Posted by John Merchant, Esq. on September 17, 2002 at 11:55:46:
In Reply to: Judgement vs Note investing? posted by Jason McAdams on July 10, 2002 at 20:59:01:
Well, for one thing, a Judgment, unlike a Note, has been obtained under duress, and if there's any way in the world the J debtor can get out of paying it, you can depend on that being tried.
Lawyers' file cabinets are stuffed with old, uncollectable J's, and in big firms, this is where they start new lawyers..."go over there and start collecting those Judgments until we can think of something else for you to do!"...but most of their J's remain uncollected.
And if they're so great and profitable and collectable, why are they being sold?
So don't spend a lot of money buying them until you've actually spent some time collecting one or two...then you'll have a better picture of whether you want to spend your time this way.
Although I'm a retired lawyer who's taken lots of court judgments, I'm not fond of them and don't enjoy chasing the debtors. (and I'm NOT angling for any more. Don't send them to me!)
Good luck.