Maine Small Claims Court Judgments are the result of filing a claim with the Small Claims Court in your area and having a judge in that court decide in your favor. Once you have a judgment, you have the right to attach certain assets, but you must do so lawfully.

Maine Small Claims Court (and the small claims courts in all states) are set up as a way for business owners to take their own cases to court. Claims are limited to $6,000 and below. You are not precluded from using an attorney, but you are also not required to use one.  While the Court provides guidance on procedures, you should carefully select which files to litigate. Your decision should never be based on emotion. Small Claims Court is not a good way to take revenge on someone who has not paid you. Your only goal should be to obtain a judgment you can use to get the money owed you.

Remember, the Court does not collect the money for you. You must collect Maine Small Claims Court judgments yourself. Hopefully, you have done your homework and sued customers with assets to attach. A judgment you cannot turn into cash is worthless.

So how to do it?

Real Estate Lien – A judgment gives you the right to lien a piece of real estate. Your lien is filed in the county where the real estate is located. Generally, your debtor cannot sell or refinance their property without paying you first. However, are you sure there is equity? If there are other liens or a foreclosure pending, there may not be enough money to pay you.

Wage or Bank Executions – Before you can garnish wages or a bank account,  Maine requires that you conduct a disclosure hearing, which is a way to bring your debtor to court to ask them questions about their assets. The process can become expensive and time-consuming, but can also be a good way to bring your customer to the table. Once you have held the hearing and determined assets (job, bank accounts), you have the right to attach them, but again, the time and expense may be considerable.

UCC Liens – The Uniform Commercial Code   is a set of Federal laws that govern commercial transactions. You can use a UCC lien to attach inventory or other real property.  Maine UCC filings can be made online, and are relatively simple to do, but t is a good idea to check to see which other liens exist before you place your lien.

In future blogs, we will take a look at each of these options, their advantages and disadvantages in collecting Maine Small Claims Court judgments.  It just may be that the best way to turn your judgment over to a collection agency that has experience in collecting judgments, and pay them to get your money.