COLLECTION
Whether you are an individual or operating as a small business or a large corporation, collecting money that is owed to you is often a frustrating and time consuming process. The preoccupation of attempting to collect debts almost always distracts us from our daily responsibilities and obligations.
The Courts in the State of New Jersey have different divisions, depending on the amount owed to you. The Small Claims Division of the Superior Court will allow you to file a Complaint for the collection of any amount owed to you up to $7,500.00. The Special Civil Part, Non-Jury Division, allows you to pursue claims for debts owed to you up to $15,000.00. For any amount owed to you that is more than $15,000.00, the Superior Court, Law Division, provides the appropriate venue.
In many cases filing the Complaint and obtaining a judgment against a debtor is the easy part of the process. Collecting on that judgment is often times more difficult. The laws of the State of New Jersey provide various vehicles for collecting judgments that have been entered against someone who owes you money. In certain cases, the legal fees are based upon a percentage of the amount recovered as opposed to an hourly rate charge for services rendered. If you are a service or product provider, it is always best to have a written document between you and the person with whom you are doing business whereby the written document provides that in the event you must hire an attorney to collect any amounts of money owed to you, the person would, in addition to any amount owed to you, plus interest and court cost, be responsible to pay your legal fees.