Delaware Pro Se Judgment Collection: Collecting Without a Lawyer

You won your case in the Justice of the Peace Court without an attorney. Now you need to collect — and hiring a lawyer to chase a $3,000 judgment would eat a large share of the recovery. The good news: Delaware's JP Court system is designed for self-represented litigants, and every enforcement tool available to an attorney is available to you.

What You Can Do Pro Se

Natural persons can represent themselves throughout all Justice of the Peace Court proceedings, including post-judgment enforcement. That means you can file every enforcement form yourself:

• Wage garnishment (Civil Form No. 17) to attach up to 15% of the debtor's disposable earnings
• Personal property levy (Civil Form No. 16) to have a constable seize and sell non-exempt assets
• Debtor examination requests under JP Civil Rule 69 to force the debtor to disclose assets under oath
• Judgment revival (Civil Form No. 15A) to extend your enforcement window beyond the initial five years
• Transcript transfer to the Superior Court Prothonotary to create a 10-year real estate lien

The court clerk processes your paperwork, the constable handles physical service and levies, and the employer responds to garnishment writs. Your job is to choose the right tool, fill out the correct form, pay the fee, and follow up.

Where Pro Se Ends

Two situations push you toward hiring a lawyer:

Appeals to the Court of Common Pleas. If the debtor appeals the JP Court judgment, the case moves to the CCP for a de novo trial. Natural persons can still represent themselves there, but the rules are more complex and the stakes are higher.

Artificial entities. If you are collecting on behalf of a corporation, LLC, or partnership, you can use a non-attorney representative in JP Court by filing a Certificate of Representation (Civil Form No. 50). But if the case is appealed to the Court of Common Pleas, the entity must retain a licensed Delaware attorney.

Common Pro Se Mistakes

Ignoring appeal and stay status before filing. The judgment debtor has 15 calendar days to appeal after judgment entry. A Rule 59 motion for new trial must be filed within 10 calendar days starting the day after judgment entry; if timely filed, it tolls the appeal clock until the court rules. An appeal or pending motion does not automatically stay execution, so check the docket for a stay order or approved supersedeas bond before filing.

Serving a garnishment on the wrong employer. The debtor may have changed jobs since the lawsuit started. Verify current employment through a debtor examination before spending $20 on a garnishment writ that comes back unserved.

Forgetting the satisfaction filing. Under 10 Del. C. § 9567, once the judgment is fully paid, you must record satisfaction on the court docket within 90 calendar days. Fail to do so and the debtor can sue you for damages up to 50% of the original judgment amount. This catches pro se creditors who treat collection as "done" once the last payment arrives.

Ignoring the five-year enforcement window. A JP Court judgment goes dormant after five years. If you have been passively waiting for the debtor's situation to improve, file a revival motion (Form 15A) before the deadline passes.

Making the Most of Court Resources

JP Court clerks can answer basic procedural questions — where to file, which form you need, current fee amounts. They cannot give legal advice, draft your documents, or recommend strategy. County law libraries in the Superior Court courthouses (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex counties) give you access to the Delaware Code and court rules if you need to look something up.

Delaware Legal Help Link (delegalhelplink.org) can route you to free legal aid if you qualify by income, though those services primarily help defendants rather than creditors.

The Delaware Judgment Collection Guide is built for pro se creditors — step-by-step enforcement workflows, the exact forms and fees at each stage, a debtor examination question script, and printable tracking tools for payments, interest, and costs.

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