Collecting Debt Yourself: How Long it Can Take You

If you really want to get into the jargon-filled parts of it all, the 2019 Minnesota Statutes talk at length of the ‘discharge of garnishees’ here.

However, if we were to put it in simple words, you have a full 10 years to spend time, money, and effort on the issue. And if you think you can maybe persevere for that long, think again: it’s not the maximum number of years that you might have to spend on judgment collection.

It can reach, in fact, to 25+ years. It’s not just a long and unnecessarily drawn-out process, but also a very convoluted and complicated one.

Simply saying that it’s a time-consuming process would be saying it too literally.

Does the Debt Change Overtime?

In about 7 years, there are certain things that happen to the debt. Negative items on credit reports start disappearing, for instance. So, if you had been hoping that your debtor will pay you out of fear of a bad credit report, you lose that hope in about 7 years. But here’s the clinker: you can lose that even earlier than that.

Credit repair companies have propped up in huge numbers, and they help people ‘fix’ their FICO scores and even permanently remove negative items from their reports. The only one who loses in this case is you.

Acknowledgments

Additionally, if a debtor has called you and requested for an extension in payment, or even if they have written to you requesting so much, it’s taken as an “acknowledgment.” In short, they get 6 more years to pay the debt and you get . . . nothing, basically.

Judgments

Of course, having a judgment on your side helps. It means that you have 10 definitive years on your side for judgment/debt collection—but in many cases those too shall pass. Without the legal knowledge or the resources needed to collect money from the debtor, you are simply left waiting for a green day for the next 10 years.

And it gets worse—money devaluation is no joke. If you think that leaving your debt in place and allowing the debtor to pay it in whatever future year they should desire to do, you’re not even taking into account the devaluation of paper money: if they owe you $25,000 today, it’s worth will be lesser 10 years from now.

Confused What to Do?

Avoid the dangers of devaluation and the hassle of chasing after a debtor for decades by getting in touch with us at Judgment Minnesota. We buy judgments from people who are owed money by debtors in Minnesota. We pay quick cash and take the burden right off your shoulders—find out more about us here!