Legal Question in Consumer Law in Missouri

Re: Collecting Small Claims Awardments

Winning the judgment is often the easy part.

First, you need to determine if the contractor has a bank account. One way to do this is to go to the cancelled check from where you paid the contractor and find out where it was deposited. If it was deposited to a bank, the name of the bank and the account number should show up on the cancellation.

Every judgment, including Small Claims, can be enforced using garnishments and executions. Thus if the contractor has a truck or car, you can levy on that item of personal property.

The execution process is not supposed to be difficult, but it can be. I could go into a number of scenarios here, but I don't think its wise for me to.

The clerk has the forms to do a garnishment and an execution and can (and should) assist you in filling them out.

If you need additional information, you may feel free to call me for advice and I will do my best to help you.