12 On Your Side: How to collect money owed from a court judgment

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - A Chesterfield man reached out to 12 On Your Side, frustrated after taking a local tow company to court and winning a judgment. He says months later, he is still trying to collect.

The On Your Side Investigators are getting answers from the Central Virginia Legal Aide Society to the question: If I get a judgment for money, how do I get my money?

In July 2022, a Chesterfield judge signed off on a judgment, awarding Marlon Harris $5,000 at 6% interest against No Limit Towing.

“I sued them for $5,000 plus court costs, plus interest. I won that total, and the interest is still accumulating because it hasn’t been paid,” he said.

Harris reached out to No Limit Towing and paid $295 in a tow fee plus $75 via CashApp to have his car towed to his apartment complex. It broke down in a private lot on Hull Street in March 2022.

When he first tried to get the car back, Harris says he was told there were several drivers with COVID-19 and they could not get his car back for several days. He says this continued for weeks. At one point, an employee sent him a photo from the tow yard’s surveillance system showing the Chevy Malibu in No Limit Towing’s lot.

“I was like, okay, I gave them a few days. I call back again, and now they had drivers, but they told me that it was illegal to tow the car to an apartment complex. And I knew that it wasn’t true anyway. Because I had had cars towed to the apartment complex before,” said Harris. “It first started like March 3rd. I didn’t get my car back until, I think, April 21st, but it’s been a month, over a month and a half, and I get my car back and I can’t use it.

When the car was returned, it was ultimately totaled by Harris’s insurance company. He hired a collection agency, but has struggled to get the money back.

Central Virginia Legal Aide Society says a judgment for money simply is a piece of paper at the courthouse that says someone owes you a certain sum of money. According to CVLAS, there are more legal actions someone can take to collect the judgment.

You may ask the court for these things to help collect a judgment.

• Summons to answer interrogatories.

• Garnishment of income, bank accounts or other money.

• Levy (or attachment) to sell personal property.

• Docketing the judgment.

This document HERE gives details of each option to collect.

12 On Your Side is learning there are more individuals and businesses also waiting to be paid by No Limit Towing. According to court documents, a Hopewell man was awarded more than $3,000 in September 2022 after being towed in the City of Richmond. He tells NBC12 he has been working with attorneys to collect the money.

Court documents show a Henrico business is also working with attorneys after being awarded more than $16,000 in March 2023. The business took out a warrant in debt against No Limit Towing as well as the business owner, Sherral Crawley.

NBC12 has reached out to No Limit Towing several times via phone and e-mail. After initially responding, “I don’t know what’s going on,” when asked about Marlon Harris, an employee of No Limit said the business attorney would call 12 On Your Side.

No Limit Towing has not answered any requests for a statement or a comment since NBC12 last spoke with them on March 15.

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