You won in court, now how can you collect money?

Once the court has awarded a judgment, the winning party becomes a judgment creditor, and the losing party becomes a judgment debtor.

No court (not just Small Claims court) automatically forces a judgment debtor to pay. The court has confirmed that the debtor has a legal, enforceable obligation to pay, but it is the creditor’s job to collect that debt.

It can be a lengthy and increasingly costly process, but it can work. Each collection step will require you to return to the clerk, fill out more forms, and pay more fees (they are added onto the judgment amount).

This guide is only for residents of Hamilton County, Ohio.

What is the process to claim a Court Judgment?

If I won a case in Hamilton County, Ohio, how can I collect money from the other party?

Step 1: Communicate with the Debtor

After a judgment has been entered, the debtor has 15 days to voluntarily pay the debt before the creditor can take legal action to collect. (19 days is recommended to allow for delays in signing, weekends and holidays).

If you won a judgment because the other party did not appear in court (a default judgment), do not assume that the losing party even knows that they owe a debt. You may want to notify the defendant as to what happened and request payment.

Step 2: Choose a collection method

You have multiple ways to recover money a debtor owes you. You can see more about each of these methods on this page:

Wage Garnishment to take income their employer is paying them
Non-Wage Garnishment to take other funds from them
Liens on their real estate
Driver's License Suspension (for auto accidents only)
Attachment and Sale of Personal property, to seize and sell debtor's property

For all collection methods, you pay a filing fee upfront that is added to the collectible judgment. Generally, the most effective methods of collections are a wage garnishment or a non-wage (bank) garnishment.

Continue reading on this page to see more details for each of these options.

Don't know where to garnish the debtor?

You can try to find out details to let you collect your judgment. Your judgment lasts a long time (goes dormant after 5 years of no collections attempts), so time is on your side.

Before you collect from the debtor, you need to know whether they have a job, have bank accounts, own real estate, or own property that is attachable. If you do not already have this information, requesting a Judgment Debtor Exam may be your first step.

On the scheduled court date, you will have the right to ask any questions needed to determine where you might find enough of the debtor’s assets to pay your judgment. The debtor will be under oath, and you will simply ask your questions and write down the answers.

Some possible questions are:

Place of employment and identity of the employer
Amount of take-home pay
Bank accounts and amounts in them
Location of any land or houses owned
Make, model, year, license plate & VIN number, title, number of vehicles owned, and any amount owed on them
Address of any rental property owned, and identity of the tenants

How can I garnish the other party's wages?

How can I get the money they owe me, straight from their paycheck?

The garnishment would require the debtor’s employer to send 25% of nonexempt (usually post-tax) wages each pay period until the judgment is satisfied. A guide to wage garnishments and all the forms are here.

For a Wage Garnishment, you will need:

Name and address of your debtor’s employer
$90 filing fee (paid later and becomes part of the judgment)

Use this packet of sample forms and guides to move forward with a wage garnishment.

Process for garnishing wages

How do I get a non-wage garnishment?

Can I take money straight from the other party's bank account? Or from another source of their funds?

Aside from garnishing a debtor's wages, you can also seek to garnish other funds the debtor has.

Once the judgment has been awarded, the winning party becomes a creditor, and the losing party becomes debtor. If the debtor is not willing to pay one way of collecting your judgment is a non-wage garnishment. The garnishment would require the “garnishee” (usually a bank) to send non-exempt funds to satisfy all or part of the judgment.

Each garnishment is only one payment, so you may need to file again if your first garnishment collects only part of the judgment. Things like social security, pensions and other government benefits are usually exempt. A guide to non-wage garnishments and all the forms are here.

For a Non-Wage Garnishment, you will need:

The name and address of the “garnishee,” usually a bank
Filing fee: $65 for 1 garnishee ($10 extra for a 2nd garnishee)
$1 check or money order made out to directly to garnishee(s)
The forms (In the guide here)

Process for Non-Wage Garnishments

What other options do I have to collect a court judgment?

Are there other options aside from garnishment?

Liens

A lien (sounds like “lean”) can be placed on any real estate owned by the judgment debtor and must be renewed every five years. When the property is sold, the creditor will recover the judgment from the proceeds.

Driver’s License Suspension

(For Auto accidents only)

In auto accident cases, the creditor can ask the Court to suspend the driver’s license of the debtor until the judgment is paid or until the parties agree on a payment plan.

Attachment and Sale of Personal Property

If the judgment debtor fails to pay, the judgment creditor may request that the court seize the debtor’s property, sell it, and collect the judgment from the proceeds.

Although the concept is rather simple, the laws on execution have made it more complicated.

The debtor can request a hearing to claim “exemptions” that are paid to the debtor before paying the judgment. As a result, live execution will usually make sense only when the property involved is worth considerably more than the amount of the judgment.