Legal Question in Business Law in California

Your first step is to do an order of examination or XO where under oath at court you can ask the defendant questions regarding their assets. At some point if the defendant doesn't co-operate then you can come back and see the judge who generally oversees the process. You can get some basic information which will allow you to hire a PI to find their assets. Ask them where they work, where they live , how they live, where their bank accounts are etc. Ask them to pull their wallet out and go through it with them so you can get such information as credit card numbers drivers license number. They have to comply or its time to go see the judge again..

Remember the XO is done under oath so them lying does have some consequences.

The question is how much is your judgment and how much time do you want to spend chasing them. You could always hire a collection company to go after them too.

Hope that helps and good luck.

I assume you have received a Notice of Entry of Judgment per Code of Civil Procedure section 116.610. If the judgment debtor is likely to own any real property, an Abstract of Judgment form should be filled out, taken to the court clerk for "issuance," and then taken to the County Recorder of any county where there might be real property.

The Order of Examination mentioned by Mr. Belli is useful, too; you can ask the judgment debtor under oath about not only assets but also income and other topics, including asking for the money he has in his pockets at that moment. Don't overlook the possibility of doing a wage garnishment.

Collecting small-claims judgments is the most difficult phase of the small-claims process, and basically you need the smae knowledge and use the same processes as a lawyer would in collecting a Superior Court judgment. Perhaps the best advice I can give you is to buy one of those paperback self-help law books, Nolo Press or the like, on how to win your small-claims case in California. A good one will cover the collections process extensively, as that can be the most difficult part for most plaintiffs.

In circumstances such as this, unless you have the time an inclination to chase the person the best alternative is to turn the matter over to a collection agency. Although the fees can be high (sometimes a much as 50%), they have the resources and experience to pursue the matter for you and, unlike dealing with you as an individual, most people are afraid of what a collection agency might do.