I won my small claims case, but I can’t garnish wages. What are my options?
Location: Iowa.
Title is simplified. Basically, some guy scammed me out of money I invested (not donated, I made sure to label it as an investment), and he never delivered on a product. I took him to court, got a default judgement because he never showed up, and proceeded to file a wage garnishment. He then filed to quash, and then also filed a substitution so that the company he claims to run be made responsible. Both motions were thrown out, but because he only makes around 200 dollars in-weekly on a per time job, the judge told me it is unlikely that I will be able to garnish wages anyway. He told the judge that he is able to pay me back through a refund on my investment, but despite being ordered directly by the judge to pay me, he has refused to do so, constantly making up excuses like forgetting my home address (which both the judge and I grilled him for).
The judge has also not ordered a continuance, citing it is not her job to babysit this case (which I understand, if I was in her shoes I’d probably shave the same attitude). She has since told the defendant to find a way to pay me back, and has also advised me to seek legal counsel on the matter. I’m going out on a limb that if he hasn’t willingly paid me by now, then he won’t ever, so I’m proceeding with further options. So far I’m thinking on either:
-Debtor’s Exam so I can question him on any and all assets he might have
-Possibly escalating this to a criminal case, because if I can’t get my money back, I’ll settle for putting him in jail
-At the very least, telling everyone that both he and I know about this case so that no one wants to work with him