Sheriff’s department can aid in the collection process
Sheriff’s deputies have an arsenal of tactics they can use to collect cash from those who refuse to pay their debts even after a judge orders it.
Here’s what the experts say you can do if you’ve won a small claims judgment and the defendant doesn’t pay up within 30 days: Find out where the individual works and lives. Get his license plate and driver’s license numbers. Retrieve bank account information from returned checks, if available.
Order a court examination, where the defendant is questioned about his or her assets and earnings under oath.
Armed with this information, one can turn to the sheriff for help.
If the owing party is an individual, the sheriff can demand that his or her employer remit 25 percent of wages until the debt, and the associated $25 fee, are repaid. The sheriff also can garnish an individual’s bank account for a $30 fee. In some auto-accident related judgments, the creditor can even have the debtor’s driving license suspended.
If the debtor is a business, a “keeper,” who collects all incoming funds until the debt is paid, can be placed on premises for eight, 12 or 24 hours a day, for up to 10 days. Sheriff’s deputies will literally sit in a business and collect money each time a transaction is made and will ensure that the owner does not remove any assets. Keepers cost $210 for an eight-hour shift.
“At the end of the 10-day period, we have to either release or (if the debt is still outstanding) move the business out and auction it off,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Gary Gray, who oversees the levy crew based in the Santa Monica Courthouse.
Another option, called a “till tap,” involves having the sheriff take money directly from the business’ cash register. This method requires an $85 deposit.
“With a big corporation, we’ll call ahead (to request payment). We know they’ll be there tomorrow,” Gray said. “With some of the smaller vendors or with individuals, we just show up.”
And then there are auctions. The levy crew can, for a substantial moving, storage and deposit fee ($850 to $1500-plus), seize property and sell it to the public.
“We seize tangible personal property, everything from boats, jet skis, motorcycles and vehicles to office equipment,” Gray said. The property is then auctioned to the public, and proceeds go towards the judgment.
For a $10 fee, one also can file a form called an “Abstract of Judgment,” which puts a lien on any land, house or other property in the county where the form is filed. The county then requires payment before any escrow can proceed.
“That’s what I call the waiting game,” Gray said. “Eventually, the abstract rears its ugly head.”
The levy team from the sheriff’s department is set up specifically to collect on any court-ruled settlement. After a person is awarded a judgment and can provide the necessary information about the owing party, they can go to the sheriff’s office in the courthouse and instruct officers on what method they should to use for collection.
Crucial to collection, said Gray, is that plaintiffs do research before they sue.
“Look up the sheriff’s web site,” he said. “Read all the small claims materials. Be sure you know who exactly you’re suing and what the rules are.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 22, 2002. Read the original PDF.