Rainbow Investigations
- Para-Legal Services - Collection Of Judgments -
(403) 651-9049 / (403) 245-0533
Once a party has received a judgment from a civil court case in Alberta, the next step is to try to collect the judgment from the other party.
While, of course, the simplest way to collect a judgment would be to dialogue with the other party and have them voluntarily forward the assigned funds to the owed party. Unfortunately, the process is often not so easy.
There is a way to collect judgments in Alberta – it is all described in the Alberta Justice handbook known as “Collecting Your Judgment in Alberta”, available at the Clerk’s Office at any Queen’s Bench courthouse in Alberta.
To collect your judgment, you must first file the judgment at Queen’s Bench, and then file a very specific document known as a Writ of Enforcement (Writ) – one should always prepare 5 copies of the Writ.
Next the Writ is registered at the Personal Property Registry (through a private registry).
Then the creditor has to assess the best way to collect the judgment, based on the assets of the debtor. The choices are garnishment of wages, garnishment of bank accounts, and seizure with a bailiff. If the debtor has land, the judgment should be filed against the debtor’s land at Land Titles.
The collection procedure is laborious, very specific, and has no guarantees of being successful. Rainbow Investigations has successfully collected monies owed to clients from judgments involving landlord - tenant debts, and other construction debts. We have filled out all the forms numerous times, and have gone through the rather lengthy garnishment process.
There are times where the debtor decides to “run” away from debts, or simply has no assets with which to satisfy the debts. But we can monitor the situation – judgments are valid for 10 years.
For small judgments where collection is a problem, we can give you the best chance of collecting. We have also been retained to facilitate payment schedules for people who have had a judgment against them. Most often, if someone is trying to collect, and a professional, such as ourselves, can work out a schedule based on the ability to pay, this will prevent any further enforcement action being taken by the owed party.
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