artist

Winning in Court May Not Mean Collecting What You're Owed

Jorge Diaz is an artist in Hollywood but he says it didn’t take an artist to know something was wrong with a new paint job on his car.

“The paint job was peeling off. It was horrible,” says Diaz.

Diaz says his car needed a new look and other repairs so he went to Donny’s Auto Body Repair Shop.

An online commercial advertises the business as “offering quality service quick turn around and great prices for the past 32 years.”

But Diaz says he didn’t get quality work.

“The bumper fell the first day,” said Diaz.

So he asked for his money back—and when that didn’t happen – he sued in small claims court and won.

“I thought that was it, he’s got to pay me. Obviously it’s not,” said Diaz.

Diaz was given a final judgment that said Donny’s Auto Leasing LLC owes him more than 36-hundred dollars.

“I’ve never thought in my wildest dreams I was going to have to go to court 5 times and take three years to get a judgment then after I get a judgment the man still doesn’t want to pay me,” said Diaz.

And Dominick Auricchio doesn’t have to pay Diaz. While Auricchio registered Donny’s Auto Leasing LLC in 2007, the company was dissolved before the case concluded.

“I have a judgment from a court and now I can’t do anything with it,” he said.

Auricchio declined our request for an interview but his attorney says he has “no legal obligation to pay the debt.” He says the company has “no assets” and that it “ceased operating several years ago.”

Diaz calls that unfair – he watches the nearby repair shop continue operating.

“It’s a block long and the cars are coming in and out so obviously they’re making money,” said Diaz.

It turns out Auricchio is also making money on horses. We’ve learned Auricchio and his partners’ horses have earned more than $1,000,000 since 2000. But Diaz didn’t name Auricchio or any other companies associated with the repair shop in his lawsuit. If he had, his situation might be different.

“A judgment is really just a piece of paper,” said attorney Robin Moselle, who specializes in collections. She's a partner at Rogers, Morris & Ziegler.

She estimates that in her firm’s cases, the person who loses in court voluntarily pays up less than half the time.

“There’s a misconception that when you obtain a judgment you’re automatically going to get paid and that doesn’t happen,” said Moselle.

One way plaintiffs can try to collect on a judgment is getting a writ of garnishment –allowing them access to the debtor’s money when it’s controlled by a third party. But it can cost hundreds of dollars more without any guarantees of success.

“If you file a writ of garnishment believing that the judgment debtor has a bank account with enough money to satisfy your judgment and you find out there’s $10 in the account that’s all you get back,” said Moselle.

Diaz, meanwhile, hasn’t seen a penny but he says he’s not giving up.

“We’re going to keep taking him back to court for as long as it takes for him to pay,” said Diaz.

Legal experts say it’s important to sue the right person or legal entity—to be able access assets. They also say final judgments can be used to get liens on a company’s property which could get you money back years later.

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