We tend to think of people who don’t pay their bills as deadbeats. Furthermore, we tend to think of them as intentional and willing deadbeats. They willingly fail to pay their bills with no intention of ever doing so. But as with all stereotypes, this one doesn’t hold up in every case. Not all debtors are intentional and willing deadbeats.
There are times when debtors truly want to pay their bills, but they generally don’t have the financial resources to do so. Other times, debtors are ignorant. They do not pay because they are unaware that they owe.
Such cases are rare, but they actually do occur.
It is oftentimes left to collection agencies, like Salt Lake City, Utah’s Judgment Collectors, to make contact with debtors and work with them to secure payment. The professionals at Judgment Collectors say they have heard it all. Debtor excuses are rarely legitimate, though there are some exceptions.
Unaware of the Judgment
A fictional example illustrates simply enough how debtors can be ignorant. Imagine a couple going through challenging times after losing their jobs. They are struggling to make ends meet, falling further behind on monthly rent payments. They are eventually evicted and served with a summons to appear in court.
The eviction is no big deal because, on the day they are served, the couple is packing up in preparation for moving out of state.
They have found jobs elsewhere. In their ignorance, they do not bother to read the summons or complaint in full.
They assume that their leaving satisfies the summons and complaint.
Furthermore, this is a young couple without much experience in civil litigation. They have no clue that the property owner is also suing them for back rent, interest, and additional fees and costs. In their ignorance, they fail to answer the summons. They also do not show up in court because they are already gone when the court date arrives.
Their failure to respond or appear in court results in a default judgment against them. They have no idea. Making matters worse, the property owner has no idea where they moved to. It could take his judgment collection agency years to find them.
Not Skipping Out on the Debt
This particular couple is not intentionally skipping out on their debt. They left town because they found much-needed jobs elsewhere. Despite being incorrect, they also assumed that leaving the apartment would bring matters to an end. It never occurred to them that they still had a legal debt they were required to pay.
From the property owner’s perspective, this couple appears to be intentionally and willfully skipping out on the debt.
He considers them genuine deadbeats of the lowest form. In reality, they are not. They are just an ignorant couple who doesn’t understand how the system works.
This is not to let the fictional couple off the hook. They still incurred a debt they are responsible to pay. And yes, they should have looked into the original summons and complaint in more detail, rather than just assuming they were free and clear by vacating the apartment.
It Takes All Kinds
Judgment Collectors can attest to the fact that it takes all kinds of people to make their business what it is. Some debtors purposely and willfully avoid paying judgments against them. They go to great lengths to hide their assets and keep their whereabouts hidden. Then there are the cases in which debtors do what they do ignorantly. Though their ignorance is no excuse, they are not intentional and willful deadbeats trying to skip out on a debt.
