The start of a collection lawsuit begins with the summons and the complaint. A complaint is the first document filed with the court by a person or entity claiming legal rights against another. Many collection cases revolve around a claim for damages based upon a...
If a debtor voluntarily paid his/her judgment, there would be no need for a collection attorney. Since the failure to pay a creditor back happens more often than not, should a creditor want to enforce a judgment, he needs a competent collection attorney. One of the...
Chances are you have heard the term 'alter ego'. In legal terms, finding alter ego gives the court cause to pierce the corporate veil and hold individual shareholders personally liable for debts of the corporation. For a creditor with an outstanding judgment, alter...
An experienced collections attorney can attest that, generally speaking, the most common basis for moving to vacate is that the defendant claims he/she/it was not served in the origin state. A motion to vacate is a request to the court to withdraw a previous order or...
What happens if you have a money judgment against someone that was entered in another state and the defendant moves to California? Is that judgment enforceable? Fortunately, the answer is: Definitely! The United States Constitution provides that a judgment from a...
An experienced commercial collections attorney is always interested in watching the interplay between state court creditor remedies and how they are interpreted in federal proceedings. A recent 9th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) ruling has reminded those of...
As we have discussed, obtaining a money judgment in your favor is just the first step in the debt collection process. While the judgment is great news - you have a legal document stating that the other party owes you the money and you have a right to collect it - your...
Alter ego...what is it? In Latin it means the second I (i.e., a second self). And if you a creditor and have an outstanding judgment, you should familiarize yourself with the legal doctrine of alter ego. Legally speaking, an alter ego is where the court finds a...
Generally speaking, the creditor / debtor relationship starts out on good terms.Perhaps someone decides to loan someone else some money, maybe a friend, maybe a relative, maybe a small investment into a friend's business.Or maybe it is a business entering into a...
Asset protection is a set of legal techniques and a body of statutory and common law dealing with lawfully protecting assets of individuals and business entities from civil money judgments. The goal of all lawful asset protection planning is to lawfully insulate as...