Robet

If I could offer a suggestion...small claims judgments are good for 10 years and Superior Court judgments are good for 20 years. If you are successful in obtaining the judgment, I agree that it is sometimes difficult to satisfy the judgment when the defendant has little or no assets.

There are two tools that may be helpful to you. If you are suing in the Superior Court you can initiate the suit with a prejudgment remedies
called attachments and garnishments. It freezes sufficient assets (real estate, bank account, personal property) at the beginning of the suit to assure that there are funds available when you receive your final judgment.

Both small claims court and the Superior court provide for judgment liens. In the event that you receive a final judgment and the defendant has no assets to pay the judgment. Recording the judgment lien in the Secretary of State's Office for personal property and in the appropriate town hall for real estate secures your judgment for its duration. You have to record continuation sheets periodically to maintain them. The lien follows the Defendant. In the event that he needs an extension of credit ( car loan, mortgage, small business loan) he has to pay you first. I have had some judgment debtors come back to me years later to pay the judgment for this reason...in some cases long after I had closed the case file and was prepared to write it off.