I did landscape work for a returning customer, so there was only a verbal agreement. They didn't pay, so we filed at the Magistrate. After going through the whole process, they didn't show up. After 30 days, we filed with sheriff to do a writ of execution. When the sheriff went, they denied him entry. We received a paper in the mail from the sheriff telling us we need a break and enter order. After talking to several lawyers, we think it would be best if we could do it ourselves. Would cost more in lawyer fees and would not be able to include them in judgment at this point.One lawyer did say there was a way to freeze bank accounts, so was wondering how to do that, too.
You have to file a motion with the court that issued the judgment for a break order to allow the sheriff to enter the premises and take the furniture, TV's, cash, jewelry, etc.
Another thing you can do is send out writs of garnishment to the debtor's bank or banks, or any of the large banks in the area. Depending on how expensive or cheap it is to issue a writ, you can serve all the big banks and see if the debtor has anything with them.
Freezing bank accounts is hard unless you know which bank to go to.
Your other alternative is to file a judgment lien with DMV against the debtor's vehicle and levy on it.
Why do you want to do that in the first place. No one does that. You don't want a bunch junk. You gotta pay to move, store, and sell the stuff and it is probably not worth anything. If I were the owner, out of spite, I would let you take the stuff, then file a claim of exemption, and then the court would order you to bring it back, at your expense.
Collection is always the hardest part of enforcing a judgment. Maybe you don't need an attorney, but maybe get a process server to do a skip trace to try and identify assets or accounts. You want money, not stuff. You want to garnish wages, levy bank accounts, etc.
