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{{REVIEWEDPLS | reviewer = [https://www.ganapathico.com/our-team/anna-kurt/ Anna Kurt], Ganapathi Law Group|date= August 2017}} {{Dial-A-Law TOC|expanded = courts}}
If you take someone to court and the judge decides in your favour, it’s up to you to collect the money. Learn your options for getting your court judgment paid.


{{Dial-A-Law TOC|expanded = smallclaims}}
==What you should know==


Obtaining a Small Claims Court judgment – whether at the end of a trial or settlement conference, or by default – is one thing. But getting it paid is something else. What can you do if the person you sued refuses to pay your judgment? Let’s call that person the debtor, and call you the creditor.
===You have options to get your judgment paid===
Winning a lawsuit does not guarantee you will be paid. The person you sued (called the “debtor”, as they owe you a debt) might refuse to pay your judgment. But you have options:


=="File" your court judgment==
* You can schedule a kind of '''enforcement hearing''' with the court. There, you can find out the debtor’s financial situation and get an order setting up a schedule of payments.
If the debtor has defended your claim, then after the judge has made a Payment Order at the end of your trial or settlement conference, you must go to the Small Claims Court registry and fill in a Payment Order form (Form 10). It will be signed by the appropriate person and “filed” or entered in the court records.
* You can go to the court registry to get an '''order for seizure''' '''and sale''' of the debtor’s personal property. You can then hire a court bailiff to carry out the order, taking and selling the debtor’s property.
* You can seek another order from the court, called a '''garnishing order'''. This requires a third party who owes money to the debtor to make payments to you.
* If you have a court order requiring the debtor to make instalment payments, and they don’t, you can ask the court for a '''default hearing''', where the court can impose penalties.
* You can '''register your court judgment''' against any land the debtor owns in British Columbia. This will severely restrict the debtor’s ability to sell or mortgage the land until they pay the judgment.


If the debtor hasn’t responded to your claim, then you must complete an Application for Default Order (Form 5) instead.
We explain each option shortly.


A Small Claims Court judgment is valid for 10 years, so any action you take to get your judgment paid must be completed within that time period. A Small Claims Court judgment cannot be renewed beyond the 10-year period, but it can be extended for another 10 years:
===If there's a payment schedule===
A judge might make an order that includes a '''payment schedule''', setting out how much the debtor must pay and how often they must pay it. If the debtor makes the payments following the schedule, you can’t collect the full amount all at once. But if there’s no payment schedule or if the debtor doesn’t follow the schedule, they will owe you the full amount immediately and you can take steps to collect it.


*If the debtor confirms the cause of action, or
==Options to enforce a court judgment==
*If you start a new court action based on the  previous judgment before the original 10 years are up


==Write and ask the debtor to pay you==
===First, prepare and file your court order===
After filing your Payment Order or Default Order, you might want to send a copy to the debtor with a letter asking the debtor to pay you. The letter should be brief and informative, warning that further action will be taken if payment isn’t received by a certain date. Set a reasonable deadline (for example, within 14 days from the date of your letter), and be sure to include the address where the payment can be made. It’s a good idea to send the letter by registered mail.
In a lawsuit, after a judge decides in your favour or you settle the case, you need to prepare an '''order'''. The order records what the judge decided. The order must be filed with the court registry and signed by the court. This must be done before you can take steps to collect on the order. Once you file the order with the court, it becomes an '''enforceable''' court judgment.


==What is the procedure for a Payment Schedule?==
A court judgment lasts for 10 years. After that, you will have to ask the court to extend the order.
A Payment Order might include a Payment Schedule, which tells how often and how much the debtor must pay you to pay off the order. As long as the debtor makes the payments according to the schedule, you can’t take any steps to collect the full amount right away. But if there’s no payment schedule included in the Order, or if the debtor doesn’t pay according to the schedule, the debtor will owe you the whole amount immediately and you can take steps to collect it.


==What is the procedure for a Default Order?==
{| class="wikitable"
If the Default Order is for a debt in a specific, easily calculable amount, you can go ahead and take steps to collect it immediately. The Default Order will order the debtor to pay the amount claimed plus interest and expenses. If your claim is not for a debt in a specific amount, a hearing before a judge will first be set to determine how much your judgment should be. Be aware that a Default Order isn’t automatic, and you must be prepared to give evidence and show supporting documents to prove the amount owing.
|align="left"|'''Tip'''
A final decision from the Civil Resolution Tribunal, the Residential Tenancy Branch, and many other tribunals can be filed in Provincial Court for enforcement.
|}


==What can you do if the debtor doesn’t pay?==
===Next, write and ask the debtor to pay you===
If the debtor doesn’t pay your Payment Order or Default Order, you have five options:
After filing your court order, send a copy of it to the debtor with a letter asking them to pay you. Send the letter by registered mail.


==One option is a payment hearing==
Make the letter short and clear. You can warn them that you will take further action if they don’t pay by a certain date. Set a reasonable deadline — for example, 14 days from the date you send your letter. Include the address where they can send the payment.
Go to the Small Claims Court registry or write and tell them you want a payment hearing. The purpose of the hearing is to find out information about the debtor’s financial situation. For the hearing, the debtor can be required to bring income tax returns, recent pay stubs and other documents that show the debtor’s assets, income and debts. At the payment hearing, the judge considers the debtor’s ability to pay the Payment Order (and whether a Payment Schedule should be included), so go prepared to question the debtor about his or her employment, bank accounts and so on. You can use the information gained at the payment hearing to help you try to collect on your judgment (i.e., by garnishing bank accounts or employment income). The costs of your application for the payment hearing will be added onto the amount the debtor has to pay you.


If the debtor doesn’t attend the payment hearing, you can ask the judge to issue an arrest warrant.
===You can schedule a kind of enforcement hearing with the court===
One method to enforce a court judgment, available in both Small Claims Court and Supreme Court, is a kind of '''enforcement hearing'''. At this hearing, you can find out the debtor’s financial situation, ask them questions about their ability to pay, and get an order setting up a schedule of payments.


==A second option is seizure and sale of goods==
If your judgment is from Small Claims Court, the hearing is called a '''payment hearing'''. In Supreme Court, there are two examination processes, a '''subpoena to debtor''' or an '''examination in aid of execution'''. In either court, you can file documents with the court to schedule a hearing.
You can apply for an Order for Seizure and Sale. This allows a court bailiff to take and sell the debtor’s goods or property. You may decide to go this route if the debtor doesn’t appear to have any cash income, but has valuable assets, like a good car or boat or worthwhile company shares.


Before proceeding, however, note that the ''Court Order Enforcement Act'' of BC allows a debtor to keep:
At the hearing, the debtor can be required to produce income tax returns, recent pay stubs, and other documents that show their assets, income and debts. You can ask questions of the debtor about their employment, bank accounts, and other assets and sources of income. The judge considers whether the debtor can pay the court order, and whether to set up a '''payment schedule'''.


*$4,000 of household furnishings and appliances,
If the debtor doesn’t attend the hearing, you can ask the judge to issue an arrest warrant, forcing the debtor to attend. (That’s rarely done. Debtors usually get many chances to pay.)
*A vehicle worth up to $5,000, and
*$10,000 worth of tools and other personal property that the debtor uses to earn income for work.


Also, the bailiff gets paid first from the sale of the goods. So you’ll want to make sure that the debtor has goods worth taking and selling at a court-ordered auction.
You can use the information you get at the hearing to help collect your judgment. And the costs of your application for the hearing will be added to the amount the debtor must pay you.


To help with this, you might be able to give a copy of the Payment Order or Default Order to the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) or do a search at the BC Manufactured Home Registry or the Personal Property Registry to see if the debtor is the registered owner of any personal property that could be seized and sold if their value is more than the above exclusions.
===You can get an order to seize and sell the debtor’s personal property===
You can enforce a court judgment by taking action against the '''personal property''' of the debtor. You can go to the court registry to get an '''order for seizure and sale'''. You can then hire a court bailiff to carry out the order, taking and selling the debtor’s property.


If you decide to go ahead, ask the Small Claims Court registry for the forms to complete for an Order for Seizure and Sale. You’ll have to pay a deposit to cover the bailiff’s estimated time and costs.
This option, which is available in both Small Claims Court and Supreme Court, can be useful if the debtor has valuable assets, such as a car, a boat, or shares in a profitable company. But you cannot seize everything the debtor owns. Under the [https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/laws/stat/rsbc-1996-c-78/latest/rsbc-1996-c-78.html#sec71_smooth ''Court Order Enforcement Act''], a debtor may '''exempt''' certain things from being seized and sold, such as:


An Order for Seizure and Sale is valid for one year.
* household furnishings and appliances to a value of $4,000
* one vehicle up to a value of $5,000
* $10,000 worth of tools and other personal property the debtor uses to earn income for work


A related option is to ask a bailiff to do a search of their records to see if any other creditors are trying to recover against the same debtor. If there are active collection efforts underway by other creditors, you may be able to share in some of the recovery from the debtor.
If you seek an order for seizure and sale, you will need to pay a deposit to cover the bailiff’s estimated costs. The bailiff will be paid first from the sale of the goods, so try to find out if the debtor has enough property to make the seizure and sale worthwhile. Check with ICBC to see if the debtor has any motor vehicles registered in their name. You can also search the debtor’s name in the [http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/owning-a-home/manufactured-home-registry BC Manufactured Home Registry] and the [http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/business/managing-a-business/permits-licences/bc-registry-services-personal-property-registry Personal Property Registry] to see if the debtor owns any personal property worth more than their exemption amounts.


==A third option is garnishment==
An order for seizure and sale lasts for one year.
Assume you have a Payment Order for $1,000, and you know where the debtor works or has a bank account. You can go to the Small Claims Court registry and apply for a Garnishing Order. You then present the Garnishing Order to the debtor’s employer or the branch of the bank where the debtor has an account, whichever you are going after, and the wages owed or bank money belonging to the debtor will be paid to the court instead. Once the court receives the money, you can apply to have it paid out to you. This process is called garnishing the debtor’s wages or bank accounts.


Note that generally only 30% of a debtor’s wages can be garnished. There are also some fairly technical rules and the steps have to be followed properly, so discuss the procedure with the registry staff right at the beginning.
===You can get a garnishing order===
With a court judgment, you can seek another order from the court, called a '''garnishing order''', which requires a third party who owes money to the debtor to make payments to you.


For more information on garnishment, refer to Dial-A-Law script [[Garnishment (Script 251)|251]].
For example, you can give the garnishing order to the debtor’s employer or to their bank, and the wages owed to the debtor or the money in their bank account will be paid to the court instead. Once the court receives the money, you can apply to have it paid out to you.


==A fourth option is a default hearing==
Normally, only 30% of a debtor’s wages can be garnished. And there are some technical rules and steps you must follow. See our information on [[Garnishment (No. 251)|garnishment]] for details of what’s involved.
If a Payment Schedule was made after the trial or settlement conference or following a payment hearing, and the debtor hasn’t paid you as required, you can ask for a default hearing. You are responsible for setting out what items the debtor must bring to the default hearing, such as banking records, tax returns, utility bills and credit card statements. If you don’t include any of these items when you apply for a default hearing, the debtor isn’t obligated to bring anything to the hearing.


At the hearing, the debtor must explain to a judge why he or she hasn’t obeyed the Payment Schedule. After listening to the debtor, the judge can either confirm the original Payment Schedule or change the terms. If the judge decides that the debtor’s explanation for not paying shows contempt of court, the judge can send the debtor to jail for up to 20 days, and the debtor must still pay the money.
===You can ask for a default hearing===
If you have a court order requiring the debtor to make instalment payments, and they don’t, you can ask for a hearing where the court can impose penalties.


If the debtor doesn’t attend the default hearing, you can ask the judge to issue an arrest warrant.
In Small Claims Court, the hearing is called a '''default hearing'''. In Supreme Court, there are two examination processes, a '''subpoena to debtor''' or an '''examination in aid of execution'''. In either court, you can file documents with the court to schedule the hearing.


==A fifth option is registration against land==
At this hearing, the court can ask the debtor why they have not made payments under the court order. The judge can either confirm the original payment schedule or change it. If the judge decides the debtor’s explanation for not paying shows contempt of court, the judge can send the debtor to jail, and the debtor must still pay the money.
You can register your Payment Order against any land owned by the debtor in British Columbia. This will make it very difficult for the debtor to sell or mortgage the land unless he or she pays your judgment first. What this means is that you might not get paid immediately, but the Payment Order can stay registered against the land for some time, then when the debtor sells or mortgages the land, your judgment will have to be paid. To find out if the debtor owns land in the province, you can conduct a name search at the Land Title Office through BC OnLine at [http://www.bconline.gov.bc.ca www.bconline.gov.bc.ca].


To register your Payment Order, you must get a Certificate of Judgment from the Small Claims Court registry. Then you take it to the Land Titles Office where the debtor owns the land, and register your judgment against the title to the debtor’s land. The registration is good for two years, and can be renewed every two years up to a maximum of ten years.
If the debtor does not attend the hearing, you can ask the judge to issue an arrest warrant.


You can also ask the Supreme Court to force a sale of the property, but this is an expensive and complicated procedure and not often used to enforce a Small Claims Court judgment.
===You can register the court judgment against land owned by the debtor===
You can '''register your court judgment''' against any land the debtor owns in British Columbia. This will severely restrict the debtor’s ability to sell or mortgage the land until they pay the judgment.


==Summary==
To find out if the debtor owns land in BC, do a name search at the Land Title Office. You can do this through [https://www.bconline.gov.bc.ca/ BC OnLine].
Once you have a filed Payment Order or Default Order, you have five options for getting your judgment paid. Depending on what the debtor owns and his or her income, you can take some or all of these steps:


*A payment hearing is useful to find out more about the debtor’s financial situation and to get the information you’ll need for pursuing other options.
To register your court judgment, you must get a certificate of judgment from the court registry and file it with the [https://ltsa.ca/land-title-office-locations Land Title Office] where the debtor’s land is registered.
*Obtaining an Order for Seizure and Sale is useful if the debtor owns valuable goods such as an expensive car.
*Garnishing the debtor’s wages or bank accounts can be useful if the debtor works or has money in an account.
*A default hearing can be used if there’s already a Payment Schedule and the debtor isn’t paying as scheduled.
*And if the debtor owns land, registering your order against the land is likely to get you money eventually.


==Where can you get more information?==
The registration is good for two years, and can be renewed every two years up to 10 years.
*Most of the instructions you need for getting your judgment paid can be found on the forms available at the Small Claims Court registry. If you have any questions, talk to the Small Claims Court staff or read over one of the Small Claims Court booklets available at the registry, at your local public library and on the Attorney General’s website at [http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/small_claims www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/small_claims].
*Also refer to the other Dial-A-Law scripts in this Small Claims Court series.


You can also ask the BC Supreme Court to force a '''sale of the property''', so you can recover the amount you are owed from the proceeds of the sale. Be aware this process is expensive and involved.
 
==Who can help==


[updated December 2013]
===With more information===
The '''BC government''' website has how-to guides on Small Claims Court, including one on getting results, explaining the tools available to help you collect on a judgment.


* [https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/courthouse-services/small-claims/how-to-guides Visit website]


----
The '''Supreme Court BC Online Help Guide''', from Justice Education Society, provides step-by-step information on each stage of a lawsuit before that court, including a guide on enforcing court orders.
----


* [https://www.supremecourtbc.ca/ Visit website]


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Latest revision as of 04:28, 7 November 2020

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by Anna Kurt, Ganapathi Law Group in August 2017.
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If you take someone to court and the judge decides in your favour, it’s up to you to collect the money. Learn your options for getting your court judgment paid.

What you should know

You have options to get your judgment paid

Winning a lawsuit does not guarantee you will be paid. The person you sued (called the “debtor”, as they owe you a debt) might refuse to pay your judgment. But you have options:

  • You can schedule a kind of enforcement hearing with the court. There, you can find out the debtor’s financial situation and get an order setting up a schedule of payments.
  • You can go to the court registry to get an order for seizure and sale of the debtor’s personal property. You can then hire a court bailiff to carry out the order, taking and selling the debtor’s property.
  • You can seek another order from the court, called a garnishing order. This requires a third party who owes money to the debtor to make payments to you.
  • If you have a court order requiring the debtor to make instalment payments, and they don’t, you can ask the court for a default hearing, where the court can impose penalties.
  • You can register your court judgment against any land the debtor owns in British Columbia. This will severely restrict the debtor’s ability to sell or mortgage the land until they pay the judgment.

We explain each option shortly.

If there's a payment schedule

A judge might make an order that includes a payment schedule, setting out how much the debtor must pay and how often they must pay it. If the debtor makes the payments following the schedule, you can’t collect the full amount all at once. But if there’s no payment schedule or if the debtor doesn’t follow the schedule, they will owe you the full amount immediately and you can take steps to collect it.

Options to enforce a court judgment

First, prepare and file your court order

In a lawsuit, after a judge decides in your favour or you settle the case, you need to prepare an order. The order records what the judge decided. The order must be filed with the court registry and signed by the court. This must be done before you can take steps to collect on the order. Once you file the order with the court, it becomes an enforceable court judgment.

A court judgment lasts for 10 years. After that, you will have to ask the court to extend the order.

Tip

A final decision from the Civil Resolution Tribunal, the Residential Tenancy Branch, and many other tribunals can be filed in Provincial Court for enforcement.

Next, write and ask the debtor to pay you

After filing your court order, send a copy of it to the debtor with a letter asking them to pay you. Send the letter by registered mail.

Make the letter short and clear. You can warn them that you will take further action if they don’t pay by a certain date. Set a reasonable deadline — for example, 14 days from the date you send your letter. Include the address where they can send the payment.

You can schedule a kind of enforcement hearing with the court

One method to enforce a court judgment, available in both Small Claims Court and Supreme Court, is a kind of enforcement hearing. At this hearing, you can find out the debtor’s financial situation, ask them questions about their ability to pay, and get an order setting up a schedule of payments.

If your judgment is from Small Claims Court, the hearing is called a payment hearing. In Supreme Court, there are two examination processes, a subpoena to debtor or an examination in aid of execution. In either court, you can file documents with the court to schedule a hearing.

At the hearing, the debtor can be required to produce income tax returns, recent pay stubs, and other documents that show their assets, income and debts. You can ask questions of the debtor about their employment, bank accounts, and other assets and sources of income. The judge considers whether the debtor can pay the court order, and whether to set up a payment schedule.

If the debtor doesn’t attend the hearing, you can ask the judge to issue an arrest warrant, forcing the debtor to attend. (That’s rarely done. Debtors usually get many chances to pay.)

You can use the information you get at the hearing to help collect your judgment. And the costs of your application for the hearing will be added to the amount the debtor must pay you.

You can get an order to seize and sell the debtor’s personal property

You can enforce a court judgment by taking action against the personal property of the debtor. You can go to the court registry to get an order for seizure and sale. You can then hire a court bailiff to carry out the order, taking and selling the debtor’s property.

This option, which is available in both Small Claims Court and Supreme Court, can be useful if the debtor has valuable assets, such as a car, a boat, or shares in a profitable company. But you cannot seize everything the debtor owns. Under the Court Order Enforcement Act, a debtor may exempt certain things from being seized and sold, such as:

  • household furnishings and appliances to a value of $4,000
  • one vehicle up to a value of $5,000
  • $10,000 worth of tools and other personal property the debtor uses to earn income for work

If you seek an order for seizure and sale, you will need to pay a deposit to cover the bailiff’s estimated costs. The bailiff will be paid first from the sale of the goods, so try to find out if the debtor has enough property to make the seizure and sale worthwhile. Check with ICBC to see if the debtor has any motor vehicles registered in their name. You can also search the debtor’s name in the BC Manufactured Home Registry and the Personal Property Registry to see if the debtor owns any personal property worth more than their exemption amounts.

An order for seizure and sale lasts for one year.

You can get a garnishing order

With a court judgment, you can seek another order from the court, called a garnishing order, which requires a third party who owes money to the debtor to make payments to you.

For example, you can give the garnishing order to the debtor’s employer or to their bank, and the wages owed to the debtor or the money in their bank account will be paid to the court instead. Once the court receives the money, you can apply to have it paid out to you.

Normally, only 30% of a debtor’s wages can be garnished. And there are some technical rules and steps you must follow. See our information on garnishment for details of what’s involved.

You can ask for a default hearing

If you have a court order requiring the debtor to make instalment payments, and they don’t, you can ask for a hearing where the court can impose penalties.

In Small Claims Court, the hearing is called a default hearing. In Supreme Court, there are two examination processes, a subpoena to debtor or an examination in aid of execution. In either court, you can file documents with the court to schedule the hearing.

At this hearing, the court can ask the debtor why they have not made payments under the court order. The judge can either confirm the original payment schedule or change it. If the judge decides the debtor’s explanation for not paying shows contempt of court, the judge can send the debtor to jail, and the debtor must still pay the money.

If the debtor does not attend the hearing, you can ask the judge to issue an arrest warrant.

You can register the court judgment against land owned by the debtor

You can register your court judgment against any land the debtor owns in British Columbia. This will severely restrict the debtor’s ability to sell or mortgage the land until they pay the judgment.

To find out if the debtor owns land in BC, do a name search at the Land Title Office. You can do this through BC OnLine.

To register your court judgment, you must get a certificate of judgment from the court registry and file it with the Land Title Office where the debtor’s land is registered.

The registration is good for two years, and can be renewed every two years up to 10 years.

You can also ask the BC Supreme Court to force a sale of the property, so you can recover the amount you are owed from the proceeds of the sale. Be aware this process is expensive and involved.

Who can help

With more information

The BC government website has how-to guides on Small Claims Court, including one on getting results, explaining the tools available to help you collect on a judgment.

The Supreme Court BC Online Help Guide, from Justice Education Society, provides step-by-step information on each stage of a lawsuit before that court, including a guide on enforcing court orders.

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