Winning Can Be Easier Than Collecting

When sheriff’s deputies backed up two moving vans to O.J. Simpson’s house in March to haul away his possessions to satisfy the civil court judgment against him for a double slaying, many people were upset that some big-ticket items--like his Heisman Trophy and NFL Hall of Fame ring--weren’t seized.

But don’t blame the deputies, says Lt. Eric Wiggenhorn, district supervisor for the Los Angeles County Courthouse.

“We are not an investigative agency in those cases,” said Wiggenhorn, who oversees sheriff’s deputies whose job is to seize the property of the losers in civil cases. But just because a judge sends Wiggenhorn’s squad to collect doesn’t guarantee deputies will be successful.

“The easiest thing to do in a civil trial is win,” he warned. “The hard part is collecting.”

First of all, judgment creditors--as the victors are called--are responsible for finding out what assets the debtor owns--meaning it’s their job to investigate the debtor’s finances or pay someone to do it.

After a list of assets is obtained, the judge decides what will be seized. Wiggenhorn said his department takes in about $75,000 a day in seizures.

What happens if a debtor skips town or hides property or doesn’t have anything to begin with?

“You can lose your shirt trying to collect,” Wiggenhorn said. “If you win a $1-million judgment against a homeless person, you really haven’t won anything. Sometimes it’s just not worth it.”

And at times, the law works against the winners in civil cases. Wiggenhorn, a 27-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, said if deputies arrive at a home to “levy property” from a debtor and the debtor refuses to let them in, nobody fetches a battering ram.

“We will thank them for their time and leave. We can’t enter a home without a search warrant.”

If deputies attempt to seize money from a bank account and the money was withdrawn only minutes before? “We missed it,” Wiggenhorn said. “If there’s no money in the account, there is nothing we can do.”

State law protects debtors from being financially wiped out, allowing them to keep some furnishings and personal effects to retain an “ordinary and necessary standard” of living. Under just that law, Simpson’s lawyers have filed a “claim of exemption” with the Sheriff’s Department, asking for the return of items the deputies seized.

So what can a victor do to collect? Attaching wages is the simplest procedure, along with seizing bank accounts. For a $21 fee, sheriff’s deputies inform a debtor’s employer that 15% to 25% of wages must be handed over to the Sheriff’s Department.

Taking funds from a bank account involves simply handing bank officials some paperwork. But the law requires deputies to send a letter to debtors the same day, possibly alerting them to clean out other accounts. If so, there is no way the deputies can seize the cash.

But because a judgment stays in effect for 10 years, and can be renewed for another 10 if not paid, debtors may find it difficult to hide their money for decades.

Collecting civil judgments can be very complicated and frustrating, Wiggenhorn said, recommending the Small Claims Civil Advisory Unit--an arm of the small claims court--as a source of help.

“Sometimes people ask us what to do to get their money,” Wiggenhorn said, but they’re still out of luck. “We can’t help them. We’re not allowed to give legal advice.”