Collecting a North Dakota Judgment as a Small Business or Landlord

The Judgment Is Only Half the Job

Small business owners, contractors, and landlords in North Dakota file more small claims cases than anyone else. You did the work or provided the housing, the other party did not pay, and the court agreed with you. Now you have a judgment.

The collection process that follows is identical whether you are a sole proprietor chasing an unpaid invoice, a plumber collecting on a service contract, or a landlord recovering a security deposit — but each situation has practical wrinkles worth knowing about.

Unpaid Invoice and Contract Collection

If you are a contractor or service provider with a judgment for an unpaid invoice, you usually have something most individual creditors do not: information about the debtor's business. You know who they are, where they operate, and possibly who their clients are.

Wage garnishment works if the debtor is an employee somewhere. If the person who owes you is a W-2 employee, a Garnishee Summons on their employer is the most predictable collection path. Withholding is capped at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount above $290 per week, reduced by $20 per residing dependent. The continuing lien runs 270 days, and every paycheck chips away at your balance.

Bank garnishment works if you know their financial institution. If the debtor wrote you a check that bounced (common in contractor disputes), the check itself reveals their bank and routing number. That is your garnishment target.

If the debtor is a business, the enforcement targets shift. You garnish the business's bank account, not an employee's paycheck. If the business is a sole proprietorship, the owner's personal assets are also reachable. For LLCs and corporations, you are generally limited to business assets unless the court has pierced the corporate veil.

Landlord-Specific Situations

Landlords collecting judgments for unpaid rent or security deposit disputes deal with one recurring challenge: the tenant moved out and may have moved out of the county or state.

If the tenant owns real property in another North Dakota county, file a Transcript of Judgment there to extend your lien to that county.

If the tenant moved out of state, you will need to domesticate the judgment in their new state before you can garnish wages or bank accounts there.

If the tenant is still in your county and working, wage garnishment is your best tool. The 25% cap on disposable earnings means collection takes time on small judgments, but the 270-day continuing lien handles it automatically once it starts.

One advantage landlords have: you likely ran a background check or rental application before the tenancy. That application may include employer information, bank references, or emergency contacts — all potentially useful for locating assets after the judgment.

The Cost-Benefit Calculation for Small Judgments

Many business and landlord judgments fall in the $500–$3,000 range. At that level, enforcement costs matter.

A wage garnishment costs $40 (garnishee fee) plus whatever it costs to serve the pre-garnishment notice and the Garnishee Summons on the employer. Total out-of-pocket: roughly $50–$100. For a $1,500 judgment, that is a reasonable investment.

A sheriff levy on personal property costs $80+ for the base fee, plus mileage, plus potential storage and towing. For a $1,000 judgment where the debtor's only asset is a vehicle worth $8,000 (under the $10,000 exemption), the math does not work.

The Debtor Examination Advantage

As a business creditor, you may know more about the debtor's financial situation than an individual creditor would. But if you do not, the debtor examination under N.D.C.C. Chapter 28-25 lets you require the debtor to appear under oath and disclose everything — employer, bank accounts, vehicle titles, real property, other income sources.

For landlords chasing a former tenant, this is often the only way to find out where they work now and where they bank. The court can issue a bench warrant if the debtor fails to appear.

Recurring Business Collection

If your business regularly takes customers to small claims court, the process becomes routine: where an appearance has been made, serve and file the Notice of Entry and observe the 30-day enforcement stay under Rule 62; for a default judgment, the stay runs from entry. Then serve the pre-garnishment notice and garnish the debtor's known employer or bank. The forms are the same every time, the fees are predictable, and a continuing lien handles the collection automatically for nine months.

For the complete step-by-step enforcement process covering every tool, form, and deadline, see our North Dakota judgment collection guide.

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