Managing judgments

When your agency takes legal action against an account, the courts may award a judgment. A judgment is a ruling by a court of law that specifies whether a customer owes money to a creditor or collection agency, how much they owe, and the payment terms. A judgment allows other legal measures, such as garnishment and liens, to be utilized in the collection of the debt. After a judgment is issued from the appropriate court, it is entered into The Collector System. The Judgment screen allows you to view details about the judgment such as the effective date, interest, and amount from the Judgment screen.

When you open an account with a judgment, a warning displays at the bottom of the Collector screen. Because a judgment is a result of legal action, use extreme caution when working the account. Make sure you know the collection laws and your agency's policies before working an account with a judgment.

In The Collector System, you can view judgment information in two ways in the Account Update screen, the Collector screen, and the Posting screen:

The L J command displays the Judgment window, which allows a user to enter and display information regarding legal judgments, as shown in the following example screen.
The L J S command displays the Legal Judgment Update screen, which consists of three areas: one area contains information on the account, the Judgment window contains the amount owing and received for the judgment, and the lower half of the screen displays the first 20 judgment fields set up in your Financial Profile. For information, see Menu 10.1.9 - Financial Screens.

For more information on managing judgments from the Legal Judgment Update screen, see Changing judgments using the Legal Judgment Update screen.