Alternatives to Hiring a Collection Agency for a New Hampshire Small Claims Judgment

If you are thinking about handing your New Hampshire small claims judgment to a collection agency, pause. Collection agencies typically take 25–50% of what they recover, and most of them cannot file court motions — they collect by phone calls and letters, which a judgment debtor can legally ignore. For New Hampshire small claims judgments, you have direct access to the same court enforcement tools that produce actual results: bank account freezes, property liens, payment orders backed by contempt, and property seizure through the sheriff. Every one of these is available to you without an agency or an attorney.

The strongest alternative to a collection agency is enforcing the judgment yourself through the Circuit Court District Division. New Hampshire's enforcement system runs through a small set of motions filed electronically via TurboCourt, each with a specific NHJB form code and a filing fee between $0 and $40. The process is procedural, not adversarial — you are not arguing a case, you are executing on a judgment you already won.

What Collection Agencies Actually Do (and Don't Do)

Before comparing alternatives, it helps to understand what a collection agency brings to a court judgment:

What they do:

• Send demand letters and make phone calls
• Report the debt to credit bureaus (though most small claims judgments no longer appear on consumer credit reports after the 2017–2018 policy changes)
• Negotiate voluntary payment plans with the debtor

What they typically cannot do:

• File motions with the New Hampshire Circuit Court
• Serve writs on banks to freeze accounts
• Appear at court hearings on your behalf
• Record judgment liens at the Registry of Deeds
• Initiate contempt proceedings against a non-paying debtor

The court-based enforcement tools — the ones that actually compel payment — require either you or an attorney to file. A collection agency works the phones. If the debtor does not pick up or does not care about collection calls, the agency produces nothing and you have waited months for no result.

The Five Alternatives

1. Self-Help Enforcement with a Step-by-Step Guide

Cost: $24 for the guide + court fees of $0–$40 per filing, plus any Registry, service, or levy fees Recovery rate: You keep 100% of what you collect Time commitment: 5–15 hours spread over weeks or months

The most cost-effective alternative for judgments under $7,500. A New Hampshire-specific judgment collection guide maps each enforcement tool to the exact form, fee, and TurboCourt pathway. You handle the filings yourself, attend hearings, and direct the enforcement strategy.

Best for: Creditors who are willing to invest time in exchange for keeping their full recovery. Landlords, contractors, and small business owners who are comfortable with paperwork.

2. Motion for Periodic Payments (Court-Ordered Installments)

Cost: $25 filing fee What it does: Requires the debtor to appear at a hearing, submit a Statement of Assets and Liabilities under oath, and address a court-ordered payment schedule

This is not just a payment plan — it is the most powerful asset discovery tool available to you. At the hearing, the debtor completes a sworn Statement of Assets and Liabilities (Form NHJB-2328-DFPe) covering financial and property information. If they do not show up after valid service, the court may issue an Order of Arrest (capias).

A collection agency cannot do any of this. They cannot compel a debtor to appear in court or disclose assets under oath.

3. Bank Account Attachment (Trustee Process)

Cost: $40 filing fee + sheriff service fees What it does: Holds attachable, non-exempt funds up to the judgment amount; the court may later order payment to you

A Writ of Trustee Process under RSA 512 is a court order served on the debtor's bank by a county sheriff. The bank holds attachable, non-exempt funds up to the judgment amount upon service. After notice and any exemption hearing, the court may order the funds paid to you.

A collection agency sending letters cannot freeze a bank account. Only a court-issued writ served by a sheriff can do that.

4. Real Estate Lien

Cost: $10 court fee + county Registry of Deeds recording fees What it does: Places a lien on the debtor's real property, blocking any sale or refinance until the judgment is satisfied

Recording a Certificate of Judgment at the Registry of Deeds is a quiet, effective enforcement strategy. The debtor may not even realize the lien exists until they try to sell or refinance their home. No title company will close a transaction with an outstanding judgment lien. The judgment can remain enforceable for up to 20 years; the statutory interest rate is set annually (5.7% for 2026).

A collection agency has no mechanism to record liens.

5. Contingency Collections Attorney

Cost: 33–50% of recovery (no upfront fee) What they do: Handle all court filings, hearings, and enforcement strategy

If you do not want to handle enforcement yourself and the judgment is large enough (typically above $5,000), a contingency collections attorney takes the case for a percentage of the recovery. Unlike a collection agency, an attorney can file motions, appear in court, issue subpoenas, and pursue complex enforcement like fraudulent transfer claims.

The tradeoff: You keep less than with self-help enforcement, but more than with many collection agencies (attorneys and agencies charge similar percentages, but attorneys have court access).

Comparison: All Options Side by Side

Who This Is For

• You won a New Hampshire small claims judgment and a collection agency approached you (or you found one online)
• You are comparing the cost of an agency against doing it yourself
• Your judgment is under $5,000 and you want to keep the maximum amount
• You are a landlord, contractor, or individual creditor who wants to understand all available options before deciding
• You tried a collection agency and they produced no results after months of waiting

Who This Is NOT For

• You have a judgment from a state other than New Hampshire (these tools are NH-specific; domesticate the judgment first)
• The debtor filed for bankruptcy (all collection must stop under the federal automatic stay)
• You are looking for someone else to handle everything with zero involvement from you (a contingency attorney or agency is the right fit, not self-help enforcement)
• Your judgment is from a federal court or Superior Court (the Circuit Court District Division procedures described here apply to small claims)

Tradeoffs: Honest Assessment

Self-help enforcement is not passive. You need to file forms, attend hearings, and follow up on missed payments. If you are not willing to invest time, an agency or attorney may produce results you would not achieve yourself through inaction.

Collection agencies work for some debtors. A debtor who responds to social pressure (collection calls, letters, credit bureau reports) may pay voluntarily to stop the contact. If the debtor is responsive to communication and simply needs a push, an agency can produce results without court involvement.

The best outcomes combine tools. Many creditors start with self-help enforcement (filing the periodic payment motion to get the financial disclosure), then decide whether to continue themselves or hand the case to an attorney with the debtor's sworn financial information already in hand. This is strictly better than giving a collection agency a name and address with no financial intelligence.

New Hampshire's no-wage-garnishment rule matters here. A collection agency's leverage is weaker in New Hampshire because they cannot threaten wage garnishment — it does not exist for ordinary civil money judgments. The enforcement tools that actually work (periodic payment orders, bank attachments, contempt) require court filings. This shifts the cost-benefit calculation further toward self-help enforcement or an attorney.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do collection agencies charge for judgment collection?

Most collection agencies charge 25–50% of the amount recovered, depending on the age and size of the debt. Some charge a flat upfront fee ($50–$200) plus a reduced contingency percentage. For a $3,000 New Hampshire small claims judgment, a 40% contingency fee means you receive $1,800 at best — before any fees for returned checks or administrative charges the agency may assess.

Can a collection agency garnish wages in New Hampshire?

No. New Hampshire does not allow wage garnishment for ordinary civil money judgments, and this applies regardless of whether you or an agency holds the judgment. The alternative — a court-ordered periodic payment plan under RSA 524:6-a — requires a Motion for Periodic Payments filed with the court; an agency's calls and letters alone cannot obtain that order.

What if I already gave my judgment to a collection agency?

You can typically withdraw your judgment from a collection agency by reviewing the terms of your assignment agreement. If you assigned the judgment outright (transferred ownership), the situation is more complex — consult the agreement for withdrawal provisions. If you gave the agency a collection authorization (most common), you can revoke it and resume self-help enforcement at any time.

Do collection agencies report New Hampshire small claims judgments to credit bureaus?

The three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) stopped including most civil judgments in consumer credit reports in 2017–2018. A collection agency cannot meaningfully threaten credit damage from a small claims judgment. However, if the underlying debt was already a charged-off consumer account before the judgment, the charge-off itself may still appear on the debtor's report.

Is it worth collecting a small judgment ($500–$1,500) myself?

For smaller judgments, self-help enforcement is almost always the better choice over an agency. A $25 Motion for Periodic Payments on a $1,000 judgment is economically rational — you invest $25 and your time to recover $1,000 plus interest. Giving that judgment to a collection agency that takes 40% means you receive $600 minus their fees, and they may not recover anything at all because their only tools (calls and letters) are easy to ignore.

The New Hampshire Judgment Collection Roadmap gives you the complete enforcement toolkit for collecting a judgment yourself — every NHJB form number, TurboCourt e-filing pathway, filing fee, and procedural step mapped out for the Circuit Court District Division.

See more New Hampshire guides →