You Won. They Won't Pay. Now What?

Roughly half of small claims judgments are not paid voluntarily. The court will not collect for you. The judgment creditor who understands enforcement — or retains someone who does — is the one who gets paid.

Step one: intelligence before instruments

Every enforcement tool requires a target. Garnishment needs a bank branch or employer. A writ needs property. An examination needs the debtor in a chair. The first move is never paperwork — it is investigation: employment, banking patterns, property holdings, corporate interests, and the debtor's actual (not claimed) lifestyle.

This is where an investigative career pays dividends for clients. Skip tracing and asset identification are learned skills, and most judgment creditors have neither the tools nor the training.

The Ontario playbook

1. Examination in aid of execution — the debtor answers under oath about assets, income, and debts. Refusing to attend can end in a contempt hearing.
2. Garnishment — wages (20% of net) or bank accounts. Timing matters: a garnishment served the day after payday hits a full account.
3. Writ of seizure and sale of land — filed with the sheriff, it binds the debtor's real property. Most writs are paid out not through forced sale but when the debtor tries to sell or refinance.

The BC playbook

1. Payment hearing — a judge examines the debtor's means and can impose a payment schedule; default on a court-ordered schedule has real teeth.
2. Garnishing order — bank account garnishment is available and effective; wage garnishment post-judgment under the Court Order Enforcement Act.
3. Land registration — register the judgment against title for 2 years (renewable) and wait at the one choke point every property owner must eventually pass.

The waiting game has rules

Judgments do not last forever — BC judgments expire after 10 years unless renewed; Ontario writs need renewal too. Interest accrues while you wait, but only diligent creditors collect it.

A judgment is leverage. Enforcement is the art of applying it where the debtor actually feels it.