I am not a lawyer, I am a Judgment Broker. This article is my opinion, and not legal advice. If you ever need any legal advice or a strategy to use, please contact a lawyer.
Most judgment owners have no idea of what their judgment is really worth to judgment buyers that actually pay cash up-front for average judgments. sales.
Many judgment owners avoid reality about their judgments, and think their judgments are guaranteed, and/or are worth their face value.
The reality is that judgment repayment is never guaranteed, and no judgments have ever been sold for more than a very substantial discount from their face value.
Some judgment owners waste time with misrepresenting companies on the web, that advertise “snake oil” false promises such as “We pay up to 50% cash up-front for judgments”.
Many judgment owners waste an incredible amount of time, shopping their judgment for their preconceived and imagined sale price.
That is like going to an auto dealer to buy a new 2012 Honda CR-V, with a firm offer price of a $10,000 cashier’s check.
Any objective person would agree that it is a waste of time to go from dealer to dealer with a firm offer of $10,000, when no dealer would sell a new CR-V for even twice that much.
Imagine someone who wasted huge amounts of time visiting 100 Honda auto dealerships with a 10K cashier’s check, getting turned down 100 times. That would be very silly, yet that is similar to what some judgment owners do, when they try to sell a 10K judgment for 5K cash up-front, to 100 possible judgment buyers.
It does not matter how many judgment buyers one sends that kind of cash up-front offer to, because no judgment buyer will pay more than the actual cash up-front value of a judgment.
Average judgments sell for 1-7% cash up-front, or for a future-payment of 50%, after a recovery of any judgment money. When your judgment debtor is rich, you can get better prices; however pricing depends on situations beyond your wishes or control.
What are the factors used for pricing actual cash up-front judgment sales? Judgment debtors can die, go out of business, get sick, file for bankruptcy protection, change their names, work for cash, move, vacate the judgment, etc.
There are many other factors that influence prices for cash up-front judgment sales, when a judgment is against a person or people:
The age of the debtor, the state they live in, the state and county the judgment was issued, how common of a name the debtor has, whether the debtor has the same name as one of their parents and grandparents, whether they are married, divorced, or paying or owing support, what assets they appear to own, the type of income they earn or receive, what debts they appear to owe, how many other judgments and liens are against them and how much the other judgments and liens add up to, their bankruptcy history, the general (and local) economic situation, the health of the debtor, their drug or alcohol problems, criminal records, etc.
If the judgment debtor is a company or business, there are many other factors that influence cash up-front prices:
The age of the company, their corporate status, the state they are registered in, the state and county the judgment was issued, how common a name the company has, whether the company is owned by another entity, what assets the company appears to own, the type of business it is, the income they earn or receive, what debts they appear to owe, how many other judgments and liens are against them and how much the other judgments and liens add up to, their bankruptcy history, the general (and local) economic situation, the size of the company, complaints about the company, their web presence, etc.
A judgment’s cash up-front value depends on the factors above, and the “judgment buying” JudgmentMarketplace. Any cash up-front judgment value has nothing to do with any judgment buyer, referral, or judgment broker; or any needs, wants, wishes, or situations of the original judgment creditor.