To file a collection claim, you submit a written complaint to the court that has jurisdiction over the debt and the debtor, pay the filing fee, and arrange for the debtor to be formally served with the lawsuit papers. Before you spend any money on that, confirm two things: that the debt is still within the statute of limitations, and that the debtor has income or property you could actually collect against if you win. A judgment is only worth what you can enforce.
Confirm the Debt Hasn’t Expired
Every debt has a filing deadline. Once the statute of limitations runs, you lose the right to sue, and the court will dismiss the case if the debtor raises the defense. The clock usually starts from the date of default or the last payment, depending on your state.
For written contracts, the deadline typically falls between four and ten years. Oral agreements and open accounts often have shorter windows, sometimes as little as two or three years. These numbers vary significantly by state, so look up your jurisdiction’s specific timeframe before you commit to anything.
A partial payment or written acknowledgment of the debt can restart the clock in some jurisdictions. That cuts both ways. A small payment two years ago may have reset the deadline in your favor; eight years of silence on a six-year statute means no demand letter will revive your right to sue. Filing a time-barred claim can get you sanctioned, and third-party collectors who do it face liability under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Decide Whether the Debtor Can Actually Pay
A judgment is only as valuable as the debtor’s ability to pay it. Some debtors are effectively judgment-proof, meaning they have no wages, bank accounts, or property that a creditor can legally reach. Federal law shields Social Security, SSI, veterans’ benefits, unemployment compensation, and certain other government payments from most creditor garnishment. If that is all the debtor has coming in, a judgment produces nothing.
Even debtors with wages may be out of reach. Federal law caps garnishment for ordinary debts at 25% of disposable earnings, and the garnishment cannot drop weekly pay below 30 times the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour as of 2026, or $217.50 per week.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment Someone earning close to minimum wage may yield little or nothing even with a judgment in hand.
Do a rough asset check before you file. Does the debtor own real estate? Hold a steady job with a known employer? Run a business with visible assets? If you can’t identify anything to collect against and the statute of limitations isn’t about to expire, waiting may beat suing. Judgments stay enforceable for years and can be renewed in most states, so patience sometimes pays better than a premature lawsuit.
Gather Your Documents
A clean paper trail is what turns a filing into a quick win. Start with the agreement that created the debt: the signed contract, promissory note, credit application, or purchase order. That document establishes the debtor agreed to pay and spells out the terms, including the amount, due date, and any interest or late-fee provisions.
Pull your itemized invoices. A lump-sum demand with no backup invites the debtor to dispute the number; invoices tied to specific goods or services let the court verify your math. Attach a ledger or account statement showing the original balance, any partial payments, credits applied, and the unpaid balance. Discrepancies in that ledger will become the debtor’s argument.
Keep the pre-suit communications too. Demand letters sent by certified mail with return receipts show you gave the debtor a chance to pay. Those letters should state the amount owed and a payment deadline. Emails and texts in which the debtor acknowledges the debt or promises to pay strengthen your position considerably.
Pick the Right Court
The dollar amount decides which court you file in. Small claims courts handle lower-value disputes with simplified procedures, minimal paperwork, and no attorney requirement. Dollar limits range from $2,500 to $25,000 depending on the state. If your debt exceeds the small claims cap, you’ll file in a general civil or district court, with formal rules of evidence and procedure.
Venue matters too. You generally file in the county where the debtor lives, where the contract was signed, or where the underlying transaction took place. Filing in the wrong county won’t kill your case, but the debtor can move to transfer it, adding months and costs. When the debtor is a business, file where the business operates or is registered.
Draft and File the Complaint
The complaint, sometimes called a statement of claim or petition, is the document that tells the court what the debtor owes and why. It needs to include the debtor’s full legal name and address, the exact principal balance plus interest, the date of default, and a short factual narrative tying the transaction to the documents you’re submitting as evidence.
For individuals, verify the spelling of the name carefully. A judgment against the wrong name is hard to enforce. For businesses, look up the state’s business registration database to confirm whether you’re suing a corporation, LLC, or sole proprietor, and get the name and address of the registered agent authorized to accept legal papers.
Break the numbers down so the court can follow your math. If the contract specifies an interest rate, use it. If no rate was agreed, you’re limited to the statutory rate in your jurisdiction, commonly in the four to ten percent range. You can only add late fees or collection costs if the original agreement explicitly authorizes them.
Most courts publish standardized complaint forms on their websites or through the clerk’s office. Using the official form avoids technical defects that could get your filing rejected. Expect to pay a filing fee ranging from around $30 in small claims court to several hundred dollars in general civil court. Many courts accept electronic filing through online portals. Once the clerk accepts your documents, you’ll get a case number, and the court will issue a summons directing the debtor to respond.
Serve the Debtor
The debtor has to be formally notified through service of process. This isn’t optional and it can’t be done informally. Someone other than you, typically a sheriff’s deputy or a private process server, must deliver the summons and complaint directly to the debtor. Service typically costs between $30 and $100 per attempt.
For a business, the papers go to the registered agent listed in state business records. For an individual, the server delivers to the debtor personally. When personal service fails after reasonable attempts, most courts allow alternatives: leaving the papers with another adult at the debtor’s home, delivering them to the debtor’s workplace, or in some cases publishing notice in a local newspaper. You generally have to show you genuinely tried personal service before the court will permit these alternatives.
Keep records of every service attempt. The server files a proof of service, sometimes called an affidavit of service, confirming when, where, and how the papers were delivered. Without it, the court won’t recognize that the debtor was properly notified, and your case stalls.
What Happens After Service
Once served, the debtor has a limited window to respond. In federal court, the deadline is 21 days.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 12 – Defenses and Objections: When and How Presented State courts set their own deadlines, commonly between 20 and 30 days. The debtor’s answer can admit the debt, deny it, or raise defenses like an expired statute of limitations, payment already made, or a dispute over the amount.
If the debtor doesn’t respond, you can pursue a default judgment. It’s a two-step process. First you ask the clerk to enter the debtor’s default, formally recognizing the failure to respond. Then you file a motion asking the court to enter judgment for the amount claimed.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 55 – Default; Default Judgment For a claim with a specific dollar amount backed by clear documentation, the clerk can sometimes enter the judgment directly. More complex claims may require a short hearing where you present evidence to a judge.
Before granting default judgment, the court will require an affidavit stating whether the debtor is in military service. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects active-duty service members from losing cases they can’t attend because of deployment. Your affidavit must state either that the debtor is not in military service or that you couldn’t determine their status; the Department of Defense runs an online database you can check. If the debtor is on active duty, the court must appoint an attorney to represent them before proceeding.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments
If the debtor files an answer, the case moves into litigation. That phase may involve discovery, settlement negotiations, and eventually a trial if no agreement is reached. Small claims trials are usually informal hearings where both sides present their story and evidence. Civil court is more formal and an attorney becomes much more valuable. Most debt cases settle before trial, especially when the creditor’s documentation is strong.
If You’re Collecting on Behalf of Someone Else
Original creditors collecting their own debts are generally exempt from the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The moment a debt changes hands or an outside collector gets involved, that changes. Collection agencies, debt buyers, and collection attorneys operate under additional rules on top of the standard court process.
Within five days of first contacting the debtor, you must send a written validation notice identifying the creditor, stating the amount owed, and informing the debtor of the right to dispute the debt within 30 days.5GovInfo. 15 USC 1692g – Validation of Debts If the debtor disputes it in writing during that window, you must stop collection activity until you provide verification.
Regulation F also restricts contact. Calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time are prohibited. You can’t contact someone at work if you know their employer forbids it. Repeated calls intended to harass are illegal, as is social media contact visible to the debtor’s contacts or the public.6eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1006 – Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F) Violations expose you to liability even if the underlying debt is legitimate.
Collecting on the Judgment
Winning doesn’t put money in your account. Many debtors still won’t pay voluntarily, and you’ll need the court’s enforcement tools to actually collect.
Wage Garnishment
A wage garnishment order directs the debtor’s employer to withhold a portion of each paycheck and send it to you. Federal law limits garnishment on ordinary consumer debts to the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly earnings exceed $217.50. Some states cap it lower. To start, you file a request with the court for a writ of garnishment, which the court then sends to the employer.
Bank Levies
A bank levy freezes the debtor’s account and lets you seize funds up to the judgment amount. You’ll need a writ of execution from the court, delivered through a sheriff or marshal to the debtor’s bank. The bank freezes the account and turns over available funds after any applicable exemption period. One limit matters a lot: if the account holds recent federal benefit deposits like Social Security or veterans’ benefits, the bank must protect an amount equal to two months of those deposits, and that money cannot be seized.7eCFR. 31 CFR Part 212 – Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments
Property Liens
Recording your judgment with the county recorder creates a lien against any real estate the debtor owns in that county. The debtor can’t sell or refinance without paying off the judgment first. In many states, you’ll need to record in every county where the debtor owns property. The lien doesn’t produce immediate cash, but it secures your position for whenever the property changes hands. Recording fees are usually modest.
Finding the Debtor’s Assets
Enforcement only works if you know where the money is. Most states allow a post-judgment discovery process, often called a debtor’s examination or supplementary proceedings. The court orders the debtor to appear and answer questions under oath about income, bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, and other assets. Lying during the examination is contempt of court. For many creditors, this is the single most productive step after winning the judgment.
What You Can’t Reach
Federal and state law shield certain property from collection, and knowing the limits keeps you from wasting money chasing it. Federal law generally puts the following off-limits:
- Social Security and SSI benefits
- Veterans’ benefits
- Federal employee and civil service retirement payments
- Railroad retirement benefits
When those payments land in a bank account, the bank must automatically protect two months of deposits from any garnishment order. The account holder doesn’t need to file a claim; the protection kicks in on its own.8Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Guidelines for Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments
State exemptions add another layer. Most states protect some amount of home equity through a homestead exemption, a vehicle up to a specified value, basic household goods, and tools of the debtor’s trade. The dollar amounts vary widely. Federal bankruptcy exemptions, which apply in some states, protect up to $31,575 in home equity and $5,025 in vehicle value for cases filed between April 2025 and April 2028.
None of this means giving up. It means being realistic. A debtor with $50,000 in a checking account funded by business income has no exemption for most of it. A debtor living entirely on Social Security in a rented apartment is a different situation. Sort out which one you’re dealing with before you spend money on enforcement.