If I take an at-fault driver to court and that person then refuses to pay me after being ordered to, what can I do?
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If I take an at-fault driver to court and that person then refuses to pay me after being ordered to, what can I do?
Asked on February 3, 2015 under Bankruptcy Law, Illinois
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
There are collections activities which you can try: if you know or can find out where he/she works, you can try garnishing his/her wages (having the employer send you part of the paycheck each pay period), for example. If you know or can find out where the person banks, you can levy on (have money taken out of) the bank account. If you know where the person lives, you can try to put a lien on real estate, or if you know anything valuable he/she owns, have a sherirr or court officer execute on (seize and sell) property, like a car.
However:
1) First, you need information. There are mechanisms for getting this information, but they are not foolproof and they can be tricky/technical; you are advised to seek the assistance of lawyer who does collections work or a collections agency.
2) Similarly, these collections methods can be tricky or technical, so again, you'd be better of with expert help.
3) At the end of the day, there are some people you'll never be able to collect from. For example, you can't garnish social security retirement or disabiltiy income, pension payments, welfare, etc., so that's the person's only source of income, you can't touch it. It's effectively impossible to garnish wages from someone who is self-employed, especially in a mostly or entirely cash business, since you'd be trusting them to honestly send you part of their income. Some people don't keep money in the bank, so there is no bank account to get money from. It's harder to collect from renters than homeowners, because renters don't have property to put a lien on. Etc.
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