TAKE FROM A MAN THAT WHICH HE CHERISHES AND HE WILL FOLLOW YOUR WAYS (DESIRES)

FROM THE ART OF WAR BY SUN TZU

It proves to be time year after year, case after case, if you do in fact take from a person, using the legal process, they in fact will usually agree to a significant settlement, often being 100% of the judgment against them. You first take what is near and dear to them and then convince them you have just begun. I often explain to the debtor that they need to understand that I am their new business partner and that I will continue to take their assets plus part of every dollar they make for the rest of their life, or until my client is paid in full, plus costs, legal fees, and on-going interest on the balance due. 

Obviously, then the first thing we want to do in a judgment enforcement case is to find out what any judgment debtor cherishes, what is near and dear to his heart, so we can immediately take it and get his undivided attention. There is really no sophisticated legal techniques needed here, no magic, no specific skills needed – just applying what most all of us know from our everyday life experiences. Ill share with you here a series of my favorites that everyone seems to overlook. 

Many of us are purchasing a home, have purchased a home, or at least know and understand the basics of how the process works. If you have a mortgage, you are making monthly payments. Those payments consist of four things: PITI. Of course, P and I refer to principal and interest payments. The T and I are the taxes and insurance. The lender collects and pays the taxes and insurance to protect their interest in the collateral (the home you are buying). They collect and pay the taxes so they do not risk losing the home to a tax sale because they failed to pay their real estate taxes. Likewise, they collect and pay the insurance premium so if the house burns down they get their money. 

If you own valuable personal property, such as jewelry, art work, guns, collectables like rare coins, stamps, etc., furs, trophies, and so forth, those valuable will not be found in any public records research. They will be scheduled on an attachment to your homeowners insurance policy. 

Therefore, the first subpoena goes to the mortgage company for the name and address of the insurance company they are escrowing for and paying, along with the policy number. The next subpoena goes to the insurance company for a copy of the policy with all adamants and schedules thereto. You now have a list of all the exceptionally valuable personal property owned by your judgment debtor. No one pays insurance on a Rolex he does not own. 

With this information, your attorney can now take this legally obtained evidence to the judge and obtain a Writ of Execution (or it’s equivalent) and with that the home can be raided and all listed assets can be taken. We always ask the attorney to also ask the court to grant authority to take all electronic communication devices, such as computer, iPads and cell phones, and do a forensic analysis thereof. We have never been turned down on this by a court. Remember, while legally in the home, the Sherriff can take all non-exempt assets to sell at the auction. Often, we just allow the debtor to buy his assets back for the total amount of the judment. With the information from the forensic analysis of the electronic devices, we often get a true blueprint of where in the world the debtor may be hiding his most valuable assets, which we normally recover.

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Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement
By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE

$24.95 + FREE S&H

Please place your book orders by calling
303.974.5610
during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT.
or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment
for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

WINNING A JUDGMENT

IS NOT JUSTICE;

COLLECTING A JUDJMENT

IS JUSTICE.

By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE, CFI

If you or someone you know has or is seeking a significant judgment
or has already obtained a judgment that needs to be enforced/collected
call me at 303.974.5610
or email joe@financialforensicservices.com
for a FREE, no obligation preliminary review and consultation concerning your case.

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______________________________________________________________________________

Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement
By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE

$24.95 + FREE S&H

Please place your book orders by calling
303.974.5610
during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT.
or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment
for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

RICO LAWSUITS ARE TEMPTING, BUT TREAD LIGHTLY

Charging defendants with racketeering conjures images of Mafia dons like Al Capone and John Gotti overseeing vast criminal enterprises.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. better known as RICO, is among the federal government’s most powerful tools to combat long-running criminal organizations.

RICO is not limited to mobsters, however, and two civil RICO cases are good illustrations of how broadly the law can be applied, much to the chagrin of defendants.

Unlike most criminal statues, RICO contains a civil component that allows it to be used to turn ordinary business disputes that would be filed in state courts into federal cases. Providing a violation results in the award of triple damages plus attorney’s fess, so plaintiffs have an incentive to look for ways to turn their grievances into a RICO suit.

Unfortunately for plaintiffs, there are onerous requirements for the complaint to show that there is enough evidence to allow the lawsuit to move forward as a RICO case. Judges take a dim view of efforts to turn what look like ordinary state law claims into federal cases by claiming a RICO violation. For that reason, RICO cases often don’t survive the pleading stage.

A complaint that shows how broadly the law can be applied to areas far outside organized crime is the RICO lawsuit filed in December against Harvey Weinstein, the Weinstein Company and it’s directors, and others. The complaint accuses them of helping Mr. Weinstein cover up a pattern of sexual harassment through what it calls the “Weinstein Sexual Enterprise.” The class action, filed on behalf of women who dealt with Mr. Weinstein, claims that the enterprise was designed “to harass, threaten, extort and mislead both Weinstein’s victims and the media to prevent, hinder and avoid the prosecution, reporting or disclosure of his sexual misconduct.”

How can that be a RICO case? The statue requires proving that an “enterprise” engaged in a “pattern of racketeering activity” in violation of federal criminal laws over a substantial period. In this case, the plaintiffs claim that part of covering up the harassment involved obstruction of justice and “multiple instances of mail and wire fraud” to show the criminal pattern, and that by acting to help Mr. Weinstein, the defendants formed an enterprise alleged to be an “association in fact.”

Federal fraud statues are often the vehicle for turning a business dispute into a RICO case. Those statues make it a crime to engage in a “scheme or artifice to defraud,” so providing deceptive conduct can be the basis for a RICO lawsuit. In many cases, one side claims it was mislead in ways involving mail or wire communications, such as emails or bank transactions, that formed a pattern of racketeering activity.

RICO lawsuits are tempting. They allow a plaintiff to sue a variety of defendants by claiming that they acted together and seek an award of triple damages, a bonanza in some business disputes that can run into millions of dollars. These cases should also come with a red warning sign: Tread lightly or see your ease thrown out of court before it even gets started.

RICO permits a private individual “damaged in his business or property” by a “racketeer” to file a civil suit. The plaintiff must prove the existence of an “enterprise.” The defendant(s) are not the enterprise; on other words, the defendant(s) and the enterprise are not one in the same. There must be one of four specified relationships between the defendant(s) and the enterprise: either the defendant(s) invested the proceeds of the pattern of racketeering activity into the enterprise; or the defendant(s) acquired or maintained an interest in, or control of, the enterprise through the pattern of racketeering activity; or the defendant(s) conducted conducted or participated in the affairs of the enterprise “through” the pattern of racketeering. In essence, the enterprise is either the ‘prize,’ ‘instrument,’ or ‘perpetrator’ of the racketeers. A civil RICO action can be filed in the state or federal court.

Both the criminal and civil components allow the recovery of treble damages (damages in triple the amount of actual/compensatory damages).

This information is part of an article by Peter Henning that originally appeared in the New York Times.

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Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement
By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE

$24.95 + FREE S&H

Please place your book orders by calling
303.974.5610
during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT.
or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment
for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS

By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE, CFI

When a fraudulent transfer is found, it can be good news for your judgment-enforcement case: The documentation of the debtor’s transfer of assets becomes the very evidence needed to recover those assets.

“Judgment for the plaintiff,” declares the judge. “This court is adjourned.” Down comes the gavel: Bang!

If you are the plaintiff in a civil action to restore your crucial assets, those are sweet sounds. They sound like justice. They sound like vindication. They also sound like closure, but they are not.

Most people don’t realize that a whopping 80 percent of winning plaintiffs never succeed in collecting their civil judgments. While the courts can do their part to “make you whole” on paper, the courts are not collection agencies, and losing defendants have a huge bag of tricks from which to draw in hampering your attempts to collect what’s rightfully yours. Worse, the usual approach to collections—involving legal interrogatories, debtor’s exams, subpoenas duces tecum, and so on—often only serve to cost you more money while giving the debtor more time to hide assets and cover tracks.

Business people and professionals usually operate with a good, working definition of fraud: Intentionally inducing someone to act against his or her interests through lies, misrepresentation, or concealment. There is, however, a different and less-well-known type of fraud called fraudulent conveyance or fraudulent transfer. If you find yourself a creditor in the collections process, you need to know about it because discovering and undoing fraudulent transfers can serve you well.

The “Other” Fraud

When a debtor tries to hinder, delay, or defraud a creditor by shifting assets to others for less than fair value, that is fraudulent transfer by definition. A common example is when a debtor transfers the title to his home into his wife’s name to keep it from creditors. Does it matter that he transfers assets to a spouse? No, nor does it matter if he transfers assets to a child, a cousin, a business partner, a trust, or a straw entity. It does not even matter that the transfer takes place before a court renders a judgment, so long as the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud was present.

The assets to look for may include almost any real or personal property: cash, bank accounts, investments, jewelry, furniture, collections of all kinds, herds of animals, houses, land, water or mineral rights, industrial inventories and equipment, cars, boats, aircraft, and so on. It can include the liquidated value of loans owed by others to the debtor. It can even include intellectual property like patents, copyrights, or trademarks. Some exemptions exist; among them are retirement funds, tools of the debtor’s trade, and homestead exemptions, which vary from state to state.

If you find yourself a creditor in the collections process, you need to know about fraudulent transfers because discovering and undoing them can serve you well. 

When a fraudulent transfer is found, it can be good news for your judgment-enforcement case: The documentation of the debtor’s transfer of assets becomes the very evidence needed to recover those assets. When you show the judge that the transfer was a sham, the judge can simply void the transaction, enjoin any subsequent transfers, and you can seize it immediately. The legal precedents for handling fraudulent transfer date from the 17th century. 

The Four Tests

There are four tests for fraudulent transfer:

Test 1: Subsequent Creditors
If a debtor, while insolvent, entered into an agreement with you and the transfer was for less than fair value, the transaction was fraudulent.

Test 2: Existing Creditor
If, after your claim arose, the debtor became insolvent and transferred property for less than fair value to an insider, such as a spouse or a business partner who should have known about this insolvency, the transaction was fraudulent.

Test 3: No Consideration
If the debtor entered into the transaction with you without receiving reasonable value in return, or if the debtor had insufficient assets to enter into the transaction or was unable to make payments on time, the transaction was fraudulent.
NOTE: These first three tests require judges to adhere strictly to facts, as proved in court, to determine whether fraudulent transfer has occurred.

Test 4: Circumstantial Evidence
If the debtor undertook an obligation to you or transferred any assets with the intent to subvert your rights as a creditor, that transaction was fraudulent.
NOTE: The fourth test uses the “Badges of Fraud” (See p.53), which gives judges great latitude in determining whether a fraudulent transfer has been made. It may apply even if the first three are inconclusive.

The Best Approach

In our practice, we find that the best approach to collecting judgments is to investigate the debtor’s finances in depth before engaging in the legal process of interrogatories, debtors exams, subpoenas, and so on. When a fraudulent transfer is found, it is good news. The transfer documents what assets the judgment debtor has attempted to hide and how. The transfer provides proof to the Badges of Fraud, and having that proof in hand leads to expedient settlement. If you find yourself a creditor in the collections process, you need to know about fraudulent transfers because discovering and undoing them can serve you well.

When a fraudulent transfer is found, it can be good news for your judgment enforcement case: The documentation of the debtor’s transfer of assets becomes the very evidence needed to recover those assets. When you show the judge that the transfer was a sham, the judge can simply void that transaction, enjoin any subsequent transfers, and you can seize it immediately. The legal precedents for handling fraudulent transfer date from the 17th century. (See the “Badges of Fraud”.)

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The Badges of Fraud
 The nine “Badges of Fraud” are well established in law. Simply put, these behaviors are outward evidence or indicators of fraud. They provide great latitude for a judge’s discretion in determining whether fraudulent transfer has taken place.

• Badge 1: Lack of consideration for the conveyance. Any valid contract requires consideration that meets the test of law, which means that the consideration must have value a reasonable person could agree to. For instance, conveying a million-dollar property in exchange for $10,000 doesn’t pass the “sniff” test of reasonability.
• Badge 2: Transfer of the debtor’s entire estate. A person in good health and a rational state of mind doesn’t ordinarily dump everything he owns at once. To do so without a valid reason other than avoiding a creditor’s claim constitutes fraud.
• Badge 3: Relationship between transferor to transferee. Any unusual “insider” transfer of assets may be suspect: wife to husband, child to parent, president to vice president, parent company to subsidiary, and so on. (Estate planning or tax planning or inheritance transfers may be “normal” when not done under pending or threatened litigation.)
• Badge 4: Pendency or threat of litigation. This is a key provision, and it may apply from any time the debtor realizes she may
• become party to litigation, including the date of contract.
• Badge 5: Secrecy or hurried transaction. This may seem obvious, but if a debtor takes actions to cover the tracks of his financial dealings, or if he transfers assets without going through what a reasonable person would consider the normal steps or normal precautions, it may indicate fraud.
• Badge 6: Insolvency or indebtedness of transferor. It the debtor makes herself insolvent, it may indicate fraud.
• Badge 7: Departure from the usual method of business. If the debtor abruptly starts doing business with radically different or inappropriate customers or suppliers or changes his policies regarding payables and receivables, it may indicate fraud.
• Badge 8: Retention by the debtor of possession. Suppose a debtor transfers her vacation home to her child, but leaves her own furniture in it and continues to use it for her own vacations? This indicates fraud.
• Badge 9: Reservation or belief to the transferor. If the debtor continues to use the vacation home from 8, above, to entertain friends and clients or attempts to borrow money by offering the vacation home as collateral, it may indicate fraud.

Badges 1, 3, 5, and 6 are all prominent issues in the first three tests cited in the article. Most of the other badges are aimed at discerning the intent of the transferor.

The landmark case on fraudulent transfer law is Twyne’s Case from 1601. The Uniform Law Commission adopted the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act in 1918. After changes in the Uniform Commercial Code and the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, the Commission adopted the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act in 1984, and it has subsequently been adopted by at least 40 states; the other states and US jurisdictions have similar laws in place. A state-court judgment will have to be domesticated in each state before you can seize assets there.

Twyne’s Case, 3 Coke 80b, 76 Eng. Rep. 809 (Star Chamber 1601)

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Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement
By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE

$24.95 + FREE S&H

Please place your book orders by calling
303.974.5610
during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT.
or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment
for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

PIERCING THE

CORPORATE VEIL

By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE, CFI

To reach assets for judgment enforcement that are held in a corporation, you generally either pierce the corporate veil or prove the assets were fraudulently conveyed.

Piercing the corporate veil penetrates the corporate veil and imposes liability on individual shareholders for the obligations of the corporation. Individual liability is appropriate when the corporation is merely the alter-ego of the shareholder and the corporate structure is used to perpetuate a wrong. 

An alter-ego relationship exists when there is such a unity of interest that the separate personalities of the corporation and the owner no longer exists, and the corporation is a mere instrumentality for the transactions of the shareholders’ own affairs. 

QUESTIONS THAT MUST BE CONSIDERED

• Is the corporation operated as a distinct business entity?
• Are funds and assets co-mingled?
• Are adequate corporate records maintained?
• Do the nature and form of the entities’ ownership and control facilitate misuse by an insider?
• Is the business thinly capitalized?
• Is the corporation used as a “mere shell?”
• Do shareholders disregard legal formalities?
• Are corporate funds or assets used for non-corporate purposes?

OTHER FACTORS

• No bank account
• No written by-laws
• No financial statements
• Failure to provide written notice of board meetings to directors
• No minutes of board meetings
• Stock certificates never used
• Directors removed or added at will
• Stockholder uses corporate funds for personal debt

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NEXT WEEK:

The Good News About Fraudulent Conveyances/Transfers

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Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement
By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE

$24.95 + FREE S&H

Please place your book orders by calling
303.974.5610
during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT.
or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment
for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY ASSET PROTECTION TOOLS

By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE, CFI

This week we are going to look at what we at Financial Forensic Services have found to be the four (4) primary ways debtors attempt to protect their assets from judgment creditors. We will then look at the twenty three (23) secondary (other) places or ways we have these judgment debtors also use in their efforts to hide their assets.

For many years corporations were the principal way to protect assets. Next week we will look at the various techniques judgment creditors use to recover assets being held in corporate entities.

Limited partnerships and limited liability companies are favored by many people now with the LLC becoming the preference for many, especially for small and mid-size businesses and some larger entities. If used correctly, it offers many benefits for legitimate investors.

Trusts are frequently used to protect the wealth of individuals and families for the future benefit of heirs and charities. There are two basic forms of trust: revocable or irrevocable. The revocable trust offers no asset protection. Assets held in irrevocable trusts can be reached if it can be proven if those assets were conveyed into the fraudulently irrevocable trust to “hinder, delay, or defraud creditors.” That subject will be addressed again, in detail, in the future issues of this weekly report.

The Secondary Asset Protection Tools are not used as frequently or as obviously as the four primary ones above and are less often pursued for recovery and many are never thought of or considered. This list is not intended to be all inclusive, but it does reflect places and ways where Financial Forensic Services has found hidden assets.

These valuable assets are difficult to find and prove their ownership due to the fact that their is no public records such as: title records, secretary of state files, clerk and recorder records, assessor records, DMV files, etc. that can be researched for documents to prove ownership.

If you believe your judgment debtor is fairly wealthy and probably owns some of this kind of personal property, and if your research has shown that your debtor owns a home, you should determine if the home is financed. If so, we all know monthly payments on a financed home consist of four (4) things: (PITI) principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Taxes and insurance are escrowed and paid by the lender so the collateral is protected and not lost in case the taxes are not paid or the insurance is not paid and lost in case of a fire. If the lender is paying the insurance premium, then the lender knows the name of the insurance company, the address of the insurance company, and the policy number. Knowing that, you then subpoena the lender and get the name and address of the insurance company and the policy number. With that information, you now subpoena the insurance company for a copy of the policy with all schedules and attachments thereto. Here you get a list of the jewelry, art, furs and other valuable assets – a list you probably cannot get anywhere else and the list that no other judgment creditor has access to! These last two subpoenas and the next one should be obtained by ex parte if possible.

Now take the list of assets you obtained from the insurance company and request that the court issue a writ of execution (or the equivalent) for the recovery of the listed assets as well as all other non-exempt assets including, but not limited to, all electronic communication devices, such as cell phones, computers, iPads, fax machines, copying machines/printers, and the authority to conduct a forensic analysis thereof. Note: I have never been turned down (denied) by the court for this request!

My second favorite place to recover assets is from the debtor’s attorney by serving a writ of garnishment. Remember, the retainer does not belong to the attorney until earned. I recovered $5,000.00 every Monday morning for three (3) weeks. The fourth week the attorney decided he should take his retainer from someone other than his client. We both laughed, shook hands and went on with our case. We ultimately made a 100% recovery. Apply this type of “out-of-the-box” thinking to each step of your judgment enforcement cases and both you and your client will do well.

NEXT WEEK: Piercing the Corporate Veil 
(Piercing the asset protection vehicles)

If you have questions or comments please direct them to:
joe@financialforensicservices.com

If you would like to submit an article for publication (500-750 words) you may also submit it to the above email address.

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Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement
By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE

$24.95 + FREE S&H

Please place your book orders by calling
303.974.5610
during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT.
or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment
for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

THE DOOM THAT CAME TO KICKSTARTER

Crowdfunding has quickly become one of the most popular forms of fundraising for anything from art projects to medical bills. Kickstarter, the most popular name in crowdfunding, was founded in 2009 as a platform that connects creators with investors, called backers. Each funding campaign requires 100 percent of pledges from backers; otherwise, the creator doesn’t receive any funding. Much like a public radio pledge drive, backers are given incentives to pledge money, and those rewards are received regardless of the project’s success. Unfortunately, these policies have created opportunities for fraud. 

Eric Chevalier started a Kickstarter campaign for “The Doom That Came to Atlantic City,” a board game he planned to develop. The buzz around this project helped raise $122,000 from 1,246 donors. In exchange for the donations, the backers were promised early releases of the game or specialty pewter game pieces. A little over a year later, Chevalier announced that the project was a failure, citing his “inexperience in board game publishing, co-developers’ ego conflicts, legal issues, and technical complications.” This announcement was not made until all the donors’ payments had been processed and his project was completely financed. Rather than refunding the investors’ money, the FTC claims Chevalier kept the money. Although Chevalier did agree to a settlement with the FTC for $111,793.71, he now claims he is broke.

Conversely, a backer can also defraud a project. “Encik Fahran” (possibly a fake name) appeared to be a very philanthropic backer in the Kickstarter universe, as he would donate $100-$1,000 to several Kickstarter projects. Once Fahran received his donor premium, he would call his credit card company and dispute the charge, keeping the premium and the money. Alex Heberling, a creator on Kickstarter and victim of Fahran, reported his conduct to Kickstarter, who simply advised her to check out Amazon’s Payments FAQ section. After contacting another Kickstarter campaigner, Heberling found out that Fahran had been scamming hundreds of other campaigns. Heberling raised awareness on social media, and Kickstarter quickly reassured her that their Trust and Safety Team was looking into the matter.

According to Kickstarter’s website, they are only a platform for project creators to connect with project investors. If a project creator doesn’t follow through on their claims, it’s only their reputation that is at risk. The Trust and Safety portion of their website explicitly states, “Kickstarter doesn’t evaluate a project’s claims, resolve disputes, or offer refunds — backers decide what’s worth funding and what’s not.” In the Accountability section of their FAQ, Kickstarter recommends that potential backers research a project creator’s credentials and reputation before pledging to fund a project. Also, Kickstarter has started verifying the identity of their creators, which is notated by a green check mark next to the creator’s name. Despite the Fahran incident, Kickstarter still does not offer creators much advice on how to protect themselves from fraudulent backers. 

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MIRACLES

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at the moment. Tess cleared her throat with the loudest noise she could muster up. “And just what do you want?” the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice, he was talking to his brother visiting from Chicago. “Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,” Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone, “he’s really really sick…and I want to buy a miracle.”

“I beg your pardon” said the pharmacist.

“His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?” “We don’t sell miracles here little girl, I’m sorry but I can’t help you,” said the pharmacist.

The pharmacist’s brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, “What kind of miracle does your brother need?”

“I don’t know,” Tess replies with her eyes welling up. “I just know he’s really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation, but Daddy can’t pay for it so I want to use my own money.” “How much do you have?” asked the man. “One dollar and eleven cents” Tess answered barely audible. “And it’s all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.”

“Well, what a coincidence” smiled the man. “A $1.11…that’s the exact price of a miracle for little brothers. Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the miracle you need.”

That well dressed man was Doctor Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon specializing in neuro surgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it wasn’t long until Andrew was home again and doing well. Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place. “That surgery was a real miracle” her mother whispered. “I wonder how much it cost?” Tess smiled, she knew exactly how much the miracle cost…$1.11 plus the faith of a little child.

In our lives, we never know how many miracles we will need. A miracle is not the suspension of a natural law, but the operation of a higher law!

We all know our very best friend is Jesus our Lord and Savior.

He says His oath to us –
When we are sad…He will dry our tears.
When we are scared…He will comfort our fears.
When we are worried…He will give us hope.
When we are confused…He will help us cope.
And when we are lost and can’t see the light…He will be our beacon shinning so bright.

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Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement
By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE

$24.95 + FREE S&H

Please place your book orders by calling
303.974.5610
during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT.
or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment
for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

“GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE…”

HOW TO SELL YOUR JUDGMENT

There are times when the creditor can no longer put funds into the recovery of a judgment or is just too tired to deal with it anymore, and just wants to get rid of it. How is it done? How much can you expect to get for it? Are there other options? As judgment enforcers we get to see inside the debt buying world. Here is a couple things you need to know:

1. Ownership of a judgment is transferred by the signing and filing of an OWNERSHIP OF A JUDGMENT with the Court where your case was filed. It is important to note that this isn’t a temporary assignment of a debt, as if you were hiring a collection agency to work on it. This is a complete transfer of ownership. If you get a call from the debtor after it has been filed, the only answer you can give them is, “Sorry, I don’t own that judgment anymore. Here’s the new owner’s phone number and address…”

2. Debt buyers won’t pay full price for your judgment. In fact, the average prices we have seen are between one to fifteen cents on the dollar. And if your debtor has filed bankruptcy, you’ll get no takers at all (that’s a different business called Bankruptcy Liens. And it has a completely different set of rules to play by).

3. There are websites like can list your judgment with and get great exposure to debt buyers. www.JudgmentMarketplace.com that you Regrettably, they still don’t normally pay more than the industry average
(see #2 above).

4. In most cases you will get the best return on your recovery if you enforce it yourself (we can help find the assets for you). The next best method is to assign ownership of it to a Judgment Enforcer. On average, you can expect up to 50 percent of whatever is recovered, after costs have been accounted for.

Before you make a decision on this subject please give me a call to discuss your case. We can probably find the debtor’s asset and help you maximize your return or one of our affiliate companies may offer a better solution for you. Just know that there are more options than walking away from the
recovery.

I look forward to speaking with you. 
Joe Dickerson, CFE, CFI
303.974.5610
joe@financialforensicservices.com

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Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement
By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE

$24.95 + FREE S&H

Please place your book orders by calling
303.974.5610
during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT.
or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment
for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

WHO’S BEEN SNACKING ON YOUR RETIREMENT?

It’s been said that the only certain things in life are death and taxes. Well, in retirement planning, there’s one more thing to add to the list — fees! We’ve been told over and over again to trust in Wall Street, but most of you know it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. In his book, “The Four Pillars of Investing,” William Bernstein said, “Whether you know it or not, Wall Street wants to steal your future.” He makes an excellent point, but the real question isn’t how much magically makes its way out of your fund and into their pockets, it’s what can we do about it? It’s all in the education. Demos reports that over 65 percent of Americans have no idea just how much Wall Street fees affect the long-term health of their investments. How can you fight the loss when you don’t even know what’s happening?’

In the early years of your 401(k), those fees may not have seemed to be that big of a deal, but in 15 years or more, the fees exacted by Wall Street begin to take larger and larger bites out of that fund. If you started your 401(k) adventure in your 20s, by age 65 nearly 27 percent of your retirement funds are funneled directly into Wall Street, bypassing you entirely. Those fees are eating your retirement, and that’s bad business for your future and a compelling reason to ditch the stock market altogether.

With your education in hand, there’s little reason to leave your money in actively managed mutual funds gobbling up your investments. 

Studies tell a pretty scary story.  Management and trading costs were listed at close to $100 billion in 2006, which is a huge leap from the near $7 billion of the 1980s. That number is steadily growing, but you can do something about that. Managed funds are at the heart of the problem, so the first step is to take your money out of that casino. If you absolutely must invest in stocks and bonds, look at alternative index funds. While your annual rate of return will be less than an actively managed fund, index funds lack the profit-gobbling performance and management fees that eat away at your retirement. Another option is, of course, to kiss Wall Street goodbye altogether. Alternative investment opportunities hold a wealth of potential to provide for a healthy and happy retirement that puts you in control of the game.

This information is provided for your information, Financial Forensic Services, LLC neither endorses nor has an opinion as to the accuracy or validity of the information in this article, nor does it accept any responsibility whatsoever for any action taken or not taken as a consequence of this publication. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Past performance is never a guarantee of future returns.   

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Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement
By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE

$24.95 + FREE S&H

Please place your book orders by calling
303.974.5610
during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT.
or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment
for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CREDIT REPORTS

PART 2

Your debtor’s Personal Credit Report, if carefully dissected and analyzed, can be used to help find hidden and diverted assets. Let’s take a look at some of the typical things that we review on a regular case:

REAL ESTATE: Highlight all the active banks and mortgage companies and separate them out by mortgages (“MORT”) and home equity loans (“H/E”). Compare the accounts’ open date (“OPEN”) to the dates of the loans in the County Clerk & Recorder’s Office to match the correct property loans, then take a careful look at the loan balance (“BALANCE”). The original mortgage recording should provide the details you need to calculate the amortized balance. Does it match the balance on the credit report or is it too low? If it’s paid down, then it may be an indication that the debtor is attempting to hide cash funds in property equity. After they have put enough distance between themselves and their debt, they can then sell or re-finance the property and get it back.

The credit report can also show mortgages that don’t match up with the local property you know about. This may be an indication of non-local investment property or vacation homes, none of which can be protected by homestead exemptions.

VEHICLES: Highlight all the active banks and auto finance companies (“AUT”). Compare the current loan balance to estimated vehicle values to find a value range for the vehicles. Just like the real estate loan, the debtor may have paid down their loan balance to hide cash funds in vehicle equity.

The credit report may also show loans for vehicles that don’t match up with the vehicle registrations. This may be an indication that the loans are for vehicles, boats, aircraft, etc. that are registered in commercial entity names.

CREDIT CARDS: Subpoena all active credit card (“R/C” for revolving credit) statements. A careful analysis of these can reveal charges to out-of-state restaurants (for finding the location of unknown real estate), boat and aircraft fuel charges, etc. Statements may also show overpayment of the credit card bills where the debtor is hiding cash funds.

INQUIRIES: Do you want to get copies of recent financial information on the debtor? Then don’t overlook the INQUIRIES section. This is a small list at the end of the report that shows a commercial credit reporting subscriber, the date of inquiry, and their subscriber number (which can be used to find the creditor’s contact information).

Compare the names of the subscribers to see if they are any of the creditors listed in the report. These inquiries are normally just a creditor’s collection department checking to see if there is any new addresses for the debtor or a new employment listed… so you can cross those off. What you have

left are inquires made by financial institutions that may be pulling the debtor’s credit report as part of a loan or revolving credit application.

The most recent inquires, going back twelve months, make excellent subpoena targets to get copies of the loan application and any supporting employment and tax documentations that were submitted with it.

Although a credit report can make a great tool for finding assets, the question often is who can see the reports? In the next article, we will continue this discussion on credit reports and show you how to know exactly who has the legal right to obtain them.

Meanwhile, I challenge you to pull out the credit reports you have on your debtors and grab some highlighters. There’s gold in them thar hills!

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______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Diagnostic & Prescriptive Judgment Enforcement
By: Joe H. Dickerson, CFE

$24.95 + FREE S&H

Please place your book orders by calling
303.974.5610
during normal business hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm MT.
or email joe@financialforensicservices.comand make an appointment
for a FREE initial review of your judgment. Thank you!

Copyright © 2021 Financial Forensic Services, All rights reserved.