How to Start a Judgment Recovery Business

Not only is judgment recovery a great home-based business for a self-starter, you are providing a community service. When the judge awards someone money, they don't get it unless they enforce it themselves. It is easy for a debtor to ignore the creditor's pleas or even the threats of a lawyer. As a judgment recoverer, you have other tools up your sleeve for getting them their money. Here is how to start your business.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Get training in judgment recovery. It's not a simple matter of looking through the phone book or making threatening phone calls. The National Judgment Network (NJN) offers access to their training program with a lifetime membership fee.
2. Set up your home business office. You will need a fast Internet connection, business phone, contacts and accounting software and a business bank account to start.
3. Subscribe to public records databases. They are the place to start when searching for debtors. Databases like Lexis-Nexis, Merlin Data and AutoTrackXP are all reputable for skip tracing and other public records to help you locate and assess a debtor's assets.
4. Create marketing materials that emphasize to potential clients that you ask no money up front. This is the key in securing work. Explain in a concise and easy-to-understand direct mail piece that you do the legwork and pay up-front costs for getting the money from the debtor in exchange for a percentage of the judgment.
5. Write up a contract outlining all necessary procedures. Talk about payment schedule, time period for the judgment recovery, liability and other legalities. Have a lawyer look the contract over to make sure you have covered everything so you don't end up in court yourself.
6. Go to your local courthouse and look through civil records for a list of ready clients. You can generally search the previous seven years, and sometimes longer. Older judgments have more interest tied to them, but finding someone with a five-year-old address may prove more costly, time-consuming and frustrating than it's worth.
7. Continue developing your skills through the National Judgment Network (NJN). They have tutorials, reports, audio seminars and discussion boards to help you grow your judgment recovery business through self-education.