclosure per say. If the property is not owned free and clear, then can not be used as collatoral. Only items of cash value can be collected and sold. Plus any profit goes back to the person whose property was taken to settle the debt. You can not sell an item worth a million dollars for 100K owed. There is value there the court will see as profit or damages.

It is a tricky line. My renter owes me 3 K. He has a titled motorcycle worth 5K free and clear. If I sold it, then I would have to give back 2K if I sold it for 5K. Basically I am doing the sales work for him.

I caution people when pursuing debt. If the HOA or PM has stopped taking actions... THEN find out why. Is it they forgot, did not know, written it off, or did not want to spend the membership money on this pursuit? It takes money to make money. Are the owners all on board to have their money spent on this pursuit? Or they know the high risk and little payback if pursued? You may find many in your HOA may not want their money spent this way.

Larry,

Yes and no.

The Dry Cleaners already have collateral for their debt, the clothes you gave them to be cleaned. Therefore, your scenario isn't a good one.

However, lets say you paid with a check and the check bounced, therefore, the dry cleaner no longer has the clothes.

The Dry Cleaner may seek a court order (judgement) to satisfy the debt.
If the judgement is so ordered, the Dry Cleaner may choose (although there are probably better ways) to file a judgement lien on your property. As with any lien, the lien holder may choose to foreclose to collect (vs. waiting until you try to refinance or sell). Foreclosure Laws vary by State and you typically need the courts permission to foreclose on a judgement lien.

Therefore, the likelihood of the Dry Cleaners choosing this method (or the courts authorizing foreclosure) over a $100 debt is minimal. However, it is technically an option.