Bringing Liquidity to an Otherwise Illiquid Asset
Judgments have always been an asset. They represented the judgment creditor’s ability to seize money or other debtor possessions. For years judgment creditors have viewed judgments as a virtually immovable asset. If the judgment creditor could locate the judgment debtor’s executable assets he could realize the value of his judgment. If not, the judgment was not worth the paper it was written on.
Judgment Marketplace has created a new outlet for judgment creditors to realize value from their judgments. No longer is the value of their judgment constrained by the creditor’s ability to locate the debtor’s possessions. Now judgment creditors can sell or trade their judgment like selling a car, a table or any other asset. Judgment Marketplace has created a forum for the public to find a virtually unlimited supply of buyers so they can obtain revenue from their judgments even if they are unsuccessful in obtaining any of the debtor’s possessions.
Judgment Marketplace Globalizes a Previously Localized Business Opportunity
Judgment investment is not altogether a novel concept (although we take pride in having coined the phrase “judgment investment”). For decades, hundreds of companies have made vast sums by buying and selling “paper”. “Buying paper” normally refers to the purchase of debt (pre-judgment) but it technically could apply to the purchase of judgments as well. The vast majority of these paper buyers bought portfolios, hundreds if not thousands of cases at a time, from huge companies which were owed money from hundreds of different debtors. The purchasers would make a great deal of money buying paper for “pennies on the dollar” and settling with the debtors for a few extra “dimes” on the dollar.
The problem was that: a) you had to buy a portfolio which is a considerable investment which restricted the vast majority of the public from taking advantage of this form of investment; and b) if a judgment creditor had a handful of judgments, or just one judgment, almost nobody would look twice at purchasing it.
Judgment Marketplace, however, serves the needs of smaller judgment sellers and buyers as well parties looking to buy or sell portfolios of judgments worth millions of dollars. Virtually anybody can make money by buying or selling judgments.
Helping America Dig its Way Out of Debt
As everybody knows, the vast majority of Americans are saddled with excessive amounts of debt. According to Business Insider, as of May 2011, America has 2.4 trillion dollars of debt averaging out to more than $7,800 per citizen. This creates a domino effect where too many Americans have poor credit which limits their ability to maximize their earning potential which can spiral to deeper financial straits. While there is no quick fix solution for America’s debt crisis, Judgment Marketplace anticipates that its development of a global judgment industry will enable many Americans to dig their way out of otherwise insurmountable debt.
How?
Creditors typically demand settlement payments ranging from fifty to eighty or ninety percent of the outstanding debt. In an effort to make judgments more marketable, Judgment Marketplace provides strong incentives to motivate judgment creditors to sell their judgments for twenty cents on the dollar or less. Often, we push our clients to sell their judgments for under five cents on the dollar.
To the extent that Judgment Marketplace succeeds in motivating sellers to discount the price of their judgments, our forum enhances the opportunity for judgment debtors to settle their judgments at discounted rates. Most judgment investors who purchase a judgment for ten or fifteen cents on the dollar are ecstatic to receive forty-five or fifty cents from the judgment debtor to resolve the claim. Thus, Judgment Marketplace is facilitating the transfer of a judgment from original judgment creditors whose settlement demands may be beyond the debtor’s means, to an investor who will likely be more accommodating to the debtor and enable their debtors to wipe the slate clean and repair their credit.
