You have to collect your award. While a losing defendant may voluntarily pay it, there often are rather complicated processes that a winning party must go through to collect a judgment (see Collections under Bankruptcy on FreeAdvice.com) to get the court's award or "judgment" turned into cash in hand. If the loser does not have any property that is subject to collection, you may win a judgment but never collect anything! In fact many Small Claims Court judgments are never satisfied. The usual methods of collecting a judgment include execution and wage garnishment.

(Updated 11-08)