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Where do I find judgment holders, and how do I get them to let me collect?

There are literally thousands of judgment holders in every community. Their information is available on file at your local county courthouse. These case files are public record. Many courthouses are now even making case file information available online. [NOTE: The training program includes an online access guide to civil case files with live links to those databases.]

You will send the judgment holder a special, personalized letter, which is included in the training program, informing them you will enforce their judgment at no cost to them. Since people continue to sue each other in ever-increasing numbers, your clientele will always be plentiful.

We have also included letter templates that you can use to send your marketing message to businesses. Many businesses are awarded judgments on a regular basis and will have several to assign to you. These are a terrific resource for ongoing business!

How much income can I expect to earn?

I want to say right up front that a judgment recovery business is definitely NOT a get-rich-quick venture. Your income will directly reflect the amount of time and effort you devote to your new business.

You should be able to earn some income in as little as 2 1/2 to 3 months, but it takes at least this much time to get the ball rolling. You'll have to contact judgment holders, obtain signatures on assignments and file them with the court, locate the judgment debtors and their assets and initiate the court procedures to enforce the judgments.

$5,000 to $8,000 a month is absolutely possible. These figures are taken from others who are operating their judgment recovery businesses successfully. Most people can earn at least $2,500 a month on a part time basis if they are willing to dedicate 10 to 15 hours a week. Others working their judgment recovery businesses full time typically earn an average income of $8,000 a month, while some who are more aggressive are earning in upwards of $10,000 a month and more.

To put it into perspective, if you were to send 100 solicitation letters to individual judgment holders, you'll likely end up with 30 to 35 judgments to collect. That's a lot! Also keep in mind that out of those 30-35 judgments, you'll be actually collecting about 50% to 60% of them - this is simply the nature of judgment collections. This means you'd end up collecting approximately 15-17 judgments.

Just to give you an idea about what sort of income that generates, figure on the average case being approximately $1,500. Also, that you'll be keeping half of what you are able to collect. That works out to be around $12,000 in gross income that you keep for yourself (ie: 15 X $1,500 = $22,500; half of that is $11,250).

How is your training program better and yet it costs less than the others I have seen?

Sierra Judgment Recovery is heavily involved in the evolution of the judgment recovery industry as a whole. We've been providing high quality, professional judgment recovery training since 1997. Additionally, Christina Smiley is a founding member of the California Association of Judgment Professionals and has held the position of Director of Continuing Education, and is a founding member of several judgment recovery associations across the nation. What this offers you is experience - by dealing with a company who is doing more than merely providing information... We also enforce judgments full time!

Continuing and unlimited customer support is provided to course members free of additional charge. Our highly trained customer support staff is standing by to answer your support questions Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm and email customer support is also provided.

Our materials are complete and have been recently updated. An effort has been made to ensure that ALL of our course members are aware of any new or recent industry changes that may have a direct affect on their business. For this purpose, we maintain a Member Update page, where critical information of this nature can be provided free of any additional cost.

We maintain a Member's Only Website which course members enjoy free lifetime access to. Along with the Update page, the website includes a National Member Network, new and updated Resources, Support and more. We also provide all letters, contracts and forms on a CD along with your course. These letters and forms are usable as templates or can be merged with any word processing or database program you decide to use to manage your business.

Our company maintains an unconditional ninety-day money back guarantee policy for the hard-copy version of our program. If you should decide for any reason that you are dissatisfied with our training materials or do not wish to pursue judgment recovery you can return your materials for a full refund with no questions asked.

Certainly other "training programs" have been springing up like mushrooms, and many of them have modeled our marketing program so they seem similar - but in fact, we have been in the business of judgment enforcement and providing training much longer! There's just no substitute for the real thing...

Does your information only apply to certain states, or is it valid for my state too?

While we do use some state specific court forms as examples in our training materials (from several different states) to give an idea about what the forms look like and what their functions are, our training is NOT specific to just any one state. In fact, we have trained judgment recovery specialists all over the US and Canada.

Our training materials also include a State-By-State Civil Research Guide. This guide will provide you with in-depth information about enforcing judgments in each and every state. You will have information about judgment interest rates, court structures, civil codes for enforcement procedures, direct links to your court's website and court rules - and more - right at your finger tips! This product is only available through Sierra Judgment Recovery, and is being included in the training program for a limited time (normally retails for $59.95) so act now to take advantage of this outstanding bonus offer!

Will I ever have to appear in court?

The only common procedure that requires to you actually appear in court is an elective one called a post-judgment debtor examination. You can use it if you want to, but it's not required. In this procedure, you'd require the judgment debtor to appear before YOU in court - the judge is there only as an impartial observer. The debtor is sworn in and under oath will have to answer your questions about their finances and assets, as well as provide you with any documents you require (bank statements, employer check stubs, deeds, etc).

Again, this is elective procedure, and at our disposal as a powerful tool for discovering information about assets. Most of the procedures you'll be using to seize assets will be accomplished by simply filling out the appropriate forms and filing them with the court.

Will I ever be threatened by a debtor?

In all our judgment recovery experience, we have never been threatened by a judgment debtor. The only time we're usually even contacted by a debtor is when we've initiated the contact.

As a precaution we always tell students to use a business name and a post office box for all of their correspondence. This will protect your anonymity while maintaining a professional image.

Typically, unless you decide to, you'll have little or no debtor contact at all. You'll be using a fictitious business name (ie: "Statewide Judgment Recovery" - or whatever you decide to name your business) and a post office box for your business correspondence. Your business name will appear on court forms, but any action that you initiate through the court will be carried out through the county sheriff, who acts as your levying officer.

Even if there were a legitimate reason for concern about anonymity, very few people know how to investigate public records to find out who's behind a name or mailing address. In fact, very few people even realize that certain records ARE public, let alone which records contain useful information and how to ask to see them.

How do I check to see if there is any competition in my area?

It is unlikely that you will find any competition. But to check for the possibility, look in your local yellow pages under "Collection Agencies" and look for potential competitors.

Keep in mind that collection agencies are typically NOT any direct competition to you. Collection agencies tend to focus on pre-judgment debt. They do this by sending dunning letters and making annoying phone calls to the debtor. The only judgments that collection agencies usually collect (if any) have been awarded to their existing clients. Your competition, should you find any, will be other judgment recovery companies.

Will the court procedures outlined in your course work in my state?

The laws in place to enforce judgments basically encompass the same generic procedures throughout the United States as well as Canada. However, you will need to research your state's specific procedures as they may vary slightly. What is called a writ of execution in one state may be called a writ of fi fa in another state, but they are basically the same form, with the same function, called by a different name.

Along with our State-By-State Civil Research Guide, we will provide you with Internet links where you can research your state's specific civil procedures and statutes online. We typically deal with two different courts here - one is Small Claims and the other is Superior, and yes, their rules tend to vary slightly even though they are right down the street from one another. But only with trivial issues like how many copies of which form is required, etc. Once you've covered this ground, the procedures you'll use will become very routine.

Am I limited to collecting only Small Claims judgments?

Certainly not! There is no difference in collecting a small claims judgment and a larger civil judgment. The only reason you will be initially collecting small claims judgments is due to the fact that in many larger civil judgment cases where attorneys have represented the plaintiff, the name of the actual judgment holder is listed, but not their mailing address.

MANY people who have larger judgments will contact you after they learn what it is that you do. We include a special solicitation letter to send directly to businesses to solicit their judgment assignments. In fact, we have several course members who have been contacted by large companies to collect very large judgment awards in the six figure range. This is not in any way uncommon.

Do I need to have any legal background in order to pursue this type of business?

No legal background is required in order for you to be profitable in a judgment recovery business. Most of our current course members didn't have any sort of legal background when they began. We certainly kept this in mind when the course materials were written and designed.

While we are all under the same judicial system, you will still need to do some research into local procedures in your state because court rules and procedures tend to vary slightly from state to state and sometimes even county to county - but the concepts and general procedures are all typically the same throughout the United States and Canada, and are covered in step-by-step detail in the training materials. We'll also provide you with our State-By-State Civil Research Guide that includes specific information about the laws and codes that govern the enforcement of judgments in your state.

How will I find the judgment debtor and their assets?

There are many ways to locate the assets of judgment debtors and we cover them all. We will teach you how to find property, employment, bank accounts and other judgment debtor assets using the information available in public records and online databases, but your most valuable asset location information will come from private financial resources such as consumer credit reports.

Private financial information will include a wealth of information about your debtor, including previous and current addresses, listed and unlisted phone numbers, social security number, employment information, a list of the debtor's other creditors and information about whomever has inquired into the debtor's credit history. You are entitled by law to contact these creditors for information about the judgment debtor. You'll have access to private financial data once you've obtained an assignment of judgment. Once the judgment is assigned, you will then be the judgment creditor and the owner of the judgment. You will have every right to obtain consumer credit history and other critical financial information about your judgment debtor.

If you don't have time to do your own asset location there are several companies and commercial databases available that will provide this information for a fee. These fees will be reimbursable to you as costs after judgment. Outsourced searches for banking information and/or employment information are almost always provided on a "no hit - no fee" basis, meaning that if no information is found then there is no cost to you.

We have also provided information about several of these companies and resources in the training material's Bookmark Skiptracing Program, and on the Resources page of the Member's Only Website - which you'll have access to once you've gotten started.

Can this business be done part time?

Many people who start their judgment recovery business do so on a part time basis. They also find that after pursuing a judgment recovery business for six months or so that the income their new business is generating is more than enough to justify giving up their full time job. Still, we understand that it can be difficult to get a new business off the ground while still working another job.

Some SJR course members will use ads that are included in the training materials in conjunction with letters that can be used to send to businesses in thr area who have several judgments awarded on a regular basis. This generates quite a bit of clientele. A new business does require some time and effort to see results, so you'll need to reserve an hour or two a week if possible for trips to the courthouse, though many areas are now making access to civil case files available online. The training program includes an up-to-date online access guide, so if online access is available, you'll have a direct link to that website..

1 to 2 hours a day should be more than enough to get you going in the beginning!

What is the average "learning curve?"

While there is definitely a "learning curve" for this, or any new business, the actual time involved really depends on the individual and how much time they devote to studying not only the training materials, but the civil statutes as they apply them in their own state.

Typically, the average person is ready to at least get started in one to two weeks, though it does take a little longer to become absolutely proficient. Once you've been through any particular procedure with the courts it becomes routine. The "real" work is in locating the judgment debtor and their assets, which makes any fondness for research a definite advantage in the judgment recovery field.

How do you have the legal right to enforce these judgments?

When a judgment is legally assigned to another person, all right, title and interest in the judgment is transferred to the assignee and revoked from the original judgment holder. This makes the newly assigned person the judgment creditor and owner of the judgment, and allows them to legally enforce the judgment. This is all governed by civil statute in all 50 states as well as Canada.

After buying the program, are there any additional fees to pay?

There are never additional fees or investments to be made to our company other than the cost of your original judgment recovery program, and we do NOT want any percentage of your income.

We are not like other companies you may have seen, who sell you information, only to tell you later on that you'll need to pay more money to get ALL of the information. Some of these companies are even charging thousands of dollars for support - or "coaching" - and if you don't pay it, you're on your own. Fortunately that's not the way we operate. Everything is already included in your judgment recovery program, as well as ongoing customer support for as long as you need it.

Do you ever personally feel bad about garnishing wages or seizing assets?

We do not have any bad feelings or reservations about the nature of the service we are providing. The money that we are recovering was ordered by the court for the debtor to pay - usually for a good reason. At some point this is money that came out of the pocket of the original judgment holder... Is it fair to them that the judgment debtor doesn't pay?

The perspective that you'll need to keep in mind is that you are providing a much needed service to those who have been awarded judgments and have not been able to collect them. The judgment holder has gone through the pain and expense of taking the debtor to court, the court has decided that they were right and ORDERED the debtor to pay. Yet the debtor doesn't pay... It's the judgment holder who is the victim - not the debtor! Some cases will involve collecting from financially inept debtors, but in those cases you can always offer an alternative to them to make a monthly payment that they feel they can reasonably afford.

We get many thank you notes from satisfied customers, even if we're only able to collect a portion of their judgment. Many of these judgment holders are amazed that we were able to collect anything for them at all! I suppose they figure that if they couldn't collect, no one could.

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