Idaho Law Blog
By Stephen J. Muhonen, Creditor’s Rights Attorney, Racine Olson, PLLP
It has been said that a hole was never dug by leaning on a shovel. Rare is the occasion where desired outcomes and favorable results arise without putting your back into a project and earnestly working towards a focused goal. So it goes with attempting to collect on a judgment. If a judgment debtor does not immediately pay their court ordered money to a judgment creditor, rarer and rarer is the occasion where the judgment debtor voluntarily agrees to pay what is due. Sitting on your hands hoping the debtor will do the right thing and “pay up” often only yields frustration and angst, with the judgment debtor not only NOT paying you, but now also living rent free in your head. Recently, I had some clients who had enough of sitting it out and hoping their judgment would be fortuitously paid. They called me up and we had a discussion about their situations. After an enjoyable chat, we then entered into a fee agreement and together we rolled up our sleeves and went to work. We expended time, effort and energy, and as a result, we recovered $150,000.00 on one judgment, $130,000.00 on a second, and $100,000.00 on a third one. Congratulations to these clients!
The $150,000.00 recovery was on a judgment issued in Colorado in 2023 against an individual and an LLC. The judgment creditor was able to track the judgment debtor to Idaho. With the judgment debtor located, I was retained to domesticate the Colorado judgment here in Idaho and commence collection efforts thereon. After about five to six months of servings writs of execution, obtaining a charging order, completing a debtor’s exam, subpoenaing documents, and pursuing and obtaining contempt order(s), the judgment debtor did indeed finally pay the judgment. The client was willing to and did invest in the process, knowing there were no guarantees as to the outcome. In the end, the work paid off!
The $130,000.00 recovery was on a judgment issued in California in 2017. The judgment was entered against an individual who later relocated to northern Idaho. The judgment creditor was able to locate the debtor and he reached out to me, seeking legal assistance in domesticating the California judgment. Following the filing of the foreign judgment, the judgment creditor decided to commence collection efforts. In researching assets of the judgment debtor, it was learned there was not any real property in the name of the judgment debtor in the county where he lived. Rather, the real property where he lived was in the name of an LLC. After obtaining a charging order and having a court ordered lien in place on the debtor’s transferable interests in the LLC, the debtor came to the table. After about eight years of the judgment creditor hoping to be paid what was due to him, he invested in the process and was fortunate enough to have a successful outcome!
The $100,000.00 recovery arose from a judgment entered against two individuals in Idaho in 2024. After doing some research, it was determined that the judgment debtors had significant financial issues that appeared to be major roadblocks in collecting on the judgment. The judgment creditor had information that the debtors were involved with an LLC. With this information we were able to obtain a charging order from the court, wherein a lien was placed on the debtors’ transferable interests in the LLC. Shortly thereafter, the judgment debtors sought out resolution and payment was made. Client was thrilled!
The finalizing of the collecting of these three judgments all came within the last six weeks. It’s interesting; sometimes you try and try and end up with nothing and on other occasions, like the judgments mentioned above, sometimes it works. I can’t explain with certainty how these three judgments came to get paid so close in time to each other, but I do know this for sure. I’ve yet to see a hole dug without effort.
If you or someone you know needs assistance with collecting upon a judgment, please give Stephen Muhonen at Racine Olson, PLLP a call at 208-232-6101. You can also email Stephen at steve@racineolson.com