Success Stories

A 90-year old former scientist sued a publisher for breach of contract for failure to timely publish his book about the history of the Earth, as well as to collect a personal loan made to the owner of the publishing company.

The Defendant made numerous continuance requests to the Court, making various excuses about why she couldn’t show up. After three court dates, the Judge decided enough was enough and entered a judgment for the full amount owed. The Debtor believed that this was unfair and initially refused to pay, although she had numerous chances to tell her side of the story to the Judge but failed to appear.

We simply told her that if she failed to pay, we would go after her for the full amount owed and begin selling her property at public auction with the assistance of the Sheriff’s Office. Dejected that we didn’t want to hear any excuses or explanations, the Debtor agreed to make monthly installments to pay the entire judgment amount.

Judgment for $155K. Debtors failed to repay a commercial loan to purchase a gas station in 2009. Debtors were married and both medical professionals (pediatrician and physical therapist, respectively), both owned their own successful practices with positive online reviews.

Sheriff levied on debtors’ accounts but only captured about $5 grand. It appeared debtors had substantial IRS and state tax liens against them, encumbering the equity in several pieces of real estate owned in their names. Numerous subpoenas were served to banks and other third parties for financial records. The debtors were hiding money in several corporations and LLCs.

Wage Execution Orders were issued against these entities requiring the debtors to garnish their own salaries from their medical practices. Unsurprisingly, debtors (who controlled these entities) failed to comply (who would’ve guessed?). This required multiple motions to enter judgment against these entities themselves for failure to comply with the wage garnishment orders.

After two hearings, the Debtors retained an attorney to attempt to stave off payment, and made numerous excuses for why they ignored the court’s procedures. Fortunately, the Judge was having none of it, and granted judgments against the medical entities for over $176k. Faced with the prospect of Sheriff’s deputies arriving to seize assets, debtors’ attorney offered to settle for $100,000 but this offer was rejected. Several bank account levies were conducted which captured $104,000 from the debtors’ accounts. Debtors agreed to settle the judgment for a total of $155,000.

Judgment for $345k against an individual in Massachusetts. Debtor had no real estate in his name and appeared to potentially be “judgment proof” at the age of 75.

We located assets of the debtor and levied upon them, satisfying over $310,000 of the judgment in one fell swoop (If only they could all be this simple). The debtor retained counsel and filed a Motion for Relief from Judgment, arguing that he was never properly served with the underlying Summons and arguing that the person served, his roommate/partner, was “incompetent” to accept service due to medical conditions.

After conducting extensive research, we uncovered public records showing his partner was actually the President of her Condo Association where they resided! Additionally, the debtor had received ample notice of the lawsuit papers via U.S. Priority Mail with tracking and proof of delivery. The Judge was not impressed, and issued an Order Denying the Debtor’s Motion, leaving the judgment intact and fully enforceable. In view of the Court’s Order, the Debtor settled for over $320k.

Women sued Defendants for terroristic threats and harassment. Debtor failed to show up in Court resulting in a $10 Million dollar judgment against him. Plaintiff’s attorneys had no idea how to enforce a judgment and spent years spinning their wheels, with no funds collected and no prospects for future recovery.

We got involved and immediately levied $15,000 from the debtor’s checking account. After opposing a Claim of Exemption attempting to stop us from collecting the levied monies, we obtained Judgment Debtor Examination Orders requiring the Debtor and his wife to appear in Court to testify about their income and assets. We also filed a Motion to garnish the wife’s earnings as a successful real estate professional.

Interestingly enough, the debtor was a habitual gambler and had player’s cards at numerous local casinos as well as casinos in Las Vegas. We filed a Motion for Assignment Order of the debtor’s gambling income, to require the debtor to keep an accounting of his gambling winnings and apply these proceeds to the debt. Faced with the prospect of being held accountable for his actions, the debtor agreed to pay a sizable six figure lump sum to settle the matter.

Debtor was a former successful real estate developer with a long history of non-payment of his bills. Debtor failed to pay the rent while operating a health foods store, despite repeated demands for payment by the landlord.

After years of litigation, the Court granted a Motion for Summary Judgment against the Defendants. The Debtors still refused to pay and even filed an appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court in an effort to overturn the judgment, but crucially, failed to post a bond to stay execution of the judgment pending appeal. This allowed us to obtain a Writ directing the Sheriff to levy the Debtor’s assets.

Confronted with deputies from the Sheriff’s Department, the Debtor paid $20,000 to settle the matter in full.

Two plaintiffs had sued and obtained judgments against the debtor in other states. Debtor had a house in LA County, and was attempting to sell the house and flee the jurisdiction before the judgments caught up to him.

We brought these out of state judgments to California when the escrow on Debtor’s house was about to close. We domesticated the judgments on an expedited basis, and then brought an emergency motion to the Court to stop the house sale. The first judge denied our motion. Rather than giving up, we brought the motions to a different judge with extra evidence, and successfully obtained two emergency court orders to put liens down and stop the debtor’s house sale, just days before the closing of escrow.

Very unhappy debtor ultimately had to pay the judgments he thought he was avoiding, which came very near getting away from us.

Construction contractor purchased precast concrete structures from Pennsylvania materials supplier on account, but failed to pay the invoice and also failed to appear in Court when suit was filed.

After his accounts were frozen as a result of execution on the judgment, we sent the Sheriff to pay a visit to the debtor. Armed with a Court Writ and determined to enforce payment, the Sheriff’s Deputies levied upon construction machinery on the Debtor’s yard, including a valuable backhoe.

Instead of losing his backhoe at Sheriff’s Sale, the Debtor handed over a check for the full amount.

Judgment in Federal Court for $18,000 against a drug addiction treatment facility. We located assets of the debtor and levied upon them, capturing the entire judgment amount from a bank account.

Drunk driver was partying on a Friday night celebrating her birthday, and failed to maintain valid car insurance. She crashed into a parked car, totaling both vehicles, and pled guilty to a DUI for drunk driving.

The owner of the parked car sued and received a judgment for $9,500. Debtor appeared to not have any assets and initially appeared to be “judgment proof”, claiming she couldn’t pay. We sent the County Sheriff’s Department to her house early in the morning to conduct a personal property levy, which included her car parked outside her residence.

Faced with the prospect of losing her car at Sheriff’s Sale, the Debtor agreed to make monthly payments to satisfy the judgment and has paid every month on time.   

Judgment for $18,000 entered in 2020.

Immediately after judgment, debtor transferred his 50% interest in his only real property to his brother as a “gift”, leaving himself judgment proof. After a year of judgment enforcement efforts against all parties involved, including the debtor’s brother and businesses as well as a fraudulent transfer action, the debtor voluntarily paid $15,000.

Judgment for $16,000 against an individual who absconded with items from his 88-year old former landlord’s barn. Debtor did not own any real property and had no assets of significant value, making this enforcement tricky on the outset. Attempts to resolve the matter with the Debtor resulted in a flat refusal to pay.

After obtaining a Writ of Execution, we sent deputies from the County Sheriff’s Department to the debtor’s residence at 8 AM to begin levying his personal property and vehicles. He then magically came up with a lump sum of $8,000 as a down payment and paid the remaining balance off in monthly installments, never missing a single payment.

Default Judgment for $25,000 against New Jersey-based merchant cash advance broker. Captured $16,000 from the Debtor’s checking account.

Debtors retained counsel and filed a Motion to Vacate Judgment. The Chief Judge denied their Motion, affirming the judgment’s validity and allowing enforcement to continue.

Successfully defeated Debtors’ attempts to have this ruling overturned on appeal. Enforcement efforts remain ongoing for the remaining balance.

Judgment for personal injuries sustained after a custom-made rifle blew apart the first day it was fired, causing injuries to Plaintiff. Gun manufacturer battled bitterly for over one (1) year in a vain effort to avoid payment and spent substantially more than the judgment amount paying attorneys in multiple states to obstruct collection at every time.

The debtor’s bank account was levied, capturing over $11,000. Debtor retained an attorney and filed a Petition to Open/Strike Judgment, which was rejected by the Judge after strong opposition. Debtor insisted the funds captured from a joint account were actually his daughter’s, but produced no evidence of this, resulting in the Court granting permission to recover these funds. After a Motion to Compel was granted ordering the debtor to disclose all of his assets, the Debtor still failed to comply.

We went before the Court and this time asked for the Judge to hold the Debtor in Contempt of Court. This too was granted and an Order was issued finding the Debtor in Contempt for his refusal to obey the Court’s instructions. The Debtor was fined $1,000 and ordered to pay ongoing monetary sanctions of $25.00 per day he failed to cooperate with the Court Order. The Judge even threatened to issue a Bench Warrant for the Judgment Debtor’s arrest if he continued his recalcitrant behavior.

The Debtor mentioned he had spent over $65,000 in attorney’s fees attempting to avoid his debt and decided to just “make this go away”! Realizing the jig was up, the debtor paid the judgment, interest, costs, and monetary sanctions in full, amounting to over $24,000.

Judgment for $40,000 for failure to pay employee for work performed. Debtor was a auto body shop owner in the Koreatown neighborhood of LA.

Initially, he refused to pay and told us exactly what we could do with the judgment. After we obtained a Writ of Execution, we sent the LA County Sheriff’s Department into the auto body shop, with instructions to seize everything of value. Four armed Sheriff’s Deputies arrived outside, with a moving truck on standby ready to begin clearing the place out.

The Sheriffs attempted to convince the Debtor to just pay up to avoid all his goods and equipment inside the shop from being hauled out, to no avail. After an entire moving truck was filled up, we asked the Sheriff to also take the contents of his filing cabinets and office computers, containing our debtor’s customer lists, invoices, accounting books, and job details. The debtor changed his tune, made a few phone calls, and paid the judgment off in full.

Judgment for failure to pay rent against former tenant. Debtor’s wages were garnished to satisfy the outstanding amount.

Husband and wife were personally served with the lawsuit by a process server in Florida. They filed a pro se “Answer” which didn’t address any of the Plaintiff’s allegations, which was stricken by the Court and the Defendants given 30 days to file a conforming answer in compliance with the Rules of Civil Procedure. Unfortunately, they failed to do so, and received a judgment for $85,000.

After we got involved and began collection efforts, the Debtor retained a Pennsylvania attorney to challenge the underlying judgment. In doing so, Defendants claimed they didn’t receive approximately thirty (30) pieces of mail sent to their addresses. The Judge found this was not credible and denied their attempt to re-open the judgment. Still refusing to pay, the debtors appealed the Trial Court’s ruling to the Pennsylvania Superior Court. The Superior Court, on appeal, affirmed the Trial Court’s order denying relief from the judgment.

Enforcement efforts remain ongoing to recover the full amount owed.