Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Small Claims Judgement

If you have a judgment, the next step is to execute on the judgment. That means, finding property in California that you can garnish or attach. If they have an office in San Mateo, then, the have office equiptment and furniture, maybe get paychecks sent there, etc. You might also considering selling the judgment to a collection company. Good luck and thanks for inquirnig.

Re: Small Claims Judgement

1. The registered agent might be the corporate secretary in the case of a simple one-state business, but in your case this is probably not so; the corporate secretary would be in Canada at headquarters. You may be able to determine this person's identity on line or, in any event, from the secretary of state or Canadian equivalent in the province where the corporation is chartered.

2. There is a provision in the Code of Civil Procedure in California for debtor examinations. A representantive of the debtor corporation can be made to appear in court to answer questions about assets that might be available to satisfy the judgment. There is a Judicial Council form for applying for an Order of Examination and it can be downloaded from the California Courts Web site. I can't say for sure whether this will be an effective means for locating assets in your case.

3. Getting a sister-state judgment in Washington will require going before a Washington court, under Washington law. As a California lawyer, I cannot say whether or how this can be done on a California small-claims judgment, but my guess would be that it is possible and you will need a Washington lawyer in the county where the debtor has assets to assist you in placing liens on bank accounts, real estate, inventories, etc.

Sorry to say, but enforcing judgments of small-claims size is not very cost-effective. As I've said before, getting voluntary payment by request upon the debtor company's top officers in their legal, financial and/or Corporate Secretary offices may be effective.

Re: Small Claims Judgement

My Firm does a great deal of collection work.

1. I would not write to them until I did my basic asset investigation and see if I could levy assets.

2. Asset searches are done by many companies and are rather involved, in our firm we do our own to save our clients costs. Only sometimes do we need to go to private companies for this information. You do not notice them or the agent when you do this. It is not a Court procedure but research and investigation.

3. Sister state judgment would be done in Washington, not here. I would think it might be much easier to work here, at least initially.

Be wary of debt collectors who are not attorneys because all they usually do is write letters and harass the debtor, which may not lead to payment. Most collectors charge upward to 50% (as does my firm) plus costs, but may not be able to do the Judgment Debtor Exams, levies, etc.