The digital era is unlike anything our parents or grandparents knew. Digital technologies have changed virtually everything. They have even changed debt collection – and collecting money judgments in particular.
Modern judgment collection requires locating assets in the digital era. That is not as easy as it sounds. A heavily digital world presents unique challenges the judgment collectors of past generations did not have to deal with. As such, judgment collection continues to evolve with the digital technologies that drive it.
Understanding Debtor Income
Judgment Collectors is a Utah judgment collection agency based in Salt Lake City. They explain that the first thing a judgment creditor needs to do is figure out a debtor’s income. Income is the foundation for every decision moving forward.
In past generations, discovering income would have been simple enough. A creditor would simply ask for the debtor’s tax returns and paystubs. Done and done. But in the digital era, creditors also need to deal with the gig economy. That means fragmented income streams.
Where workers in past generations tended to have a single job and a steady stream of income. Today’s gig workers derive income from multiple sources. In addition, most gig workers are considered freelancers or self-employed individuals. They don’t have regular pay stubs to look at. Trying to figure out a gig worker’s total income across multiple streams can be extremely challenging.
Locating Intangible Assets
After income, Judgment Collectors says a creditor needs to be able to locate all the debtor’s nonexempt assets. Exempt assets cannot be leveraged for payment, while nonexempt assets can. Once again, the digital era creates challenges thanks to intangible digital assets.
It’s fairly easy for an agency like Judgment Collectors to find real estate. A search of public property and tax records does the trick. But assets like cryptocurrency are not so easy to locate. Likewise, outstanding invoices from a traditional business are easy enough to find. It is not so easy when a creditor is looking for gig work payments.
Creditors Have Advanced Discovery Tools
Despite the many challenges digital technologies present to judgment creditors, it is not all bad news for them. Creditors have access to advanced discovery tools that can help them overcome all the digital hurdles in front of them.
Traditional tools include subpoenas, interrogatories, depositions, and the previously mentioned public records. These are all tools judgment creditors, collection agencies, and attorneys have been relying on for generations. But there are two additional tools made available thanks to digital technologies: the internet and comprehensive databases.
The internet could very well be the most important tool a judgment creditor or collection agency can utilize. It opens the door to scouring social media, online forums, video sites, and all sorts of public records – and very quickly, too. As for databases, they are a treasured trove of information compiled by government agencies, law enforcement, retailers, and so forth.
AI and Deep Learning Help the Cause
As powerful a tool as the internet is, the judgment creditor’s secret weapon in the digital era is AI. Combined with deep learning, AI enables research tools capable of accomplishing amazing things. Automation acts as an extra layer of research prowess by running searches even when an investigator is off the clock.
Judgment collection in the digital era is quite different compared to previous generations. In some regards, debtors have the edge. In others, the edge belongs to the creditor. The one thing that hasn’t changed is that judgment collection continues to be a cat-and-mouse game won by the party willing to be more diligent. Sounds like fun. Doesn’t it?